The World Championships…Pooh Sticks Anyone?
We’ve all done it, haven’t we. Been out walking with friends, spotted a river, then a bridge and had an uncontrollable urge to grab the best looking stick and drop it in to the river just to dash to the other side of the bridge to watch anxiously to see which will emerge victorious. In my experience, however, I always seem to pick the stick that gets stuck or somehow looks like another.
Pooh Sticks was originally mentioned in the Winnie the Pooh book ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ by A.A Milne. The game was originally played with a pine cone, the rules were subsequently devised for the stick version once Pooh realised that pine cones were harder to find.
If you fancy yourself as a Pooh Sticks expert (unlike myself), you should make a date with Pooh, Tigger (my fav!) and friends at Day’s Lock at the River Thames this Sunday where the annual Pooh Sticks Championships are being held for the 28th year. The charity event attracts in excess of 3000 visitors and has raised over £30,000 for the RNLI.
Why not enter your family as a team? Each team needs four players, and you have to register in advance on the Championship website. If going solo appeals, you can register on the day from 11am.
This fun event is loved and entered by all ages (‘if you can hold a stick, you can play’) the individual winner in 2011 was Saffron Sollit, aged 9. You will be sure to enjoy a fantastic day at Days Lock where there will be a bouncy castle and many old traditional games such as Welly Throwing, Roll a Penny and Tombola. Sit and watch the world go by while you enjoy tea and cakes on the bank, before head downing the hill to watch the competition heat up at Little Wittenham Bridge.
The 2012 World Pooh Sticks Championships
Sunday 25th March, Day’s Lock, the River Thames.
Registration from 11 am. The actual games begin at 11.30 am.
http://www.pooh–sticks.com
