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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