SCOUTS from across Wharfedale competed in the annual Torch Race up Otley Chevin on May 8.

The Torch Race is a fell race run in a relay from Otley town centre to the top of the Chevin and is competed for by Scouts and Explorers across Wharfedale. The winning team is the first team to ‘break’ the flag at the top.

1st Ben Rhydding Scouts fielded two mixed teams of girls and boys aged between ten years and 14-years-old and after climbing the steeply rising Chevin to a height of 280m above sea level they beat off the completion to win the coveted torch. The winning group will now get to keep the torch for one year.

The Torch Race was first held in 1935 as part of the celebrations of the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary. It was carried on that occasion by the Scouts of Otley from the Jubilee Clock in Otley to the summit of the Chevin. it was then used to light the Beacon on the Surprise View, which was one of a chain throughout Britain to celebrate the Jubilee.

After the 1935 celebrations, the torch was presented to the Scouts of Otley, and in May each subsequent year, the Scouts have arranged to hold a relay from the town centre to a flagpole placed on the site of the original beacon.

1st Ben Rhydding Scouts are part of the Ben Rhydding (De Mohicanen) Scout & Guide Group whose headquarters are on Wheatley Lane in Ben Rhydding. Scouts are for boys and girls aged ten a half to 14 and a half. Further details can be found at 1stBenRhydding Scouts.wordpress.com