Durham’s Masonic Dragons Roar
Four Teams from the Province of Durham competed in the 3rd Tees Dragon Boat Festival which took place on Sunday 1st September 2019, raising money for the Durham 2021 Festival. Each Dragon Boat can carry a maximum of 16 rowers plus one drummer and is steered by a helmsman provided by the event operators. The format of the event involves each team competing in three races, with the four fastest teams then competing in the final. This year 20 teams took part. Our Teams were: The Chester le Street Masonic Dragons 1 & 2, The Billingham & Castle Eden Freemasons Dragon Boat Squad and the Paddling Peddlers, a team drawn largely from those who completed this year’s 3 Province Charity Cycle Ride. Incredibly, three of our Teams, CLS 2, the Peddlers and Billingham & Castle Eden managed to hold off the competition and reach the Final. In fact we also had the 5th fastest time from CLS 1, who only missed out on a place in the final by 4 hundredths of a second.
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As the four boats lined up on the start line the Masonic Teams knew that Dave’s Dragons were the team to beat. There was also however some healthy rivalry between our squads as they all competed for the top spot. In what proved an amazingly close race (apart from Dave’s Dragons who, as expected, left the other three teams in their wake) it was the Peddlers who managed to steal second place with their fastest time of the day, 1 min 2 seconds, beating Billingham & Castle Eden by a very short nose and with CLS 2 very close behind. After cheering their competitors and receiving their trophies from the Mayor of Stockton there was just time for our teams to cheer all of the supporters who had turned up, particularly those from Billingham who had manned a TLC Teddies stall throughout the day. Freemasonry in the community at its most enjoyable - well done to all involved.
“Some healthy rivalry between our squads as they all competed for the top spot” www.durhamfreemasons.org
