GALLERY: Matlock Raft race tears up river on Boxing Day

Spectators gathered for Matlock’s traditional Boxing Day raft race yesterday, December 26.
Matlock Boxing Day raft race.                                                                                                                   
The motorists' worst nightmare - a tractor and a caravan!Matlock Boxing Day raft race.                                                                                                                   
The motorists' worst nightmare - a tractor and a caravan!
Matlock Boxing Day raft race. The motorists' worst nightmare - a tractor and a caravan!

Starting at Cawdor Quarry and finishing at Cromford Meadows, rowers battled along the River Derwent with crowds at Matlock Bridge and Masson Mills watching from.

The traditional race has carried on since it started in the 1960s, taking place Every Boxing Day over a four-mile course along the River Derwent.

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The rafts are all home-made vessels, some made for racing and others for comic effect, and this year we saw a De Lorean, Fred Flintstone’s car and a floating crate of Fosters among the river-bourne crafts - not all of which made it to the finish line in good shape.

Organisers said: “It’s usual for some to sink or disintegrate long before the finish, particularly near the hazard of the weir by Masson Mill!”