MuseumFromHome: Sports Day

In today's #MuseumFromHome post, Ely Museum is setting you a challenge to try over half term!

Did you know that each year between 1893 - 1964 Ely hosted an annual sports day on the Paradise Fields?

The sports day attracted crowds of up to 10,000 people each year with the cycling & athletic programme attracting high profile names as the track was praised as one of the best in Britain.

Following each sports day was also a programme of music, dancing, games and fireworks which were enjoyed by all.

Events at the sports day varied over the years and included a variety of traditional athletic and cycling races, with things like motorcycling, go-karting, wrestling and a gymkhana being added to the annual events throughout the 1950s and 60s.

The sports day also included some traditional sports-day races like an obstacle courses, egg & spoon races, sack races and tug-of-wars, but also included several strange & unique races too!

Whilst these races varied from year to year, the ‘Alternative Races’ in the Victorian era included a donkey, a costumed donkey race, a challenging sounding bicycle obstacle race, and even a pillow fight!

Watch our video on Facebook to learn more about the races that took place each year and have fun designing & making your own winners trophy and medals!

Our challenge to you this week during half-term is to create your own fun Ely Sports Day themed race to enjoy with your family at home, in the garden or at the park!

Download a blank version of the sheet below or create your own rules sheet.

After you've had your race and the winner has been announced - the local newspaper would love to include a report for their next edition!

Finally, the race officials at the sports day are having some problems working out how many points each team has - will you help them work out the answers to these questions?