July 28th, 2010 by Kate
The Isle of Man is full of folklore, and one such tale is that some of the little people hide under the Fairy Bridge in Santon. It is considered bad luck to pass over the bridge without acknowledging the fairies known to be there. Some people write little messages and wishes on paper and tie them to the trees next to the bridge. Unfortunately this custom has got a bit out of hand and the place looks rather littered and untidy so there is a move afoot to install a letter box so that people can post their notes tidily.
The Isle of Man Today has the news article
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July 25th, 2010 by Kate
Ireland abounds with stories and myths surrounding a variety of characters generally called ‘the little people’. Leprechauns are just one variety. So how did they originate? Obviously we don’t really know as these stories have grown up over a very long time. However many theories abound.
The word leprechaun comes from the Irish “leipreachán, lucharachán” which comes from the Middle Irish” luchrapán, lupra(c)cán”, originally from the Old Irish ”lúchorp(án)” meaning small body.
Read more about Leprechauns
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July 22nd, 2010 by Kate
Golf has been around since at least 1457, when King James II of Scotland banned golf and football on the grounds that they where keeping his subjects from their archery practice. The first surviving written reference to golf in St. Andrews is contained in Archbishop Hamilton’s Charter of 1552. This reserves the right of the people of St. Andrews to use the linksland “for golff, futball, schuteing and all gamis”. As early as 1691, the town had become known as the “metropolis of golfing”.
The term seems to have originated from the old Scots words golve, gowl or gouf and is possibly borrowed from medieval Dutch (colf being club and “spel metten colven” being game (played) with club – this was a Dutch game resembling golf). As time has passed, the name has remained and been refined to golf, as we know it today. You will still hear older Scottish golfers refer to the game as the Gowf, keeping the older Scots name in use. Indeed, a golf club in Ayrshire is still called Loudoun Gowf Club today.
With thanks to the Museum of Golf which contains many other fascinating facts!
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July 16th, 2010 by Kate
The Proms - billed as the World’s greatest classical music festival – starts today.
They started life in 1894 as ‘Mr Robert Newman’s Promenade Concerts’. Mr Newman, an impresario, had a vision of bringing the wide range of high standard classical music to the masses. Ticket prices were kept low. 5d a concert!
Mr Newman has long since been forgotten but not Sir Henry Wood, the first Proms conductor.
Read more about the History of the Proms
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July 16th, 2010 by Kate
The British Open Golf Championship (or simply ‘The Open’) is in full swing at St Andrew’s, the ‘home of golf’. Many think it should always be here. It is, as always, being played on The Old Course. Non members cannot play on the Old Course but there are 11 other courses to choose from.
St Andrews for more information about St Andrew’s golf courses.
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July 13th, 2010 by Kate
While researching the Battle of Britain for the recent post I wanted to get Churchill’s quote exacty right and came across a whole load of the great man’s words. They make fascinating reading. He really was a witty and wise man. This one in particular struck home:
Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.
Oh if only this lesson was heeded more often…………….
Plucked, with thanks, from the web site www.quotationspage.com
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July 11th, 2010 by Kate
Silverstone is a small village in Northamptonshire but its’ name is synonymous with F1 motor racing. Today it will host the British Grand Prix, as it has over the past 60 years. In 1950 the first ever World Drivers’ Championship event was held here. It would have been a tragedy (well, a real shame) if Silverstone had lost the contract as was feared. However, an updated track will be tested today with two British Drivers heading the Driver’s table (if not on the grid!)
Read more on the Silverstone site
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July 9th, 2010 by Kate
This year Britain is commemoratng the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the dog fight in the skies over southern Britain, between the 10th July and 31st October 1940, when the RAF saw off a German air force 4 times its size. As Churchill famously put it ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’
There are various events throughout the Summer to commemorate the event. On 11 July at the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, on the south coast of Kent, a special memorial day has been planned featuring a fly past of the iconic aircraft.
Find out where and when you can see a flypast of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
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July 6th, 2010 by Kate
As I am on a roll, tennis wise, I thought I would cover Real Tennis too. This was the forerunner to lawn tennis, or just tennis. It was (and still is – it is still played by a few people in the UK, Australia, USA and France) played on an inside court. You can score points by bouncing the ball off the walls of the court. The scoring is basically like Lawn Tennis but is a lot more complicated! For more info see the IRTPA website
It was a game popular with Royalty in the 16th/17th centuries and there is a real tennis court at Hampton Court Palace. This is the oldest surviving court in England and is stil actively used by the Royal Tennis Court Club
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July 3rd, 2010 by Kate
We are now at the end of the first week of Wimbledon or just ‘The Championships’. It brings back happy memories of school trips for me. We spent most of the time star spotting. I managed to get John Newcombe’s autograph one year (that’s showing my age!) It is much more popular now and it is far too much like hard work to get in, unless you are lucky enough to get a Centre Court or Court 1 ticket via the open ballot.
I am not going to talk abut the results as no doubt you are following if you are interested in tennis. In 1877 the All England Croquet Club became The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club and started the first Lawn Tennis Championship. The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen’s Singles which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.
A new code of laws was drawn up for the meeting. These have stood the test of time and today’s rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.
Extracted from the official Wimbledon site
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