East Midlands Tourism

 

Where Else But England

 
The English are well known for their eccentricities the world over and the East Midlands is no exception.  To celebrate this East Midlands Tourism is running a vote to find the region’s most bizarre and unusual events. The two events with the highest number of votes will go through to a national final, where they will go head to head with other unusual events across England, for the chance to win a national tourism award.
 
A shortlist of contenders has been drawn up.  Please vote for your favourite two events from the list below, or if you know of other eccentric experiences then why not make your own nomination by completing the box at the bottom of the page.
 
 
 


The World Hen Racing Championships have brought an entirely new meaning to "Chicken Run" - not to mention some egg-stra egg-citement to the Peak District. Each August visitors to the Barley Mow pub in the village of Bonsall are treated to the sight of chickens racing along a 30-foot track, and all under strict world championship regulations!
 
First held over 30 years ago, the Bentley Brook Inn now hosts the World Toe Wrestling Championships - a feast of foot foolery, awful wrestling outfits and toe-rifically bad puns. Contestants sit opposite each other on the Toedium and, locking big toes, place their feet on a small wooden frame, termed the Toesrack. At the cry of "Toedown", they wrestle both right and left feet in order to get their opponent's foot down. The organisers have big plans for the event and in 1997 applied for its inclusion in the Olympic Games, however to the disappointment of 'toe fans' it was not accepted.
 
For 364 days a year the villages of Hallaton and Medbourne in Leicestershire are the epitome of quintessential England but for one day a year it's an altogether different story. Every Easter Monday the two villages battle against each other to get possession of a small wooden keg referred to as the 'bottle' and carry it over their finish line, two streams a mile apart. There are virtually no rules to bottle kicking but the teams have to nagivate various obstacles including ditches, hedges and even barbed wire to get to the streams. The game is the best of three with a new bottle being introduced after the previous one is won.
 
When Lady de Mowbary donated land to farmers in the 14th century as thanks for rescuing her bonnet that blew off whilst she was out riding between Haxey and Weswoodside it was on the condition that the chase be re-enacted each year, and today that tradition is still going strong. Only instead of farm hands it's four teams, representing the pubs in the neighbouring villages of Haxey and Westwoodside, that do battle to see who can win the "hood" a piece of cylindrical leather and claim it for their team.
 
The World Egg Throwing Competition - Lincolnshire An eggtastic eggstravaganza with everything from basic egg throwing and catching to relays, egg roulette and build your own egg hurling this is an egg lovers delight.
 
Modern day gladiators fight for glory armed with nothing more than a nut and a 12 inch piece of string on a quaint village green in the village of Ashton in Northamptonshire, for the chance to be crowned Conker World Champion. First organised by Ashton Conker Club in 1965 the event now has an international following.
 
Every late May bank holiday the The Jackson Stops Inn at Stretton plays host to the World Nurdling Championships, where contestants hurl 13 old pennies into a hole drilled into the seat of an oaken settle. The traditional game of Nurdling dates back to the Middle Ages. The current 'Best Tosser' is Don Bentley.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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