Scotland beat England in unique Penny Farthing bicycle polo match

Scotland beat England in unique Penny Farthing bicycle polo match

Back in 2010 I posted about The Great Race, a Penny Farthing bicycle race that takes place once every ten years in the Manchester suburb of Knutsford - and which therefore as it happens was due for a re-staging this year (this very month, in fact), but which has instead had to be put back to 2021 as a result of the ongoing Covid situation.  Something to look forward to next year, then, but in the meantime an equally quaint Victorian velocipedist sport recently took place in Richmond, London - Penny Farthing polo!

source - The Penny Farthing Club

An annual event, this, played this year at the Ham Polo Club's grounds in Richmond and known as the Penny Farthing Calcutta Cup it sees the traditional rivalry of Scotland versus England taken on to the polo field with a wonderfully eccentric twist.

Following much the same rules as equine-based polo, the two four-a-side teams play five chukkas of seven minutes' duration and the result of this particular match was an 8-7 victory for the Scots.  England are still in a strong position, though, leading the series 3-2, previous matches having been played this year in front of reduced crowds (usually in the thousands but currently restricted to 100 - suitably socially-distanced, of course) at Cowdray Park in West Sussex, Herne Hill in London and at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor.

It certainly looks like a lot of fun (the footage below is one chukka from last year's event), although I fancy one would have to be a particularly skilful Penny Farthing rider and polo player as indeed both teams' captains (and their teammates) are by the sound of things.  Even so it was perhaps inevitable that there would be a few tumbles and unseatings in the course of the matches!

source - Wikimedia Commons

It's splendid to see these charming Victorian machines continuing to be used and enjoyed today, especially in unusual circumstances such as these, thanks to the sterling efforts of enthusiasts like Neil Laughton (polo) and Glynn Stockdale (Great Race).  An instantly recognisable machine, the design of which is so closely associated with the 19th century, it is brilliant that they are still being produced today in various forms from traditional replicas to more modern interpretations for use by people from all ends of the cycling spectrum - be that vintagistas keen to master a more traditional cycle in keeping with their period of interest, up to competitive sportspeople such as the road racers and polo players mentioned here.  Long may that continue, and needless to say I will be rooting for England to wrap up the series and win the Penny Farthing Calcutta Cup for 2020 (with apologies to my Scottish readers!).

Britain's first seaplane to fly again as enthusiasts make replica of Waterbird

Images courtesy of flyingmachines.ru

Britain's first seaplane to fly again as enthusiasts make replica of Waterbird

I have "Richard Hannay" of the excellent blog Electric Edwardians to thank for making me aware of this fantastic article.  His site is a wonderful resource of pictures and information about the buildings, machines and related occurrences during the 1910s.

One hundred years ago, less than a decade after the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, British aviation pioneers A. V. Roe (later to become Avro, creator of the Lancaster and Vulcan bombers amongst others) became the first company in the United Kingdom to successfully build and fly a seaplane - the A. V. Roe Curtiss-type "Waterbird".

Now I'm very pleased to see that local aviation enthusiasts have not only marked the centenary of the first flight at Lake Windermere on the 25th November 1911, but also intend to build a replica of the Waterbird and actually fly it!  To see such an important landmark in British aviation remembered in this fashion is splendid and everyone involved is to be congratulated - I hope the necessary funds to finish the aircraft are forthcoming.  It is indeed a good thing that this early trailblazing flight is not forgotten and is appreciated by a new generation and what better way to ensure that than with a working, flying example of the machine.  It would be a wonderful sight to see the Waterbird take to the skies - and the water - again, a century after its first foray across Windermere.  Best of luck, chaps!