4 men on a raft

Another August Bank Holiday, another raft race. Yes, the S Club 5, have once more paddled their way into the record books at the Bampton raft race.

We arrived on the Sunday morning this year, as number one son travelled up to visit his grandmother on the Saturday, and SWMBO's dad had to go into hospital for a heart beat synchronisation operation. The heart seems to be OK now, and the excess fluid in his lung appears to be dissipating.

So it was all a bit hectic getting to the raft race start, but our spirits were lifted as the rain had stopped but the river remained fast flowing and full. This last attribute is vital to us heavyweights, as usually the raft can get grounded five or six times during the race and we have to get off and pull it over the shallows, while lighter and rubber ring based rafts can sail on by.

Not so this year. Not only did we do a personal best, breaking the 30 minute barrier, but we overtook four other vessels, something which is unheard of for us. Couple that with only 4 of the S Club participating, and two paddles breaking and it was a cracking good show.

We were dressed as Olympians this year, but failed to win the most entertaining craft award. In fact we have not won the award for several years, when we were dressed as pirates. Our Viking attire deserved it but we were denied on a stewards enquiry. our Hawaii  Five 0 came nowhere nor did our grumbies, although we did get the tele coverage for that one last year. 

This year the award went to two lads dressed in DJ's who punted a raft all the way down with a couple of tree branches as poles. The raft full of Bruce's and the newly weds on a raft bed also got a mention in dispatches.

We are considering dressing as Missus Mop's next year and going for the 'all girl crew' prize!!

Three seconds of fame

The Bampton raft race is an event the S-Club 5 have supported for a number of years. It has featured in this blog on several occasions, here and here. We always try to dress up and this year we were Grumbies of Monty Python fame. Yes my brain does hurt.

Imagine my surprise then when we were featured briefly on ITV this week. ITV have  been following a group of children from when they were seven years old up to the present time, and they put together a programme charting their life,  every subsequent seven years. The current series is called 56 UP.

One of the featured people is now a lay preacher and Bampton is one of the villages he frequents. I do remember a film crew being there last year but assumed it was for the local news. Instead, there we are singing merrily as we paddle towards the finishing line, all grumbied up.

I do hope the ITV exposure does not alert the health and safety jobsworths from Kendal to the raft race.It exists in the sort of environment the 56 UP participants will have been familiar with when they were growing up as seven year olds all those years ago. We in the S-Club do feel that our involvement has seen the event grow into the thirty raft event which it is at the moment,  and it would be tragic if it is canned as a result of over planning. Long may it continue unencumbered and de-regulated........aaaargh!