11/07/12….Weather too wet for Thame’s ducks – again!

IN a summer which has been even more British than usual, an early casualty of the usually bad weather was the Thame and District Round Table annual duck race. Originally scheduled for the Thame Carnival weekend in June, extensive flooding of the course forced a postponement until this weekend.

Unbelievably though, the wettest June on record has given way to an equally poor start to July and with an official flood alert in force for the River Thame this week, the Table have had no choice but to push the date back once again, to 9th September. This is the last date the race can take place this year, before Thame’s resident population of 2,500 rubber ducks flies south for the winter.

Iain Biddle, Chairman of Thame and District Round Table, said: “We really can’t believe this, but we hope that by abandoning summer entirely and going for a date in Autumn, the weather and the water levels will be in a state where the Town can enjoy the race in safety.”