Faversham Raft Race

Where? Faversham Creek.
When? 9th August 2009, 2:30pm

History of the Race

The history we have so far...

The raft race used to be run by the late Steve Field, landlord of the Coal Exchange pub, now the Swan and Harlequin (website).

 
He was a tremendous bloke and was involved in the race between about 1979 to 1983.  We are advised by Town Cllr John Coulter that it was about then that the race started and Steve either started it or took it over early on.
We hope that cuttings from local paper may say which.
 

Mary Henderson wrote:

"Steve Field was a great friend of mine and died at the ludicrously early age of 36 leaving his widow, Lynne, and two teenage boys, Matt and Mark. We are still very much in touch and Lynne still lives in Faversham. The race was hugely popular and was originally run for Guide Dogs for the Blind for whom Steve raised thousands of pounds before his untimely death.

Trevor Ryan (who now runs the wetfish shop in Preston Street) used to run a 'greasy pole' between his fishing boat and another at the town wharf and nobody ever managed it (Shep's products to blame, perhaps!?) except the Albion's landlady's son one year - at the tender age of seven! His name was Mark and hers was Jan. That had to be stopped for 'elf 'n' safety' reasons. What a shame! No-one was ever hurt and no-one died of creek-water poisoning.
 
Bob Geldof used to bring his girls down when they were little and they would sit on the bank outside my house (Bridge House) and come in to use the loo when necessary. Nice people!"

At some point (yet to be confirmed) Sara and Martin Apps of The Bull Pub (website) took on the task of organizing the race.  They both continued to make the raft race a great success until in January 2009, Sara confirmed that they wanted to take a break.
 
Faversham Raft Race has a long and colourful history and we want to document it here.  We need as many facts about the race, who did what and when.  Can you fill in the gaps?

 

Stories

If you have any stories about who was involved with the Raft Race over the years, we want to hear from you so that we can publish your stories, anecdotes and memories of this great Faversham event.  When we get your quips we will publish them on this page.


Photographs

If you have any photographs of the Faversham Raft Race in days done by, we would love to see them and share them with everyone interested in the event by putting them on our Photo Gallery.

 If you can add anything to this page, please get in touch by clicking 'Contact Us' and we'll get back in touch with you by email.

If you prefer snail mail, you can deliver your photo's in an envelope addressed to Raft Race Secretary, C/o 2-3 Gatefield Lane, Faversham.  All hard copy images will be scanned and returned to you.

 Videos

You can also send us your digital videos and we will put them on this site.

Click here for the only video we have of the race, taken in 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enter a Raft

If you would like to enter a raft, this section provides you with all the documents you will need.

  1. Letter from the Committee Chairman (2009).doc
  2. Entry Form
  3. Parental Consent (required for each rafter aged 18 and under)
  4. Raft Construction Notes

See how long we have to go!!

Recent Photos