A GRAZING and thoroughly wetting time was had at the annual beer barrel-carrying Brook Race at the Who’d of Thought It Pub in Milton Combe last weekend.

Teams of children and adults donned hard hats, gloves, knee pads and ran along the village stream under a house and low bridges and through nettle jungles carryiong empty barrels to raise more than £200 for Derriford Hospital children’s ward. Danny Bishop and Lana Isayeva ran together.

Danny said: “I live in the village, so I’ve done the race many times. The stream was much deeper than norma, which made it harder to run through.” Lana said: “I definitely had to swim a bit as it was deep. I got tangled up with a pipe somewhere under the water. But it was fun.”

Lee Wickett, of Tavistock, ran with his son Ollie, seven, and Alistair Watson and his son Daniel, eight. Lee and his wife Nicky needed Derriford’s medics to save the life of their second son Charlie.

Lee said: ‘It was tough carrying a barrel and scrambling under those low bridges. But Derriford Hospital saves Charlie’s life, it couldn’t have been a better cause.

‘Landlord Matt has also supported my Motor Neurone Disease Association appeal in memory of my dad Mark.’

Holly Thacker said: ‘This was my first barrel race and was a great challenge. I just avoided swimming, by running like a crab.”