Today we went to the duck racing at Mill Leat in Bishopswood. Not real ducks I hasten to add, but little yellow plastic ducks all numbered and tipped into the Yarty river. We had to buy a ticket with a number on, and then that was the number of your duck. We followed their progress down the river.
Some got caught on stones along the way and had to be guided off. One would dash past and then another would overtake. The organiser had a loud haler and was calling out their progress. There was money to be won on the duck first past the post.
We didn’t win anything in any of the 3 races, but it was a bit of fun, a bit of madness on a Summer’s afternoon. There were also other duck themed activities. Instead of a coconut shy there was a duck shy.
Neil’s sister was with us and she knocked down two ducks. Then she had a go at throwing hoops round ducks.
There were other duck stalls too and some people even dressed in duck costumes. The face painting for the children was ducks on their cheeks!
But we rather more sedately retired with a Pimms!
The last thing was the tug of war between Bishopswood and Buckland St Mary. Neil was in the Buckland team and went prepared in boots and gloves, but they still lost!
You can see the lovely thatched house in the background, in whose grounds the event took place.
They are going to try and make it an annual event. It was well supported and everyone had a bit of fun. Other villages hold duck races too so maybe its just a local thing around here. We certainly had never heard of it until we moved here.
If you want to see what other mad things we get up to in the country visit us at
http://www.lodgehousebandbsomerset.co.uk
Like us on facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/LodgeHouseBandB
our mobile friendly site is http://www.lodgehousebandb.tel
lodgehousebandbsomerset 
theshrubqueen said
What is a duck or coconut shy??
lodgehousebandbsomerset said
A coconut shy is where whole coconuts are placed on stands or shelves and then you try to knock them off with small wooden balls. Here the coconuts were replaced with plastic ducks as you can see in the picture of ducks on shelves.
Laura Rittenhouse said
Looks like a lot of fun. And if it rains, the ducks won’t mind – perfect outdoor activity for England 🙂
shadowlilies said
How fun!!!