In early1975, the committee of the Woodnewton Care & Community Association had been looking into ways to raise funds to continue the services which the Association provided for the village.
One of the members was a customer at Colliers garage in Wansford. In conversation with Pat Collier he discovered that Pat was a member of the Morton & District Go-Kart Club. The club used to race at the various venues of other clubs. The question was raised as to whether the Go-Kart clubs would be interested in organising a race for the Woodnewton Care & Community Association. Their committee agreed to organise such an event in the village. The C & CA would provide activities to raise funds. The C & CA then approached the Parish Council for permission to use the playing field area for the event. There was some concern expressed by the PC regarding the fact that the Go-Kart racing could cause ruts in the area used. The C & CA agreed to restore the ground if any damage was caused. (This was not needed as can be read later)
The date fixed for the event was Sunday, 27th July 1975. Admission was by programme, price Adults 20p and Children 10p. The racing was programmed to take place, with a practice at 2.00pm., and racing commencing at 2.30pm. A number of fundraising stalls were manned by volunteers consisting of the following:-
Skittles – Rat Trap – Sink the Battleship
Toss the Straw Bale (this consisted of having to throw a straw bale over a raised horizontal bar using a pitchfork)
Skeet Track (this involved rolling balls along the track into numbered slots)
Cork Game (where you could win a prize by finding one of the coloured corks; the red cork producing the top prize of a bottle of wine)
There were teas and refreshments which included a bar. The bar was being manned by two young ladies from the village, and with it being a very hot day they were dressed in shorts and short tops. Needless to say, the bar ran out of beer very quickly.
The race track had origially been sited to one side of the playing field. However, this was changed following a discussion with the race marshals. On the playing field area there was a raised furrow where Nobby Gynn’s tractor had broken down. This was now to be the centre of the race track with the karts racing around the furrow. The race track was roped off to prevent any spectators accessing the race track. The racing lasted for two hours which resulted in an exciting afternoon’s entertainment. Unfortunately, it cannot be recalled how much was raised.
As for any damage to the playing field area where the racing took place; with it being hot and very little rain, the ground was fairly hard and so just the grass was worn off with no ruts. The result was that some five to six weeks later a fine crop of green grass appeared, even greener than the existing grass.
2021 Trevor Danks
