IT is 100 years since a group of Pewsey locals sat in the Greyhound Hotel discussing the effects of a rail strike.

Bar talk continued into how the waterways could be used for much more, and a bet was thrown down that a skiff crew couldn't reach the English Channel by rowing down the River Avon in three days.

Seven months later, on July 21 1920, Harry and Percy Kunkler, Joe Hawker and Bill Bradley succeeded in reaching the sea at Mudeford in 59 hours.

As Bill Bradley had to do his morning milk round, Mrs Louise Hawker took his seat for the Pewsey to Amesbury stretch.

It wasn't until after the second world war when another wager was waved by a group of old timers, teasing some young, demobbed air men that they couldn't do what the crew in 1920 had done.

The £5 wager was accepted, and the 1947 team - including Bob and Morris Nicol (Bill Bradley's nephews), Geoff Kunkler (Percy's son) and Bradley Cooke.

They beat the record by eight hours coming in at 51 hours.

This peaked the interest of the Boy Scout Troop at Devizes who fancied their chances in their canoes.

But the Pewsey stalwarts said it had to be done in a double scull skiff.

The scouts instead turned the opposite direction, via the Kennet and Avon Canal, and so the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race was born.

No doubt the 1947 crew began to taunt others that they could not better the record and four other ex-servicemen swallowed the bait. Bill Major, Peter Leek, Michael Grey and Peter Coles had a go in 1953, but heat stroke and faulty navigation led to the abandonment of the attempt.

In the years since then, five more crews have tried their luck, but none in the last 42 years as river access rights have become more restricted.

A new display board detailing the history of the trip and showing pictures for each one, is due to go up in Pewsey Heritage Centre, but due to the Covid crisis the centre will not re-open this year.

The board has instead gone on display in the shop window of Dalrymple's in Pewsey High Street for several weeks this Summer.