People always say that we British have our own particular way of doing things.
For example, most of the rest of the world can’t understand why we drive on the left-hand side of the road or how the national game of cricket can last for five days and still end in a draw.
We also have our own range of particularly British festivals and events throughout the year, many of which could equally well be Monty Python sketches they’re so surreal.
Of course, in Nantwich we have our very own worm-charming festival that attracts entrants from all over the country.
And even though one-small-world.com might claim that the rival international worm-charming festival in Blacklawton, Devon is Europe’s most unmissable festival, we Nantwich-dwellers know different.
Ready, steady, slow
It seems that the wacky and the wonderful take place the length and breadth of Britain.
But for sheer excitement, slowed down so no one misses a thing, it’s hard to beat the annual snail races that are held at Congham, Norfolk.
The plucky mollusc competitors have to cover the 13-inch course as quickly as possible, and all strive to do better than a snail called Archie who made it into guinnessworldrecords.com in 1995 with a seemingly unbeatable time of 2 minutes.
Part of the fun of the event is the unofficial betting that goes on behind the scenes with owners backing their race-fit, galloping gastropods to defeat all comers.
No, it might not be as much fun as betting in one of the online casinos you’ll find at bonusfinder.com, and the track-side bookies won’t offer the same generous welcome bonuses for new players as the featured casinos do.
The thrill of live-action makes up for this, at least a little, although, for sheer excitement, it’s understandable that many people might prefer to watch slots or a roulette wheel spinning round instead in one of the featured casinos.
Pass the gravy
Food is also a strong part of our national culture so it’s no big surprise that this also plays a part in some pretty outlandish events.
Most of us know about the annual cheese rolling in Gloucestershire in which plucky contestants hurl themselves down Cooper’s Hill with the winner being awarded an eight-pound cheese and the losers ending up in A&E with cuts, bruises, sprains and fractures.
A less well-known foodie event is the gravy-wrestling competition held in Lancashire each summer. Unlike Turkish wrestling in which the fighters are covered in olive oil to make them slippery, in Lancashire it’s Bisto on the menu.
It’s all in aid of a very good cause though, with the money raised going to local charities.
There are countless other events we could mention too, from bog snorkelling in Wales to tossing the caber in Scotland, as well as leaping over burning barrels of tar in Bonfire Night celebrations in Lewes, Sussex.
They’re all at least a little bit eccentric, but isn’t that exactly what we British are too?
I love our Nantwich idiosyncrasies and am particularly fond of the Wybunbury Fig Pie Wakes – there is something really wonderful about the atmosphere surrounding a whole village coming to a halt on a summer afternoon to roll inedible fig pies down the Main Road! #wybunburyrocksandrolls