PADDLERS are gearing up for the annual splashathon that is Monmouth Raft Race on Sunday, September 1.

The Monmouth Rotary-organised event attracts thousands to watch the armada race the six miles downstream from the town rowing club to Whitebrook, and has raised vast sums for St David's Hospice and other charities.

Last year's event saw rocks, rapids and even Royalty, as the King and Queen turned out on board a floating royal carriage!

Charles and Camilla may have been cardboard cutouts peering through the windows, but they helped make it a right royal progress down the Wye in beautiful sunshine, alongside a Peter Pan crocodile, Bananas in Pyjamas, a ‘Drink Up Thy Cider’ pub shack and even a tribute to the humble loo - named the Thomas Crapper!

Some got stuck on the rocks, one coming to grief just below Monmouth’s Wye Bridge, and water levels look set to be low again.

Henson’s Heroes from Chepstow - a family and friends affair who have done the race for 16 years - won the most creative raft for the eighth-year running for their Peter Pan croc, following on from such creative marvels as a WWI tank, Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, a London bus and the HMS Victory.

Rafts will be gathering beside the Wye in Monmouth from mid-morning before launching out at 12noon, and the finish at Whitebrook includes a family festival of entertainment.

See www.facebook.com/monmouthraftrace for more information on the 57th race.