Latest news with #InventoryofLivingHeritage
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cotswold Olimpicks could be added to Heritage list
The addition of the Cotswold Olimpicks to a new heritage list could be "vital" for its future, a historian has said. The event takes place in Chipping Campden and counts the world shin-kicking championships and tug o' war among its disciplines. The government will soon be seeking submissions from the public to nominate their favourite traditions that best reflect the nation, which will be recorded in the new Inventory of Living Heritage in the UK. Graham Greenall, a custodian of the event's 400-year history, said its inclusion on the list would be "vital" because "it is the traditions of ordinary people that could go missing". More news stories for Gloucestershire Listen to the latest news for Gloucestershire The Cotswold Olimpicks was started by Robert Dover, an author and attorney, who, after moving to Chipping Campden, wanted to channel the competitive traits of residents in 1612. It is thought William Shakespeare may have attended the games in their early days, shortly before his death in 1616. The wrestling scene in As You Like It and the line "How did your dog run on Cotsall (Cotswold)?" in the Merry Wives of Windsor are thought to be inspired by the games. Cheese rolling on Cooper's Hill, surfing the Severn Bore, and the Woolsack Races in Tetbury may also be submitted for the list. Mr Greenall said, despite the global recognition some Gloucestershire traditions receive, their inclusion on the list would prevent them from going "missing". "Royalty [is] self-sustaining, but with cheese rolling and the football in the river, if they stop for a while, it's quite difficult to resurrect things," he said. "I think the best part about it is all these traditions, although they're incredibly well known, are all run and funded by locals. "It's their traditions, it's their thing." The government will work with the devolved governments to create the list and will consider submissions from across the UK. It comes after the UK signed the 2003 Unesco Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Culture Heritage, which requires member states to compile an inventory of living heritage practised by communities in each country. Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Cheese rolling contestants take on Cooper's Hill Organisers 'excited' for return of Woolsack Race Cotswold Olimpick Games
BBC News
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Cotswold Olimpicks supporters want event on heritage list
The addition of the Cotswold Olimpicks to a new heritage list could be "vital" for its future, a historian has event takes place in Chipping Campden and counts the world shin-kicking championships and tug o' war among its government will soon be seeking submissions from the public to nominate their favourite traditions that best reflect the nation, which will be recorded in the new Inventory of Living Heritage in the Greenall, a custodian of the event's 400-year history, said its inclusion on the list would be "vital" because "it is the traditions of ordinary people that could go missing". The Cotswold Olimpicks was started by Robert Dover, an author and attorney, who, after moving to Chipping Campden, wanted to channel the competitive traits of residents in is thought William Shakespeare may have attended the games in their early days, shortly before his death in wrestling scene in As You Like It and the line "How did your dog run on Cotsall (Cotswold)?" in the Merry Wives of Windsor are thought to be inspired by the rolling on Cooper's Hill, surfing the Severn Bore, and the Woolsack Races in Tetbury may also be submitted for the list. 'It's their traditions' Mr Greenall said, despite the global recognition some Gloucestershire traditions receive, their inclusion on the list would prevent them from going "missing"."Royalty [is] self-sustaining, but with cheese rolling and the football in the river, if they stop for a while, it's quite difficult to resurrect things," he said."I think the best part about it is all these traditions, although they're incredibly well known, are all run and funded by locals."It's their traditions, it's their thing."The government will work with the devolved governments to create the list and will consider submissions from across the comes after the UK signed the 2003 Unesco Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Culture Heritage, which requires member states to compile an inventory of living heritage practised by communities in each country.
Telegraph
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
We must protect niche British sports like snail racing at all costs
Are you free on July 19? It's a Saturday. If you are, may I recommend the Snail Racing World Championship? This momentous annual event is held in a small village in Norfolk called Congham. 'Congham is to snail racing what Newmarket is to [horse] racing,' proclaims a bold statement on the organisers' website. The rules are simple. Find a snail, give it a name, place it gently down on a table alongside some of the other competing snails, and the first to finish a 13in course wins. The world record holder is a snail called Archie which smashed the course in two minutes in 1995. No snail has been able to beat that in the intervening three decades. Last year's winner, called Jeff, managed it in four minutes and five seconds. 'Giant foreign snails are not allowed,' proclaims the website. British snails only. I don't think we need to get too het up about animal rights, do we? Snails have quite a rotten time of it, I often think, seeing crunched shells smeared all over the local pavements. Lovely to be give a name and have a day out, for a change. I only mention it because the Government is seeking submissions from the public for a list of British events that should be officially recognised and protected. Examples given have been Hogmanay and the Notting Hill Carnival, and successful submissions will be recorded in something called the Inventory of Living Heritage. And while part of me thinks, 'Is this really the sort of thing that government employees should be spending their time on?' another part thinks, 'We must protect the Snail Racing World Championships at all costs.' Because we can do better than just Hogmanay and the Notting Hill Carnival, surely? Those are obvious, large events that hardly need protecting. Instead, let's look after the more niche, dare I say, eccentric British events that largely start kicking off around this time of year. On Easter Sunday, for instance, the World Egg Jarping Championships take place in a pub in County Durham. There's a video of this athletic competition on YouTube, but in short, it's conkers – except instead of horse chestnuts entrants use hard-boiled eggs. The prize for whoever's egg is hardest is an egg-shaped trophy – and the glory of winning such a titanic battle. On May 5, the International Festival of Worm Charming takes place in Devon. Contestants must charm as many worms as they can from a yard-square plot in 15 minutes. On the second May bank holiday, Chipping Campden will host the Shin Kicking Championships, which is very much like it sounds: people competing to kick one another's shins. In each round, the winner is whoever gets the highest number of blows in. Soft shoes are worn; shins are padded with straw. And on it goes. The World Pooh Sticks Championships, Dorset Knob Throwing, the Elastic Band Pinging Championships, the British Lawn Mower Racing Championships. Heats for the latter start in May and races run until October. There is magic in the unusual, here. These are not mainstream events, but in many cases they are historic ones. They're also events for those who may not have excelled at football or hockey when younger; those who weren't conventionally athletic but suddenly realise that they have a knack with a hard-boiled egg or a Pooh stick. And isn't that terrifically inclusive? They're also, in many cases, events which take people outside on summer weekends, away from screens, with a gaggle of friends or family. I'm not saying that you have to join in with the shin kicking and return home with purple legs, or the Nettle Eating Championships, in Dorset in June, and spend several subsequent days with a swollen black tongue. But you can go along, watch, cheer, and celebrate the fact that we have such brilliantly bonkers dates in our annual calendar. Next weekend, one of my favourite such events, the Dalemain World Marmalade Awards, takes place in Cumbria. I've mentioned them before, but I was a judge for the first time this year, and as a result spent a weekend in February tasting hundreds of jars sent to the organisers from around the world. So much marmalade that I felt quite sick, drunk on sugar, by the end of the weekend. And yet still I remain a fan. If you happen to be near Penrith, I highly recommend a trip to Dalemain, the Georgian house where the festival takes place next Saturday and Sunday, to see thousands of both professionally made and amateur jars of marmalade laid out for visitors to inspect. It's the 20th anniversary of the awards this year. They were originally started to give the local community something to look forward to after foot and mouth devastated the rural area, and also to raise money for a local hospice. Big events – Hogmanay and the Notting Hill Carnival – support local charities too, but the smaller ones are more grass roots, enlivening little pockets of community around the country. People often decry the loss of community these days, but I'm not sure how many people you'd catch lamenting the same at the World Custard Pie Championships in the Kent village of Coxheath (held on the first Saturday in June, if you're keen), which started 50 years ago as a way to raise money for the local village hall. The annual trumpeting about the British season will soon start, celebrating the likes of the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, Wimbledon, the Derby, Cowes Week, Royal Ascot and assorted other events which mostly require a vastly expensive ticket and a certain level of dressing up. And yet what would you rather: to put on a hat and sit in traffic for several hours to get to the racecourse for a hot, sweaty day jostling with thousands of others, or a charming afternoon spent standing over a table in a Norfolk village, watching a handful of snails calmly make their way along a 13in piece of braid? Exactly. Let's protect them.
BBC News
15-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Gloucestershire cheese rolling could be added to UK heritage list
An annual cheese rolling event could be officially recognised and protected if it is added to a new heritage list. Gloucestershire's cheese rolling race on Cooper's Hill near Brockworth attracts competitors and spectators from around the world every year. The tradition sees competitors chase a 7lb (3kg) wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down a steep government will soon be seeking submissions from members of the public to nominate their favourite traditions that best reflect the nation, which will be recorded in the new Inventory of Living Heritage in the minister Baroness Twycross said: "The UK is rich with wonderful traditions." The UK-wide inventory aims to start a conversation, raise awareness and keep track of the crafts, customs and celebrations that are valued across the country. Nominations will be separated into seven categories including performing arts, crafts and social practices such as festivals and customs. Sports and games will also have a category, along with oral expressions like poetry and storytelling. Other traditions in the county like surfing the Severn Bore or Woolsack Races in Tetbury could be submitted for the list. The government will work with the devolved governments to create the list and will consider submissions from across the comes after the UK signed the 2003 Unesco Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Culture Heritage, which requires member states to compile an inventory of living heritage practised by communities in each country.
