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Shire of Toodyay > Records

WOWSER JAMES WHEELBARROW RACE, TOODYAY

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1981

Subcollections

Overview

Small black and white photo of the winning team of the 1981 Wowser James Wheelbarrow Race, Toodyay.
From left to right: Ron Woodward in the wheelbarrow, Brian Jockich pushing and Harry Hatfull running.
Pale coloured sedan behind the team.
Another vehicle in the background.
Spectators in right background.

Historical information

This was the winning team in the inaugural recreation of the original race which happened in the 1930s..
In 1935 Toodyay blacksmith Ernest Wesley 'Wowser' James rose to the challenge that he couldn't push local barber Frank Costello in a wheelbarrow around an unsealed 6.4km course. The course started and ended at the Victoria Hotel in Stirling Terrace, Toodyay. The contest drew in other competitors. The craze took off and was a feature event at the Toodyay Agricultural Show later that year.
In the early 1980s teams of three raced around a shorter (4.4km) route to raise funds for local organisations and the events proved popular with locals.
(ref: Toodyay Herald article by Ieva Tomsons, September 2017, p.15

Details

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-37-2001.1163

Item type

Themes

Material

Width

11 cm

Height or length

16.2000 cm

Inscriptions and markings

"Winners of Wowser James Wheelbarrow Race 1980 - seated Ron Woodward, ? Jockic [Jockich], Harry Hatfull."
[note: correct date is 1981]]

Year

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Shire of Toodyay

Shire of Toodyay

Organisation Details
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