Tetbury Woolsack Race to return after four year hiatus

Kirsten and Danny Toft say there's a real appetite for this year's woolsack race

Woolsack Racing will return to Tetbury over the May Bank Holiday after a four-year hiatus triggered by Covid.

The annual contest involves competitors running 280 yards (about 256 metres) up and down a steep hill carrying heavy sacks of wool.

Because they have been left for so long, some of the sacks have split and a volunteer is working to repair them.

Organisers say there has been lots of interest already with 50 people confirmed to take part.

Danny Toft, 48, and Kirsten Toft, 49, who have lived in Tetbury for 11 years, decided to help start a new committee when the old one broke up.

Kirsten competed in the race on Gumstool Hill in 1992, and won the Guinness World Record for the fastest female time of one minute and six seconds.

The race has been taking place on Gumstool Hill since the 1970s

She said: "It's a really big day here in the town. Everybody looks forward to it on the May Bank Holiday.

"The pandemic hit and that obviously stopped it. The committee disbanded, and then there wasn't really an impetus. They couldn't get the interest or the people to do it.

"When we came out of the pandemic, people on Facebook started to say things like 'Come on, why doesn't woolsack happen anymore?' This town used to love it.

"Me and Danny kind of looked at each other and said, shall we?"

Kirsten says because the sacks have been left unused for so long, they've split and some have become rotten.

"They've been sitting around for four or five years, and they're kind of bursting at the seams and the wools falling out," she said.

Some of the sacks have split over the years and become 'rotten'

Luckily Pat Hodges, who owns local wool shop 'Skeins of Tetbury', has stepped in to help.

She said: "They've worn and ripped over the years. There's wool inside which has been spilling out. I'm repairing about 10. I can't lift them as they're too heavy."

The larger sacks weigh 60 pounds, and the smaller ones 35 pounds.

The couple say the event this year will focus on exposure for local businesses.

"There was clearly a real appetite to get it going again. We have a market, a food area and a fun area with fairground rides, we're trying to appeal to lots of demographics," Kirsten said.

"This year we thought, well, let's give all the businesses on Long Street or Tetbury Town Centre first dibs. So if they want to come out with a stall and sell all their own things, they can do that.

"We're really trying to make it about Tetbury and local businesses."