The Sunderland raft race team which won a prize - for sinking

It happened in 1984 at the South Hylton raft race which the Sunderland Echo described at the time as a ‘tremendously contested affair.’

They sank after ten seconds of rowing

One of the winners, though, was a team which barely got off the starting block.

The police cadet team won a prize because of its astonishing performance – its raft sank after ten seconds.

Here is a scene from the day of action which saw Monkwearmouth School Youth Club emerge as the victor in four of the different categories.

An ‘imaginative entry’ from Southwick

Other winners on the day included the Southwick Centre which received a special prize for its raft. The honour went their way because their raft was described as imaginative by the competition judges.

The Sunderland Echo report at the time described the event as ‘Twenty crews, loads of drama and a chance to have wonderful fun on the water.’

We are hoping you have great memories of the South Hylton raft race.

Fluffy arrivals in Washington

Who remembers the annual 80s Sunderland event and can tell us more?

To give you a further reminder of life on Wearside in 1984, all this was in the news;

The fluffiest new arrivals at Washington Waterfowl Park were pulling in plenty of crowds. They were young ducks and geese.

Two car parks off Park Lane were set to close in June 1984 to make way for a development of the area between Park Lane and Holmeside for400 new spaces.

Tell us more

Eighty former employees from the furniture trade left Sunderland for their annual outing organised by the North East Furniture Trades Benevolent Association.

The outing to Richmond included a stop at Ramside Hall and Croft Spa.

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