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Winter Swimming Championships

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  • BRITAIN
Feb 09 2008

Over 670 swimmers, representing 21 countries took part in the world’s only international winter swimming championships, at Tooting Bec Lido in London this weekend. Conceived by the International Winter Swimming Association and Suomen Latu from Finland, this sixth biannual event was the first to be held outside Finland, but still had a very big Finnish presence. Around 300 swimmers travelled to the UK along with a special sauna and a hot tub imported especially for the championship. The championship is less about speed and more about coping with the cold, so to give amateurs a chance against the elite, and […]

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Atherstone Shrove Tuesday (mob) Football

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  • BRITAIN
Feb 07 2008

In Atherstone, Shrove Tuesday can mean only one thing. No, not pancakes, but ‘Football’. There doesn’t seem to be much purpose to it, as there are no teams and no goals, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Shop windows are boarded up and traffic is diverted on the afternoon whilst the game, in which hundreds of people take part, progresses along the town’s main streets. It’s a complete free-for-all with everyone just trying to take possession of the ball. The match starts at 3pm when it’s thrown from the window of Barclays Bank and continues until 5pm. While the stewards […]

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Olney Pancake Race

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  • BRITAIN
Feb 07 2008

Traffic stops at 11.55 am on Shrove Tuesday for the ladies of Olney to make their annual 415 yard dash from the Market Place to Church. Participants, housewives or young ladies of the town, must wear the traditional costume of a housewife, including a skirt, apron and head covering and they must of course carry a frying pan containing a pancake. Under orders from the Starter, pancakes are tossed just prior to the starting signal, and only then after a flippin’ quick dash to the finishing line, is the winner again required to toss her pancake, before being declared the […]

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About this blog

The vast majority of posts in this blog are about quirky & eccentric competitions & festivals. I started it in 2006 in France with a competition I’ll never forget. Where contestants battle it out to become the World Champion Pig Squeeler, or ‘Cri du Cochon’. I had little knowledge back then of quite how far my pursuit of these kind of events would lead me. I’ve travelled all over Britain (and occasionally further afield) to capture our curiosities and quirks. There’s nothing uniquely eccentric about the British, you’ll find people all over the world up to all sorts of weird and wonderful activities, but we do have a remarkable capacity to embrace the madness. ‘A Brit Different’ is the book that was born from it, my labour of love! So what next? There’s always something interesting going on, so watch this space, only time will tell!

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Recent Posts

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© Emma Wood 2021. Moral Rights Asserted. No part of Emma Wood's photographs may be copied or distributed by any means without her explicit permission.