7th August 1942
Miniature Regatta for Pontefract in Holidays At Home Scheme

Pontefract’s fifth weekend programme of events under the Holidays at Home Scheme included attractions at the park where the Lake provided a very pleasant venue for a large crowd on Saturday evening. Boat racing and model yacht competitions were enjoyed. No serious attempt was made by the Corporation Holiday’s at Home Committee to offer serious challenge to Henley-on-Thames, or to furnish a regatta spectacle. The idea was to offer local people a quiet Saturday afternoon in attractive surroundings, and it succeeded admirably. 

Chief interest was taken in the boat races, which brought some excellent oarsmanship to notice, both in the events for men and women, but the model yacht competition had its amusing moments. The small craft at the mercy of an almost windless evening and the slight currents of the Lake, did everything but what their youthful owners wanted. They careered off in the wrong direction, doubled back home, or became becalmed. Model aeroplanes were also on view, and were demonstrative of the skill, patience and thoroughness of the boys who had made them. Throughout the evening the Featherstone Silver Prize Band gave appreciative selections, and after the racing, played for dancing on the putting green.

1942 INDEX