Longnor Races ‘by the community for the community’ says organisers ahead of this year’s event

Longnor Races will take place on Thursday, September 10 at Waterhouse Farm.

Secretary Stephen Mellor has been on the committee for 40 years.

He said: “I’ve been involved with the races for years and I still love it as much as I did when I started.

“The day goes by in a blur but it's great to see old faces again and have a good time.”

The day will start at 11.30am with the pony gymkhana with Mrs Andrews providing the entrants.

This will be followed by the harness racing or trotters followed by the bikes and the fell race.

The annual harness racing attracts racers from all round the county and across the UK.

“People like coming to us as there sadly aren’t that many events like this but we are still going strong.”

The time-honoured races date back more than 100 years when farmers had to get their milk on the train at Buxton Station.

This then led to horse riders racing to see who could complete the run in the fastest time.

However, over time it became unsafe to race around the village so it moved to Waterhouse Farm where it still takes place today.

This year the committee promises the event will be bigger and better.

Stephen said: “We have bought a bigger marque.

“There’s only one pub left in Longnor now so everyone comes to the races for a day out so we needed a bigger space to safely accommodate everyone.

“We have live music, the bar stays open and everyone behaves themselves which makes the event so nice as there is never any trouble.”

Stephen says a lot of hard work goes into making the event a success.

“But we all love it.

“It is run by the community and for the community and everything we make goes back into the event to keep us going for next year.”

Stephen says after a summer of drought the recent rain has made the ground soft enough for a good racing day.

Anyone attending is reminded that all sales including entrance, bar and food are cash only.