Castor and Ailsworth villagers celebrate Coronation with ‘bonkers’ soapbox derby

The Coronation was celebrated in a host of different ways across the city over the weekend. While some communities opted for traditional street parties and picnics, others – like the scenic village of Castor – opted for something completely different.

Yes, the good folk of Castor decided that the best way to celebrate such a uniquely British moment in history was to bring out their not-so-secret weapon - “typical bonkers village behaviour.”

And so it was that a good chunk of the village came together for an hour or so on Saturday afternoon (May 6) to watch daredevil teams in fancy dress launch themselves down a DIY race track on hand-made soapbox go-karts, in the rain.

“It was typical bonkers village behaviour,” said event organiser Amy O’Boyle, laughing.

Speaking to the Peterborough Telegraph, the 34-year-old described the soapbox race – which was tweaked to the more regal sounding ‘carriage race’ – as “a very DIY rustic village version” of the popular Red Bull Soapbox Race TV show.

A total of 13 teams took part, with the aim being to get from the Royal Oak pub at the top of Peterborough Road to the Prince of Wales boozer at the bottom in the quickest possible time.

Along the course, teams had to negotiate a Union Jack bridge, chicanes made from water barrels, and the feared ‘Drop’ - a pallet with a ramp at one end and a bum-rattling drop at the other.

“People felt it,” said Amy, cringing.

In addition, there was also the wet weather to contend with: “It was almost like another obstacle on the course.”

Most of the 13 teams adopted fancy dress befitting the style of their decorated carriage. Each team was obliged to do a brief 30-60 second performance before they launched themselves down the track. Unsurprisingly, there were more than a few casualties.

“Some people fell over,” Amy admitted, “and we had a few people run into the crowd - someone lost a wheel.”

By the end of play, the event had winners in all three categories;

Fastest carriage: Boudicca’s Warriors.

Best carriage build: ‘Hold My Beer’, for their RAF fighter jet design.

Best performance: ‘Three Fools, No Horses’ who got perfect 10s across the board for dressing as Del Boy, Rodney and Uncle Albert and getting chased down the course in their Robin Reliant by two actual Police Community Support Officers.

The event, which was part of larger celebrations organised by the Ailsworth and Castor Committee, was rounded off by an evening party attended by 700 guests.

“We were worried [about the rain] but people still turned out,” Amy said.

“It was a good craic.”