Congleton Lions Club’s 10th annual duck race was held last week, delayed from 2020 due to the pandemic; the last race was in 2019.
A large crowd gathered along the banks of the river Dane in Congleton Park to watch the 1,600 small ducks and 24 large corporate ducks race past.
New town mayor Coun Margaret Gartside entered a mayoral duck.
The river conditions were not ideal with little water flow and the wind blowing in the wrong direction, which didn’t help the ducks, highly trained and fighting fit as they were.
Despite this, they finished the course with no casualties reported, although a vet was on standby just in case (one of the corporate ducks was sponsored by Blue House Veterinary Practice). The corporate ducks were mainly sponsored by local companies.
The winning small duck numbers were: 1, 1,469; 2, 497; 3, 835. The winning duck in the corporate race was from Bidlea Dairy at Twemlow near Holmes Chapel.
The Lions thanked Coun Gartside, town crier Coun Paul Duffy, Cong Bear, Congleton Radio, Macclesfield Canoe Club and Congleton 230 Squadron Air Cadets. The Lions also gave big thanks to the staff from Kids Planet Nursery who were kept very busy face painting, as well as all the volunteers who made it possible, and everyone who purchased tickets and turned out to cheer the ducks on their way.
Companies who supported the event were: Astbury Care Home, Bloor Homes, Bidlea Diary, Black Firs School, Back Office Support, Bear Grills, Blue House Vets Biddulph, The Losers Club, The Cygnet Club, Crema Deli and Cafe, Menditz, Datastor Systems, EZE Talk, Girls Brigade, JS Trophies, Jantex Furnishings, Kids Planet Day Nursery, Moss Motors, North Rode Timber, Reubens 46, STD Developments, SAS Daniels, Tandom Metallurgical, Threeway Travel, Timothy A Brown, Stephenson Browne and Zuto Car Finance. All the money raised will be used to support Lions’ activities in Congleton.
To find out more about the work of Congleton Lions, call 0345 833 8054 (this connects to a Congleton Lion not a call centre) or email congletonlions@gmail.com.
