What do the ancient Greeks have in common with a muddy Yorkshire Dales activity?
The clue lies in the flat boxes you may have seen on some Yorkshire Dales village greens.
The game is quoits, which some people claim is related to the discus, suggesting quoits was played at the early Greek Olympics. Their theory is that the discus/quoits were brought to Britain by the Romans and then played in England.
Another theory is that quoits is related to a pub game, throwing cast-off horseshoes at a target on the ground. However it began, the game has been around for a long time.
There's evidence quoits has been played for centuries, mainly in agricultural, and sometimes mining areas where the quoits were made from old forged metal. Apparently in the middle ages it was considered a dodgy sport, attracting undesirables to bet in pubs ,but by the late 19th century quoits was respectable enough to have its own set of official rules.
The best way to learn about quoits is to go and watch a game. In essence a set of quoits are aimed at stakes in the ground known as hobs. The game is played with a team of 7, throwing the quoits 11 yards to land over the hob in the clay pit. In the Dales I think games are played in the Dales on Mondays and Thursdays.
All images thanks to Alan Hargrave
The clue lies in the flat boxes you may have seen on some Yorkshire Dales village greens.
The game is quoits, which some people claim is related to the discus, suggesting quoits was played at the early Greek Olympics. Their theory is that the discus/quoits were brought to Britain by the Romans and then played in England.
Another theory is that quoits is related to a pub game, throwing cast-off horseshoes at a target on the ground. However it began, the game has been around for a long time.
There's evidence quoits has been played for centuries, mainly in agricultural, and sometimes mining areas where the quoits were made from old forged metal. Apparently in the middle ages it was considered a dodgy sport, attracting undesirables to bet in pubs ,but by the late 19th century quoits was respectable enough to have its own set of official rules.
The best way to learn about quoits is to go and watch a game. In essence a set of quoits are aimed at stakes in the ground known as hobs. The game is played with a team of 7, throwing the quoits 11 yards to land over the hob in the clay pit. In the Dales I think games are played in the Dales on Mondays and Thursdays.
All images thanks to Alan Hargrave
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