Cosgrove Egg Races

This race was a fundraising event run by Cosgrove Church, initially for funds to repair the floor. It was started on Easter Bank Holiday Monday on March 27th 1989 at 11 am.

The Stratford Road was closed for the event and contestants ran from the bus shelter to the Church carrying a hard boiled egg on a spoon.

There were prizes and a barbeque afterwards in the Victory Hall.



By the following year, 1990, the organisation of this event had developed and there were four classes:

1.    Adults and Teenagers

2.    Junior Race (7 – 12 years)

3.    Under 7s

4.    Family Relay – this could include 4 people – 1 man, 1 woman, 1 teenager and 1 under 13.

                               You could co-opt one member from outside the family.

There was a decorated egg and an Easter Bonnet competition too. The eggs were donated by D Mears Farms of Towcester.

Children's race

Adults race

Louise Castle (second left) was always the bookies favorite in the Over 60's race.

The 1992 race saw the start of the post race party moving to the New Village Hall. During the race itself Arthur Noble and Tony “Lofty” Bracey stopped the traffic and Louie Castle emerged as an Egg Race veteran heroine – she was followed down the road by a large yellow chick!

By 1995 an attic auction by Tony Bracey was bringing in almost as many people as the Egg Race itself, the winners of which were, in that year,

Under 7s                       Daniel Lane

Juniors                          Thomas Chillingworth

Seniors                         Mr M Madges

Cosgrove Shield            Cannon Family

And so the Egg Race continued until the New Millennium.

1999 Egg Race

Boost for Church

Cosgrove fundraisers are jubilant after an Easter charity egg and spoon race and auction raised more than £1000 for their church. A total of £1602 in profit was raised from the Easter events.

Mabel Houghton, Church secretary said, “The overall profit on the day will go a long way to helping us complete our share of the Millennium grant funding.”

The money will go towards providing better community facilities, a hearing loop and sound system and improvements to the heating and lighting system in the church. Fundraisers are now hoping to raise money to pay for the churchyard grass to be cut in the summer, because the Grafton Way footpath runs through the church grounds.

A second hand book fair and cream teas will be on sale at Cosgrove Village Hall on Saturday May 1 from 2 pm.

2000 Egg Race

Egg Racers Hop to it!

Run, rabbit, run…. Well, all right, the Easter Bunny wasn’t running, but Cosgrove’s 11th annual egg race on Bank Holiday Monday featured plenty who were. Sponsored by Pericom, competitors made the mad dash for glory complete with eggs donated by Chanty Egg Farm of Old Stratford.

Cash and chocolate prizes were handed out to winners of all ages and monies raised by a nearby car boot sale and refreshments go towards a £25,000 target for improving church facilities.

Some of the entrants are pictured above, full of concentration at the start of the race.

This dog seizes the chance to gobble up one of the dropped eggs.

In 2001 there were 89 contestants in the different races. The Senior Citizens runners were Gwyneth Comerford and Joan Groves, who put much younger racers to shame. The Cosgrove Cup was won by the Comerford Family, and the sponsors were once again Pericom and Chantry Farm Eggs.
Evie Butler
By 2002 the Egg Race was in the capable hands of Tony and Jan Bracey – and it was a lot of fun! The day was still raising a good deal of money each year for repairs to the Church, but sadly it seems that this was its final year.