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CANOEISTS take to the water tomorrow for the 60th anniversary Devizes to Westminster Race, but its origins go back 27 years before that.

Unsurprisingly, it developed from a conversation in a pub. A bus strike was threatened in 1920 and a group of regulars in the Greyhound Inn in Pewsey were discussing alternative means of transport.

It ended in a group of friends betting they could travel by the River Avon from Pewsey to the sea at Mudeford, Christchurch, in less than three days.

Using a 12ft double sculling skiff and overcoming all sorts of hazards, the intrepid boatmen won their bet with 12 hours to spare.

The feat was not attempted again for 27 years. In 1947 a crew of three RAF men and a local farmer was inspired to repeat the exploit after hearing about it from a member of the original crew. They won their £5 bet by reaching Christchurch in 51 hours.

The journey has been completed several times since, with the record time currently at 20 hours.

A Pewsey resident offered a prize to any crew who could better the 51 hours of 1947. Olly Brown, the Scoutmaster of the 1st Devizes Scouts, wanted to take up the challenge, but did not qualify because the Scouts' canoes did not meet the requirements of the competition.

Meanwhile, back in the Greyhound at Pewsey, one member of the 1947 crew, Roy Cooke, was planning a boat trip from Devizes to Westminster along the Kennet and Avon Canal to the Thames at Reading, and aiming to do it in under 100 ours. The project fell through, however, and Mr Brown and his frustrated Rover Scouts at Devizes took up the challenge.

At Easter 1948, the first two crews from the Devizes Rovers, paddling heavy home-built double canoes, completed the course with almost 20 hours to spare.

But their 80 hour record did not stand long.

At Whitsun that year, two crews from the Chippenham Sea Cadet Unit covered the same course in just under 77 hours. There were further attempts by other crews that summer.

Attempts however, were foiled by the thick growth of reeds in the canal in the days before the huge renovation programme began in the 1970s.

This year a crew from Chippenham Sea Cadets is taking part in the race, known as the canoeist's Everest. The crew has thrown down a challenge to Devizes Scouts, which has yet to be answered.

11:28am Thursday 20th March 2008

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