“NO DUCKS were harmed in this press release,” I was assured, though some might come to grief in the big race on the River Lugg on 22 June. Nearly a thousand of them will be launched from one of the bridges in Bodenham in Hereford diocese to race half a mile downstream to the footbridge behind St Michael’s Church, where refreshments will be available.

“People can buy ducks for just £1,” says Simon Nickols (right), one of the organisers. Each duck will have a number on it, and the first prize will be £30. Ducks are on sale at most of the businesses in the village, and I’m told that the ducks are in training and excitement is building. The money raised will help to restore St Michael’s, which suffered in the floods last summer.