Played in Britain is a ten-year research project for

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

which seeks to record and celebrate Britain's sporting and recreational heritage, coinciding with the period from the staging of the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Much of the research has been made publicly available in a series of books, also called Played in Britain, featuring historic buildings (such as grandstands, pavilions, swimming pools and billiard halls) and sportscapes (such as golf courses, racecourses, rivers and lakes). The series also looks at sporting artefacts and archaeology. The Played in Britain research project is led by author and architectural historian

Simon Inglis Simon Inglis (born 1955) is an author, editor, architectural historian and lecturer. He specialises in the history, heritage and architecture of sport and recreation. Inglis is best known for his work on football history and stadiums, and as edi ...

, best known for his books on football grounds, stadiums and football history. Simon Inglis is also the series editor of the Played in Britain books.

Background

The Played in Britain series was launched in 2004, following a pilot study conducted in

in 2002 as part of English Heritage’s contribution to the cultural programme of the

. It frequently cites as its inspiration the words of Joseph Strutt, author of the seminal book ''The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England'', first published in 1801. Strutt wrote, “In order to form a just estimation of the character of any particular people, it is absolutely necessary to investigate the sports and pastimes most generally prevalent among them.” Sporting heritage in Britain is expected to gain increased attention as the

approach, but such attention is often dismissed as tokenism. For example, as government and lottery money was lavished on a new swimming pool in

for the

, a few hundred yards away one of the most important historic swimming pools in Europe, the

Victoria Baths Victoria Baths is a Grade II* listed building, in the Chorlton-on-Medlock area of Manchester, in northwest England. The Baths opened to the public in 1906 and cost £59,144 to build. Manchester City Council closed the baths in 1993 and the buildi ...

(built 1903-06) lay empty and abandoned by its owners,

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

. Some of the other threatened Victorian and Edwardian baths around Britain are in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and most recently,

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

. More historic sports venues in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

are expected to suffer as funds are increasingly diverted towards projects for the

Research so far

Played in Britain has published studies of the sporting heritage of Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Tyne and Wear, Glasgow (for

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. ...

) and London. The series has also featured seven thematic studies: ''Uppies and Downies'' by Hugh Hornby, on the so-called 'extraordinary football games of Britain' such as the

Royal Shrovetide Football The Royal Shrovetide Football Match is a "medieval football" game played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, England. Shrovetide ball games have been played in England since at least the 12th ce ...

match at Ashbourne, the

Kirkwall Ba Game The Kirkwall Ba' Game (known locally as The Ba') is one of the main annual events held in the town of Kirkwall, in Orkney, Scotland. It is one of a number of Ba' Games played in the streets of towns around Scotland; these are examples of mediev ...

at Christmas and New Year and the annual

Haxey Hood The Haxey Hood is a traditional event in Haxey, North Lincolnshire, England. It consists of a game in which a large football scrum (the "sway") pushes a leather tube (the "hood") to one of four pubs in the town, where it remains until the follow ...

game in Lincolnshire. Hornby is a former curator at the

National Football Museum The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia. The museum was originally b ...

in Preston. ''Liquid Assets'' by Janet Smith, is a study of the

lido Lido may refer to: Geography Africa * Lido, a district in the city of Fez, Morocco Asia * Lido, an area in Chaoyang District, Beijing * Lido, a cinema theater in Siam Square shopping area in Bangkok * Lido City, a resort in West Java owned by MN ...

s and open air swimming pools of Britain, of which there are approximately 100 left, down from a peak of around 300 in the early 1950s. The book’s foreword was written by artist

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Associate of the Royal Academy, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawi ...

, herself a great fan of outdoor swimming from her youth in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. ''Engineering Archie'' by

, looks at the life and work of the Scottish football ground engineer

Archibald Leitch Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Early work Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work was on designing tea ...

. ''Great Lengths'' by Dr Ian Gordon and Simon Inglis, features detailed studies of 54 of Britain's historic indoor swimming pools and includes a comprehensive directory of extant baths-related buildings from 1800-1970. The foreword to ''Great Lengths'' is written by double Olympic gold medallist, Rebecca Adlington. ''Played at the Pub'' by Arthur Taylor describes the wide range of pub games to be found in Britain, from darts to dwile flonking, and features long lost games such as knur and spell and nipsy. ''The British Olympics, Britain's Olympic heritage 1612-2012'' by Martin Polley, who details Britain's surprisingly long association with the Olympics. ''Bowled Over, the bowling greens of Britain'', by Hugh Hornby, on the rich history and heritage of bowling and the associated greens and pavilions of Britain. The series has been regularly reviewed in the national press and media, but received its most surprising boost from the TV programme

Richard & Judy ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...

, which featured a pocket book in the series, called ''A Load of Old Balls''. Although apparently a flippant title, the book is actually about the design and manufacture of balls in sport, and the decline of the British ball manufacturing industry. Another strand in the series is devoted to reproducing the archives of Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly, a pioneering magazine founded by Charles Buchan and first published in 1951. Five books from the archive have been published so far - ''The Best of Charles Buchan's Football Monthly'', ''Charles Buchan's Arsenal Gift Book'', ''Charles Buchan's Manchester United Gift Book'', ''Charles Buchan's Spurs Gift Book'' and ''Charles Buchan's Liverpool Gift Book''.

Bibliography

*''Played in Manchester'' by Simon Inglis *''Played in Birmingham'' by Steve Beauchampe and Simon Inglis *''Played in Liverpool'' by Ray Physick *''Played in Tyne and Wear'' by Lynn Pearson *''Played in Glasgow'' by Ged O'Brien *''Played in London'' by Simon Inglis *''A Load of Old Balls'' by Simon Inglis *''Uppies and Downies'' by Hugh Hornby *''Liquid Assets'' by Janet Smith *''Engineering Archie'' by Simon Inglis *''Great Lengths'' by Dr Ian Gordon and Simon Inglis *''Played at the Pub'' by Arthur Taylor *''The British Olympics'' by Martin Polley *''Bowled Over'' by Hugh Hornby *''The Best of Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly'' *''Charles Buchan’s Manchester United Gift Book'' *''Charles Buchan’s Arsenal Gift Book'' *''Charles Buchan's Spurs Gift Book'' *''Charles Buchan's Liverpool Gift Book''

References

Played in Britain

English Heritage

Our sporting heritage is being lost Telegraph

Scrums of village comfort Telegraph
{cbignore, bot=medic
Lidos are back with a splash Financial Times

Sporting cathedrals pass into oblivion Financial Times

The sporting legacy that helped to shape our city Liverpool Daily Post

On the edge New Statesman

Man who built his place in history Times

Background

Research so far

Bibliography

References

External links