Downhill Racers – Welton Soap Box Derby 2024

When I was a youngster in the late 60s, all the local kids had a go cart or trolley, made by themselves or their dads. they were made from old bits of wood fixed to pram wheels and were steered with a bit of rope. We made them from old wooden fruit boxes, planks of wood and used to decorate the cross bar by nailing coloured bottle tops to it. Some of my friends managed to find some big wheels for the back and smaller ones for the front, they looked cool but the handling suffered! I never had any serious crashes but lots gravel rash after overturning. They went very fast and I acquired many cuts and bruises. I still have some scars on my left knee, over fifty years later!  Sometimes we would run into the roadside kerb, causing the front wheels to come away from the wood and the trolley falling apart, resulting in a long walk back to our house for a major repair.

The Welton Soap Box Derby has returned, a combination of insurance issues & the inevitable covid period, forced a break of five years. The soapbox, first held early in the millennium, continues to thrive despite the break, attendances breaking all previous records. Over 2,500 people lined the High Street and Churchill Road to watch brave and courageous carters get behind the wheels of some incredibly creative and innovative machines. This year there were thirty-four race teams, with 43 drivers charging down the steep slopes and bends of the village, a hundred times, to a finish line near The Paddock, at the foot of the village.

A new highest speed record was set in 2017 with one soapbox hitting an incredible 36mph through the speed trap, 4mph quicker than the previous record set in 2016 by the same Isle of Wight based Team Streamline, with what was then an unprecedented 32mph by category winner Take III.

This hugely successful village event began life in 2001 when several people, enjoying some refreshments in the local village pub, The White Horse, decided to celebrate the new millennium by organising a soap box derby as part of their festivities. It was such an enormous success that thirteen years later several of the communities six hundred villagers decided it would be a great boost to the villages annual village fete if it was to return and a second Derby was born.

Over the years a spectacular array of homemade soapbox carts have hurtled down the 500-metre course reaching speeds of up to 36mph, all from a push start! I once tried to drive my car down the route at 36mph but very quickly realised it was not such a good idea! Both experienced and amateur racers design and build their carts over many months and competition for the prizes is as great as they ever were.

Racers start outside The White Horse pub with a push start for the whole length of the pub – from gable to gable then gravity takes over. The course runs downhill along the High Street then there is a tight right bend near the church. At the bottom of the hill there is another hazardous, sharp left-hander, `Kettles Corner` before the finish line near The Paddock.

It is of course a downhill race where competitors race against the clock, not each other, but there are also points awarded for creativity and originality in the design of the cart. And of course, village pub is open all day providing much needed refreshment, food, drink and music to the many visitors, all day & evening long!

The organisation of the event is superb. Local villagers support the event in many ways; some villagers have the inconvenience of having their roads and drives blocked off for much of the day and the main street closed but they either sit out on their lawns and watch the carts or join in the day by visiting the stalls or volunteer their time and services to support this fantastic community event.

Welton Soapbox Volunteers 2017

Chair of the Soapbox Committee Chris Barlow remembers how the soapbox was reborn, ` I heard the first soapbox was in the early millennium but there was a long break until I picked up the mantle probably after a few too many real ales in The White Horse! I still cannot believe we are on our way towards completing my seventh Welton Soapbox Derby.  It doesn’t seem two minutes, since I was sat in the pub talking with the guys at the bar about the original event that took place back in 2001 and I put my hand in the air to say; ‘Go on then, I`ll do it!’

In 2015 organisers recruited former Northampton Saints and 2003 England Rugby World Cup winner Ben Cohen along to open Welton`s third Soap Box Derby to ever increasing crowds. This year`s event, the eighth has seen attendance records broken as huge numbers of spectators lined the course route down throughout the village. It has been estimated that over 2,500 people attended the Soapbox in 2024.

The carts competing over the years have been both traditional and outrageous with a high level of ingenuity and creative expression. Each of the hand-made machines are powered by nothing else but courage, bravery and the force of gravity.

My favourite was, `The White Horse – The Grand Tour` in 2017, which was a replica of the village pub, complete with thatched roof, punters at the bar with beers; a blow-up landlady, hanging baskets and toy dogs. Genius! Other creative carts included HMS Tempest, a submarine, Wookie-Leaks & even an X-Fighter from Star Wars. This year some of the most creative carts were the Combine Harvester, the GoCa -Cola can, Reliant Robin & Orca Rides Again, not forgetting the DeLorean time machine in homage to Back to the Future.

`The White Horse – The Grand Tour` – Winner of the most creative soapbox in 2017

The popular village pub, The White Horse` has always supported the event. One of the objectives of the soapbox was to support the popular local pub, an event like this supports the pub considerably. I recently wrote a report about the fact that thirty rural pubs continue to close each week and this event helps support the village/ community pub, during these difficult times. I spoke to publican Jenny Ponder, who repeated how important the Soap Box is for both the village and the wider local community.

The Soap Box is a massive event for both the village and local community. A huge amount of work is done by a large number of people to make the event so successful. The White Horse benefits enormously from the event bringing both regulars, new and past customers into the pub to enjoy a drink, eat some food and listen to live music in comfortable surroundings. An event like this reminds many that the pub is still very much at the heart of the village community.

Jenny Ponder  – Landlady – The White Horse – Welton

If you missed the Welton Soap Box Derby this year do not worry because the `organising committee` have already started planning the event for next year.

I managed to grab a few words with Race supremo Chris Barlow and asked him whether this was the best Soap Box yet!

The event itself has grown incredibly year on year; not only with the increased number of teams, and Soapbox dream machines; but also, the spectator footfall, and the service offering.  The feedback we are getting from those that have been with us every year, has been fantastic! Every year we are learning. We ensure we apply, and improve the systems and processes, the service provision, infrastructure and safety of the event – to make it a really great day out for everyone!

Are you still enjoying it?

The build up to Race day, the team and spectator banter is amazing.  Race Day itself is an epic day of hard graft and commitment! Deep down; I absolutely love this – it is a big passion of mine; to see and hear communities of people coming together so far in advance to design and build their carts, is such a buzz!

The success of an event like this relies to an enormous degree of support from volunteers, local business and village residents.

What can I say about my team!  Incredible dedication and commitment!  We have a small Operations committee that meet pretty much all year round monthly and on Race Day itself we have a huge volunteering support, that converge to help deliver this ‘beast’ of an event! We have between fifty to sixty dedicated volunteers providing various essential roles and levels of support – the soapbox derby would not take place without them. Most of the volunteers live in the village but we get plenty of support from outside too. We have gained fantastic financial and supplier support for materials over the years. We also appreciate cooperation and support of the Welton Villagers themselves.  Allowing the event to go ahead; means closing the roads, and restricting access for the day – it’s a huge thank you to our residents!

The Travel Locker would like to thank Chris for taking the time to answer my questions and would like to wish him and the Soap Box Derby Committee all the best in the coming years events.

Derby History: 2001/2014/2015/2016/2017/2018/2019/2024

Facebook: Welton Soap Box Derby

Twitter: @Welton_Soapbox

Credit: Photographs were taken courtesy of Welton Soap Box Derby Facebook page

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