We previously reported on a number of the more British eccentric events we get up to in the name of “tradition”, so here are a few more from the weird and wonderful British festivals calendar.
Egg throwing in Swaton, Lincolnshire is an event for true eggstroverts who take part in egg-catching, egg and spoon relays and machine assisted egg hurling. Anyone taking part needs to be prepared to get completely covered in raw egg however especially during the egg catching championships which isn’t as easy as it may sound. All proceeds from the event go to various nominated local and national charities.
Worm charming in Blackawton, Devon, essentially involves crawling round a field and drinking cider it seems….although attempting to entice as many of the gardeners friends from the ground as possible does seem to be the official aim. Tradition has it that tapping on the ground or making the ground wet can be used to bring the worms to the surface so water is often used at these events to simulate rain, but this being the West Country, cider has become a great favourite. Whether the worms appreciate this as much as the contestants is still unknown.
Dwyle flunking should win this contest on the oddity of it’s name, but the event isn’t much more sane. The game takes place in Lewes, East Sussex, and involves a ring of people who run in a circle around a central figure, one assumes call the “flunker”. This person dips a rag on the end of a stick into a bucket of stale beer and then flings it out, in theory hitting one of the people making up the circle. That person then takes turn to be the flunker, and so forth. It probably has little purpose, but when did that ever stop us Brits doing something.
Cooper’s Hill cheese rolling has been a tradition since the 1940’s with a round Double Gloucester Cheese of varying size rolled down a very steep hill, followed by a group of people trying to catch it. This is made all the harder by the hill being at best 1:2 and occasionally 1:1 steep making it rather dangerous to run down or even walk down, usually resulting in a few sprained or occasionally broken limbs. The danger element is probably what brings most people to take part, with around 5000 arriving in 2009.
In 2010 the official event was cancelled by the organising committee due to insurance problems, but staying true to British eccentricity an unofficial event was held on the hill with around 500 people taking part. In this case there were no injuries at all making it very likely that a 2011 event will take place, whether official or not.
More links:
Gloucester attractions
East Sussex attractions
Devon attractions
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