England Travel Guide
Sporting Events

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Why Travel to England to see sporting events?
Many sports now played internationally began in the United Kingdom and several of the most revered competitions in the world are still held there.
Some wacky traditional festival sports are also to be found in the far reaches of this otherwise civilized land.

For dates see: English Speaking Festivals

International Sporting Events:

Equestrian sports:

Badminton Horse Trials - equestrian dressage, showjumping and cross country at its international finest and toughest. Guided course walks are usually available with top riders.
Badminton Estate, Gloucestershire.

International Show Jumping Championships - indoors at Olympia, London.

Royal Ascot - horse races with royal patronage and full aristocratic pomp and pageantry. Also the UK's best known display of huge and bizarre hats - courtesy of race goers.
Ascot Racecourse, Berkshire.

Derby Day - another long-time, world famous horsey sporting event.
Epsom Racecourse,Surrey.

The Grand National - the greatest [horses again!] steeple chase [obstacle race]in the world.
Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool.

Other sports:

Wimbledon Tennis Tournament [pic above right] - widely regarded by players and spectators alike as the most important tennis tournament on the international circuit. Take a sun hat and umbrella and buy strawberries and cream for the full experience.
Wimbledon, London.

British Grand Prix - the UK leg of the International F1 car racing World Championship.
Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire.

World Snooker Championships - pot black.
The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.

Six Nations Cup Rugby. Four UK teams, France and Italy in battles of the big men.
Twickenham, London; Murrayfield, Edinburgh and Millenium Stadium, Cardiff are hosts to several games.

Isle of Man TT - the world's most famous and crazy motorcycle road races on tiny, twisting, stone-walled roads. A travel must for bikers.
Isle of Man, [off the Cumbrian Coast].

World Darts Championships - The Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey.

London to Sydney Rally - anyone with $38,000 going spare plus a classic or recreational 4x4 car to drive can enter the ultimate 30 day international adventure rally. London to start, July 2004.

'I can't tell who's leading, it's either Oxford or Cambridge' John Snagge on the Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race

National Sporting Events:

Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race - the UK's two most prestigious universities battle it out over 4 miles 374 yards of the river Thames between Putney and Mortlake.
London.

Henley Royal Regatta [pic above left]- independent but internationally recognised rowing competitions. For the posh. This is Pimm's # 1 country.
Henley-on-Thames.

London Marathon - major celebrities and minor exhibitionists in wacky outfits join thousands of runners and travel around 21 miles of the streets.
London.

FA Cup Final - the Football Association first division Cup Final between the UK's best national soccer teams.
The team's home grounds.

Regional and Festival Sporting Events:

Brockworth Cheese Rolling - Double Gloucester cheese is taken to the top of very steep Cooper's Hill and rolled down it. Several hundred people run and tumble after it trying to keep up, some always travel to hospital afterwards.
Cooper's Hill, Brockworth, Gloucestershire.

Tetbury Woolsack Races - sixty [gentlemen] and thirty five pound [ladies] sacks of wool race over Gumstool Hill between two pubs. Gumstool Hill, Tetbury, Gloucestershire.

Cotswold Olympics - traditional country games such as tug-of-war and skittles plus shin kicking [wearing steel toe caps] competitions. Dover's Hill, Chipping Camden, Gloucestershire.

Ottery St. Mary Tar Barrels - tar soaked barrels are lit and carried around the town with local people battling it out for barrel running supremacy. The evening culminates in a huge bonfire being lit by the winning barrel on the banks of the river Otter.
Ottery St. Mary, Devon.

Scotland: Highland Games - traditional Scottish sporting events such as hammer throwing and caber tossing are held throughout Scotland each year. The most famous are the Braemar Highland Games.

For further information on sports see Bugbog's Travel UK: Travel Links

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