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Origins
The idea of the Devizes to Westminster Canoe
Race originated at the Greyhound Public House
at Pewsey. Owing to a threatened rail, and bus
strike in 1920, alternative means of transport
were the subject of conversation at the bar.
Arising from this discussion, a group of
friends bet that they could travel by the
River Avon from Pewsey to the sea at Mudeford,
near Christchurch, in less than three days.
Using a 26ft double sculling skiff and
overcoming all sorts of hazards, the intrepid
boatmen won their bet with twelve hours to
spare. Although very well publicised in the
local Press at the time, so far as is known,
the journey was not attempted again for 27
years.
A 1947 crew composed of three RAF men and a
local farmer was inspired to repeat the
exploit by a conversation with a member of the
original crew in the same Greyhound Public
House. They won their £5 by reaching
Christchurch in 51 hours. The journey has been
completed several times since, with the record
time currently standing at around 20 hours.
The Beginning of the DW
The Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race arose as
an off-shoot of the Pewsey to Christchurch
competition when a Pewsey resident offered a
prize to any crew that could better the 51
hours time of 1947. Ollie Brown, the
Scoutmaster of the lst Devizes Scouts wanted
to take up the challenge but did not qualify
because the Scouts' Canoes did not meet the
requirements of the competition; sculling
skiffs had been specified.
Once again, we return to the back parlour
(now the Orchid Restaurant) of the Greyhound
at Pewsey. One member of the 1947 crew, Roy
Cooke, was planning a boat trip from Devizes
to Westminster in 100 hours. Although this
particular project fell through, the
frustrated Devizes Rover Scouts took up the
challenge. Thus it was, that at Easter, 1948
the first two crews from the Devizes Rovers,
paddling heavy home-built double canoes,
completed the course with almost twenty hours
to spare and £20 towards the groups canoeing
funds. The rules were simple:
- "A boat to be taken from Devizes to
Westminster in under 100 hours. All food
and camping kit to be carried in the
boats".
At Whitsun, 1948, two crews of the Chippenham
Sea Cadet Unit covered the same course in just
under 77 hours. Further attempts by other
crews in the summer were foiled by the thick
growth of reeds in the canal. So it was, that
a race was established and Easter was selected
as the best time of year for the race.
The Growth of the Race
At Easter in 1949, there were no rules or race
organisation, but nevertheless a dozen or so
crews, some previously unknown to each other,
set out from Devizes. The fastest boats had
bettered 50 hours. One of these paddlers,
Frank Luzmore, who had also been one of the
unsuccessful paddlers the previous summer,
then played a leading role in formalising the
organisation. Using a committee largely drawn
from the Richmond Canoe Club, he continued to
organise the race through to the 1970s.
In 1950, Albert Weibel donated a cup,
providing incentive for paddlers to paddle
non-stop through the night. The cup was
backdated to include the fastest crew of 1949,
an excellent idea had it only gone back a
further year to include the Scouts and Sea
Cadets.
In 1951, with the river in full flood, the
fastest times were just over the 24 hours.
Since then, they have fluctuated from year to
year with an underlying trend slowly reducing
them to the record of 15 hrs 34 mins 12 secs
in 1979. Since then, times of 16 and 17 hours
have been recorded. Nearest to the record were
: 1994 - 15 hrs 42 mins 3 secs and more
recently, 1998 - 15 hrs 37 mins 36 secs 23
mins 28 secs , just outside that elusive
record.
It was quickly realised that paddling
non-stop was probably too dangerous for
juniors. So, in 1953, the committee
established a separate race with enforced camp
sites. This race has developed into the
current four- day staged races that all finish
with the mass run down the tideway on the
Monday morning.
Since the early days, single paddlers had
raced amongst the doubles crews. Again, the
greater danger of having a single person
paddling non-stop through the night caused the
Senior Singles race to be instigated in 1986
in parallel with the Juniors. The
Veteran/Junior race began two years later.
 Races
within Races
Initially, the race had been considered too
dangerous for women. Over the years,
embarrassing situations in the showers
demonstrated that the rules were being
breached, mostly by mixed doubles crews. In
1976, an official subclass was created within
the Senior Doubles race for Senior Ladies. Two
years later, a Junior Ladies Class was added
to the Junior race. Mixed doubles trophies
were added soon after. 1997 saw the advent of
the first junior ladies team trophy.
Canadian canoes were also officially made a
sub-class within the Senior race in 1976. A
Junior sub-class for Canadian Canoes, was not
included until 1986. |
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