CHILDREN from schools in North Cornwall have been taking part in an engineering and design competition linked to the Bloodhound SSC attempt at the world land speed record.

Pupils from schools including Boscastle, Whitstone, Tintagel, Delabole, Camelford, Otterham, Stratton, Bude Junior and Trekenner all designed and built cars from kits supplied by the Bloodhound project.

They brought their cars to Stratton School on Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17 to race them. The cars were powered by rocket motors, which were fired electronically. They were attached to a guide wire and raced down the playground at speeds of up to 32mph. The speed was timed as they went through an electronic timing gate in milliseconds. The children were incredibly excited to see their cars travel at such speeds.

The two top cars and the winner from the heat will go to compete in the regional finals. If they are victorious they will progress to the national final where the winning team will receive a trip to South Africa to see the actual Bloodhound car race.

The children expressed their thanks to all of the volunteers who gave up their time to do the training that enabled the event to go ahead and who organised the event.

Stratton’s headteacher, Phil Aldis, offered his thanks on behalf of everybody associated with the project to county STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) adviser Rachel Delourme who made it possible for the race to take place.