Zany pram racers whizz through Ropley

1:28pm Saturday 5th July 2008

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SPEEDY villagers whizzed round Ropley in some unusual vehicles on Saturday (July 5) as they took part in the Ropley Pram Race.

Around 45 competitors sped around the recreation ground and village riding in and pushing decorated prams as part of the annual event.

Among the creative designs were Cinderella's carriage, Alice in Wonderland's teapot and an incredible fleet of Roman chariots, complete with centurions and horses.

The wacky design was by 'The Newts', a team of men from Ropley who go all-out every year to make their prams for the race. This year's design took them around six to eight weeks to build and even meant three of the riders donning furry horse suits in the heat of the sun.

Team member, Graham Arnott, from Ropley, said: "It's just a challenge and a good chance to lark about, it's always a good day and we're always trying to come up with new stuff."

The winners of the race were Max Parsonson and Darren Bunce, who only decided to enter the race around 20 minutes before it started when they found an old pram. Mr Parsonson, 23, said: "It's good fun and it's great to see everyone out and about from the village together."

The winners of the best fancy dress for the pram race were Hannah Willey and Megan Whitesilk with their Cinderella carriage. Last year they dressed up as pirates but decided to go for a more girlie theme this year. They ran the two-mile pram dash with Hannah's older cousin, Emily Franklin.

A minute's silence was held before the race, which was postponed from its original date in May due to bad weather, in memory of Ropley milkman, Allan Knight, who died July 2007 when he was hit by a seven-and-a-half tonne milk lorry.

The pram race coincided with Ropley Fayre, which brought community groups and businesses from Ropley to the recreation ground to run games and sell items to raise money.

Among the attractions were archery, bowling for a pig and stalls selling plants, bags, jewellery, food and drink. There was entertainment from groups such as the Kasbah Swing Band and the Ropley Scout Group made sure no-one went hungry with a barbecue.