7 Feb 2012

ANY ONE FOR A GAME OF POOH STICKS OR HOW ABOUT COAL CARRYING?

Hardly a sporty person, no, not even the forthcoming London Olympics remotely interests me, I have to say I did find some of these, err, lesser known sporting activities interesting.

  • POOH STICKS. The first known participants of this were, of course Pooh Bear and friends. However it became an 'official' sporting event when a former Lock Keeper noticed walkers throwing sticks in the river and rushing to the other side of the bridge to see whose stick emerged first.
  • SNAIL RACING. I think this one just about explains itself. You may however be interested to know that last years winner was a snail called Zoomer who won the finals in a time of 3 minutes and 23 seconds - hmm, I'd love to know how long the course is.
  •  TIN BATH RACING. First started in 1971 this is the only race of its kind and draws in competitors numbering almost 100.
  • CLOG COBBING. Basically the aim of this sport is to see who can throw a clog the furthest down a path that runs alongside the Roebuck Inn, Lancashire.
  • COAL CARRYING. A very tough, up-hill event, competitors carrying 50kg of coal have to run almost a mile as quickly as possible before being allowed to drop the sack of coal.
  • BIGGEST LIAR IN THE WORLD. Started in the 19th century by publican Will Ritson who enthralled his customers with his 'tall tales'. Now held every year in November the aim of the competition is to find the person who is worthy of filling the footsteps of "Auld Will", last years winner being Glen Boylan whose tale involved being offered a mayonnaise and peanut butter sandwich by a good Samaritan, Prince Charles, who happened to be passing through the area.
  • WIFE CARRYING. Originally a Finnish event in which the winner won his wife's weight in beer (grief! husband dearest would certainly win a lot of beer), this event takes place in Dorking, England and involves a male (or female) carrying a 'wife' over a course which may include obstacles and water hazards, the winner being the first over the line though there will be penalties for dropping the 'wife' who incidentally can be of either sex.

15 comments:

R. Ramesh said...

biggest liar..wife carrying..wah wah..wonderfull...

Patti said...

I've seen highlights of wife carrying. It looks like a dangerous sport to me.

Kelly said...

Pooh Sticks. A delightful game from my favorite bear!
:)

The Bookworm said...

lol! I think I'd win the gold medal in CLOG COBBING.
I have thrown my fair share of shoes in anger.

Suko said...

These are hilarious! Don't think I'd excel at any of these sports!

Heather said...

Used to play Pooh sticks with my kids when they were little, one year they even painted up popsicle sticks and mailed them to my sister. I'm up for a game anytime. ps, send me a private email with your mailing address and I'll send along one of those Valentines for you and hubby, though it might arrive a bit late.

heatherdpear at hotmail dot com

Jennifer McLean said...

My gosh, hello my old friend!
I was just thinking of you yesterday.
I am going to be reviewing the book I'm giving away and thought of you. How would you like a guest post in about a week? The review has to be in by feb 14th. The book is the newest mystery by Lisa Gardener, "Catch Me". Do you have guest posters ever? If you want to, just email me at:
oilandwater {at} telus {dot} net

Talk to you soon!! So nice to hear from you Tracy, missed talking to you! I hope you're life is going swimmingly well!
Best,
Jenn from www.justaddwatersilly.com

P.S. don't worry, you're signed up for the giveaway, by the way, I'm noticing everyone signing in to the comments section but no more New followers, did you sign up to follow me in the new follower tool below? wondering if it's not working!! EEk.

Dorte H said...

I knew all about Pooh sticks - apart from the name, that is.

I´d love to try tin bath racing, but not right now; it would be pretty cold if I fell in :)

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

Pooh sticks! I've done that!

Oh and we are having a biggest liar game right now in the states. It's called the republican primary (no, peeps don't get mad at me the democrats just aren't doing the primary this time... LOL).

Golden Eagle said...

The only one I've heard of before is wife-carrying--though I've done Pooh Sticks, of course. :)

Jenners said...

Pooh Sticks!!!

And I'm so excited for the Olympics! I love the Summer Olympics so much.

anilkurup59 said...

Loved the snippets. Great as usual.

Gina said...

Awww...Pooh Sticks! I remember that from the books...lovely to see that it made its way out into the "real" world. ^_^

Full-On-Forward said...

I actually started Biggest Liar in the world!!! Yeah, yeah, That's the ticket! I did it!


J

Alyce said...

I loved playing Pooh Sticks when I was a kid! When my family lived at my grandparents' house for several years (I was 7 when we moved there) I would play almost every day in the summertime on the bridge over a creek on their property. The benefits of living so far out in the country that television reception was terrible even on the one channel we could tune in.