TEAMS are working on their entries ready for the Moat Boat Races on August Bank Holiday Monday (August 25).
It is not too late to enter the event, organised by City of Wells Lions. There is more information at www.wellsmoatboatrace.com, or email cityofwellslions@gmail.com. The maximum crew size is six (teams up to eight), the minimum age to take part is 13 years by Monday, August 25, the day of the races.
And Lions do need more volunteers to help make this another memorable day. Anyone who can help is asked to email moatboatracestewards@gmail.com or call 0345 833 6736.
Racing boats on the moat at The Bishop’s Palace started in 1963. In 2012 Phil Payne, of the City of Wells Lions, wrote a report on the history of the event for the Wells Journal.
Phil said that the original idea of racing on the moat stemmed from a discussion between the sons of John Wright, vicar of St Thomas’ Church in Wells, and Bishop ‘Jock’ Henderson. Simon and Peter Wright were members of the St Thomas Youth Fellowship, an active youth fellowship which the late Arthur Rice had formed a few years earlier.
The fellowship had been formed to enable young people to get together in a friendly environment and to serve the local community. The boat race idea was immediately welcomed by the fellowship committee and plans prepared to stage the first event on the Spring Bank Holiday of 1963.
Sixty two years on rafts are still being raced on The Bishop’s Palace Moat thanks to the support of Bishop Michael and The Palace Trust, and sponsored by Wells businesses. The raft racing on Bank Holiday Monday starts at 11.30am.