Unusual Games Invented By The British

The British are renowned for inventing some of the world’s most famous sports and it would seem several very unusual ones too. 

Found below is a list of some of the more popular of these unusual games invented by the British.

AUNT SALLY

Aunt Sally is a game that hails from the county of Oxfordshire and which goes back to medieval times.

Despite it’s age it is still played on a regular basis around the country, particularly at village fetes, although it was originally played in inns or pubs.

The game is played with a ball, which is called a dolly, which is placed upon a spike on a wooden plinth. Each player is then given six sticks which they throw at the dolly. The person who knocks off the dolly the most times is the winner.

However the sticks are not known for their compliance making the game one of great skill and dexterity. 

Originally the dolly was a figurehead of a woman with a pipe in her mouth which was known as an Aunt Sally. 

BARREL ROLLING

The game of barrel rolling originated in the first half of the 18th century.

People would lay a beer barrel on it's side, stand on top of it, then ' walk' the barrel along a stipulated course. The first person to complete the course would be the winner.

The game of course is not as easy as it sounds and resulted in many people falling off the barrel, much to the joy of the watching crowds.

Despite it's dangers though the game still thrives in many parts of the country to this day. 

   

CHEESE ROLLING

Cheese rolling is an age old past time played throughout the British Isles in it's cheese making areas.

A large 'round' of cheese would be pushed along the village streets by as many people as could be found. The aim of the game would then be to push the cheese as far as possible without it falling over. The 'round'  that travelled the furthest and with the least damage done to it would be deemed the winner and a prize would be awarded to the maker of the winning cheese.

Today the game is played by rolling a 'round' down a steep incline with people chasing after it with the intention of overtaking it.

In recent years it has been deemed very dangerous owing to the many serious injuries it caused.

But these injuries haven’t put off any of the hardened cheese rollers amongst us, leading to many people entering the Cheese Rolling World Championships held in the county of Gloucestershire every Spring.

CONKERS

A conker is the seed of the Horse Chestnut tree.The seeds appear at the end of August through to  the end of September. 

In order to play conkers a small hole is drilled into the conker and a piece of string threaded through it. The aim of the game is to then ‘flick’ your conker at the conker of an opponent with the intention of smashing it.  The person whose conker smashes the most other conkers is deemed the winner.

This game is a favourite of school children but it also has international standing with a World Championships held every year in the United Kingdom. 

COCONUT SHY

The Coconut Shy was a regular event at village fetes and fairgrounds during the 1800s. 

Coconuts would be placed upon a wooden plinth and six wooden balls were thrown at it in order  knock it off it’s plinth. If you knocked off a coconut your prize was to keep it.

Not much of a prize in this day and age but in those days the exotic coconut was a much sought after prize.

(The word 'shy' is old English for 'to knock over'). 

DYKE JUMPING 

A dyke is a man made channel which surrounds a field which is a neccessary farming technique used to safeguard flooding in low lying areas.

Dyke jumping has it's roots in Holland but was quickly picked up by the residents of the low lying British counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.

To jump the dyke one uses a long pole to hoist ones self across the dyke, much like the art of pole vaulting. Of course not every one succeeded in their quest, leaving many participants floundering in the murky cold waters of the dyke.

This game has been around for centuries and is still very popular even to the extent of having an annual World Championship played between several countries which use the same farming method. 

HAGGIS HURLING 

A haggis is a Scottish delicacy made from meat, root vegetables and oats which is cooked in a sheeps bladder and traditionally eaten at Hogmanay or New Year.

In the game of haggis hurling the haggis is thrown over a stipulated distance with each participant being allowed three hurls.

The haggis must land intact and still in an edible state otherwise it will be disqualified. The winner is the person who can throw or hurl the haggis the furthest without causing undue damage to it.

This sport also has world acclaim with an international World Championship held every year in Scotland. 

PANCAKE RACING

Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, is celebrated all over the British Isles by way of eating pancakes.

To celebrate this day pancake races are held, usually on village greens or in school grounds.

To partake in the race one must take the pancake, complete with thepan it was cooked in, and run a stipulated course whilst continually flipping or tossing the pancake in the pan.

If the pancake falls out you will be disqualified.

The winner of the race is of course the person who gets to the finish line without losing their pancake. 

SHINTY 
Shinty is an ancient game, so old that it predates Christianity.
Shinty originated in the highlands of Scotland and is played with a 1.1 meter long stick known as a caman and a leather covered, cork ball.
The game, which is considered  to be the pre-curser to both hurling and hockey, also has a version which can be played on ice known as Bandy.
Today the game is played predominantly within the Celtic communities of the British Isles or wherever there is a large ex pat Celtic community around the world.  

WELLY WANGING

A welly is an English colloquial term for the Wellington Boot. Wellies are worn a lot in the rainy British Isles and are the preferred footwear of the British farming fraternity. Although wellies are highly sought after for their excellent water proofing abilities they aren’t well known for their staying power asthey easily become split and wear out.

During the early 1900's someone hit upon a way of giving a worn out welly a new lease of life by turning them into a sporting implement and there lay the beginnings of the new sport of welly wanging.

The welly would be thrown over a stipulated distance or over an obstacle such as a gate.

Sounds easy but actually trying to throw a welly is no mean feat as a welly weighs about two kilos and due to it's L shape is not known for it's aerodynamics.

The game became an instant hit in rural communities due to the many challenges it provoked, with the art still being practised to this day.

 

WHEELBARROW AND STRAW RACING

This is another sport with it's roots firmly in the farming community which was initially conceived as a way of letting off steam after the hard labour of bringing in the harvest. 

A wheelbarrow would be loaded with four bales of straw and then would be pushed along a specified course which was full of obstacles. At the end of the course the straw bales would be hurled over a fence or wall. The first person to complete the course would be the winner. 

Sounds too easy, but infact it’s really hard work as the straw bales are not known for their compliance as they continually fall out of the wheel barrow, much to the joy of onlookers.