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Gin Oh’Clock

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  • BRITAIN
Sep 02 2017
Post's featued image.

G&T. It’s definitely my favourite tipple of the Summer, but it’s just turned Autumn so while I’ll still be supping these beauties for the foreseeable, my mind is already turning to the colder winter months round the corner. I tasted my first Sloe Gin last winter, and it was so good that I have committed 140cl of gin to try and make my own. The blackthorn bushes I have my eye on are laden with fruit which are just about ready. At least I think and hope they are – I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.. I’ll […]

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Thistle hotel meets ‘A Brit Different’

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  • BRITAIN
Jul 19 2016

Many a day spent photographing hotel rooms this summer. As well as taking straight interior shots I had a bit of fun coming up with different ideas for reportage shots, showing the room ‘in-use’. There was no budget for models or props, and time was seriously limited, but I’m very happy with how they all came out. Most of the time my assistant would stand in as the model as I was obviously taking the photos, but on a few occasions I’d set the camera up on self-timer and jump in myself. This was one such example, and what better […]

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Kate’s Plaice

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  • BRITAIN
Dec 16 2015

I’m lucky enough to do a spot of photography for Kate Jenkins, the quite brilliant knitwear designer, and crochet artist. I have to share a couple of pieces of her work here, not only because it adds a bit of Seasonal cheer to my site, but because it may just be the last chance to see her incredible exhibition, ‘Kate’s Plaice the Stitchmongers’. Drum roll please for Kate, as she returns from distant shores, to don her apron and trilby once again, serving up the visual feast that is an entire knitted and crocheted fish counter, in her home town […]

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Lewes Bonfire Celebrations

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  • BRITAIN
Nov 05 2015

Great to see that Borough Bonfire Society have gone to new heights in creating the largest Guy Fawkes effigy in the world at just under 18 meters, 58 foot high. One for the Guinness Book of Records I’m sure. Stuffed full of fireworks it will be set alight with an almighty bang this evening during the world renowned festival. I hope the wind and rain doesn’t dampen any spirits! This nursery rhyme which accompanies the celebration of Bonfire Night is as integral to the custom, as the burning of the Guy and the lighting of fireworks: RemEMBER remEMBER the fifth of November Gunpowder treason […]

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The ‘Mad’ Maldon Mud Race

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  • BRITAIN
May 26 2014

A new and improved version of the same competition I covered in 2007 when I’d just started photographing these crazy events.. No longer held in deep winter, this years competition took place on Sunday in much warmer weather, though I don’t suppose the competitors really felt the difference stuck in the mud! Just as crazy, but with about 300 entries and many more spectators.. Bank holiday weekends simply wouldn’t be the same without one, and this one is pure genius! Thank you Maldon x  

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Cheese Rolling in Stilton

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  • BRITAIN
May 12 2014

The High Street in Stilton is a far cry from the 1:2 gradient that can see you hospitalized with the cheese rolling at Coopers Hill. I’ve always thought that Stilton’s version of the contest would be a bit dull in comparison, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised having witnessed, as well as entered it! Hundreds of villagers gather to watch the teams battling it out for the Cheese Rolling titles. It’s become the highlight of Stilton’s annual May Day bank holiday festival, which includes dancing, live music, fairground rides, stalls, and other entertainment. It’s origins are unclear, […]

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“Tommy Trot” Beer Race

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  • BRITAIN
Apr 23 2014

The Laughing Fish Pub held it’s annual “Tommy Trot” Beer Race on Easter Monday, to kick off the summer, just as it’s been doing since 1956. Located in the pretty village of Isfield in rural East Sussex, the beer race is the main event of a full day of activities which includes an Easter Egg Hunt and the Lemonade Race – a shorter version of the beer race for the kids. So, to the details. It costs £2 to enter the “Tommy Trot”, which goes to the RNLI. Entrants have to walk through the village from the pub to the […]

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International Pillow Fight Day, London

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  • BRITAIN
Apr 10 2014

Hundreds of people descended on Trafalgar Square last Saturday for a massive pillow fight. Taking place each year on April 5th in cities right across the world, it’s become an international event, a flash mob of sorts. While Trafalgar Square itself, coincidentally, happened to be closed off to the public for ‘maintenance’, the fluffy battle took place on the North terrace, in front of The National Gallery (which proved to be a good vantage point until all access was closed off there too). No matter, all the buskers and ‘human statues’ that line the terrace for the tourists attention packed […]

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The Haxey Hood

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  • BRITAIN
Jan 08 2014

Monday saw the parish of Haxey, in North Lincolnshire, play their traditional annual game of The Haxey Hood. Most easily likened to a game of rugby but with unlimited participants, few rules and plenty of drinking in the lead up to, during and after the game, whilst trying to make it to the pub of each man’s choice. The ‘Sway Hood’ – a long leather tube – is slowly driven by a huge unorganised scrum of anyone who’s brave enough, to 1 of 4 pubs, either in Haxey or Westwoodside, where it remains until the following year. It’s one of […]

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Winter Solstice at Stonehenge

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  • BRITAIN
Dec 25 2013

Whilst most people were either tucked up in bed, or getting ready to hit the shops for their ‘last-chance-christmas-shopping’, a few hardy souls were out in the driving wind and rain to celebrate the winter solstice at Stonehenge in Wiltshire. Taking place on the 21st Dec this year, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, is one of the most important on the calendar of the ancient stone circle, and a truly magical time to be there, as it draws together the country’s new age tribes with ordinary families, tourists, travelers and party people. English Heritage said […]

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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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© 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.