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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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The Britannia Coco-nut Dancers of Bacup

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  • BRITAIN
Apr 02 2013

The traditional Britannia Coco-nut Dancers of Bacup, accompanied by members of the Stacksteads Silver Band, danced their way through the streets of the small Pennine town of Bacup in Lancashire on Easter Saturday. The origins of this spectacle have been lost in time, but it’s possible the dances originated with moorish pirates (hence the costume) who settled in the uk and became employed in mining. The custom of blackened faces and ‘nuts’ on their hands and knees and belt likely resemble the protection used when crawling through the narrow seams in the mines. The different dances they perform are actually […]

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Long Rope Skipping

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  • BRITAIN
Apr 02 2013

There was a spring in the step of everyone visiting the small village of Alciston in East Sussex on Good Friday, even though the freezing weather is doing it’s best to keep Spring at bay, as people of all ages took part in long rope skipping. Sussex was famed for its tradition of skipping with long ropes on Good Friday it used to happen at Brighton, Lewes and other locations, but now the only survivor takes place outside the Rose Cottage Inn at Alciston. It’s turned into a local celebration with traditional music, morris dancing by the Chanctonbury Ring Morris […]

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Easter Egg Rolling Competition

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  • BRITAIN
Apr 26 2011

With an eggstravaganza of Easter egg events taking place across the UK this weekend, West Sussex National Trust celebrated with their ever popular egg rolling competition. Held at Devil’s Dyke, hundreds of competitors turned out with their hand-decorated hard-boiled eggs to enter this popular Easter custom. With three age categories competing, the under 7’s, 7-13’s, and adults, the egg that made it’s way furthest down the dyke valley won. There was also a special prize for the best decorated egg, a tricky one to judge with so many worthy entries. The valley may be steep, but the ground is well […]

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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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