The Deeping St James Aquatic Sports

The river below the High Locks in 1920.

The sporting tradition along our rivers began centuries ago and has embraced fishing, wildfowling, boating, skating and swimming, although the latter is no longer popular due to the hazards created by fast flowing water and the danger of  infection. 

In past times, there were no such considerations and during the summer months our waterways became a magnet for bathers with the River Welland through Deeping St James being the perfect place for a dip in hot weather. Such popularity spawned organised events and among them a century ago was the annual aquatic sports held on that stretch of water downstream from the High Locks to the Deeping Gate bridge which attracted swimmers from the villages and from Stamford and Peterborough, all anxious to win some of the prizes on offer including several from the Dowager Marchioness of Exeter who was then living at Deeping Manor. 

One of the biggest of these events took place in August 1912 and although the ladies did not compete, male swimmers of all ages, men and boys, some in the early teens, were able to demonstrate their prowess at diving and swimming although there were also a number of novelty crowd pullers such as tub and canoe races and walking the greasy pole which had been erected over the river where contestants had to reach the end and then return to the bank although, inevitably, the majority slipped off and got a ducking. 

The 1912 event also included a tug-of-war for the first time with competing teams on either bank and the winners pulling the losers into the water, much to the delight of the crowd.

Throughout the event, the hundreds of spectators who lined both banks of the river were entertained by selections of popular music of the day played by the Market Deeping Brass Band although an unscheduled occurrence also caused some merriment when a boat carrying three members of the organising committee was overturned by one of the competitors and they were pitched into the water, an incident which brought gales of laughter from the onlookers. It was all meant to be good fun although a local newspaper reported later: “No doubt precautions will be taken against such tricks in the future.” 

Safety considerations today mean that organised swimming is no longer held along the river but community leisure activities continue with an annual raft race which has more recent origins and has now become a popular event attracting an assortment of homemade craft raising funds for the benefit of local charities.