Langstone raft race: Portsmouth's eccentric water event

If you've never come across it, the Langstone raft race is one of those Portsmouth traditions that's hard to explain without seeing it. Billed as 'Portsmouth's most eccentric water event', it's been running since 1984 and has a second name worth knowing: the Ship Inn Raft Race. This year's edition is on Saturday 15 August, hosted at the Ship Inn in Langstone, and it's the kind of day that rewards turning up early and staying late.

The day runs from midday right through to 10pm, so there's plenty of room to settle in. Things get going at 1pm with live music from local favourites Superheroes, and the main event — the raft races themselves — sets off from 2pm. This year's theme is 'Age of Empires', with prizes going to the teams that lean into the spirit both on the water and on shore, so expect a fair bit of costume and commitment alongside the paddling. Between races, there's a sizzling BBQ and the usual pub hospitality, and the whole thing is open to all ages, which makes it an easy one to bring the kids along to.

Beyond the spectacle, there's a bit of good to it as well: the event raises money for the Spinal Injuries Association and the RNLI, so a day spent watching homemade rafts struggle across the water does some genuine good. If you'd rather be on the water than on the bank, you can still enter a team — the Ship Inn takes entries in person, over the phone on 023 92471719, or through their website.

It's worth knowing where you're actually standing. Langstone Harbour is a large tidal bay on Hampshire's southeast coast, sitting between Portsmouth Harbour to the west and Chichester Harbour to the east. It's shallow, with extensive mudflats that show at low tide, saltmarshes and tidal channels, and it carries a long list of protections: Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Area, Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation, candidate SAC and a Ramsam Site. Those mudflats are rich in food and draw in internationally important collections of wading birds, wildfowl and seabirds — the Brent Geese that breed in the Arctic winter over in the Solent, which takes in about 20% of the world's population — and seals aren't uncommon either. The Langstone Harbour Board is the Statutory Harbour Authority, with its office over on Ferry Road on Hayling Island, and there are three public slipways in the harbour: Ferry Point on Hayling Island, Eastney in Portsmouth and Broadmarsh in Havant, though using any of them costs something.

And then there's the Solent itself, the strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain in the English Channel. It runs about 20 miles long and anywhere from two and a half to five miles wide, and it's famously shallow with an unusual double tide. It's also one of the most lifeboat-dense stretches of water in the world, with six RNLI stations and five independent ones. It was designated a Ramsar Wetland back in 1998, which fits the bill for a harbour that's as much about wildlife as it is about a bit of eccentric racing.