While the likes of Rugby League, Sykes and Slazenger are pretty well known, here we're shining a light on two of our region's more unusual sporting events.
They feature in our latest displays at Castleford Museum and the new Ossett Library Museum Hub - and have suitably Yorkshire names!
Ah’ll race thee!
We're celebrating the World Coal Carrying Championships in the newly refurbished and reopened Ossett Library in Ossett Town Hall. |
| The 'Ah'll race thee!' display at Ossett Library |
Every Easter Monday the village of Gawthorpe comes together to stage the World Coal Carrying championships.
What could be more Yorkshire than running up a steep hill with a heavy bag of coal on your back after making a bet in a pub?
That pub bet in the 1960s has turned into a Guiness World Record annual sporting event!
The main adult race is a gruelling challenge. Contestants carry a bag of coal from the Royal Oak pub on Owl Lane in Ossett to the Maypole Green in Gawthorpe.
The route covers 1012 metres. Men carry 50 kilograms of coal and women carry 20 kilograms. Each year a pigeon clock records the official race times.
The race is much more than a sports competition. Athletes take part for lots of different reasons. They run for charity, personal improvement, or on behalf of a loved one who no longer can.
David Jones’ Guinness World Record time of four minutes and six seconds was set in 1995 and still stands today!
The race is much more than a sports competition. Athletes take part for lots of different reasons. They run for charity, personal improvement, or on behalf of a loved one who no longer can.
David Jones’ Guinness World Record time of four minutes and six seconds was set in 1995 and still stands today!
See what happened in the 2022 event, the first after the COVID-19 lockdowns, in our video:
A Reight Neet Aht! at Castleford Museum
Between 1936 and 1957 Castleford held a star-studded sporting event.Since 1932 the game of marbles has been officially classified as a sport. Local journalist Sid Colclough got the community together to host an annual marbles (or taws) tournament each year as a charity event.
The event was the talk of Yorkshire. The cinema and music hall star, Gracie Fields was a patron. In 1940, the star guest was entertainer, George Formby.
In 1955 Chairman of the Daimler motorcar company, Sir Bernard and Lady Docker, attended the event, arriving in a golden car. They played marbles, resting their knees on golden cushions. Lady Docker became Women’s world taws champion, and they donated £1000 towards cancer relief.
Find out more about the fabulous 1955 event in this video:
In 1956 the event was given a ‘zebra’ theme, some marbles even had zebra stripes. Even cars arrived reupholstered with zebra skins!
Explore more about A Reight Neet Aht in our dedicated blog, or visit the new display and get your gladrags on at Castleford Museum.
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| The 'Reight Neet Aht' display at Castleford Museum |
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