An Athletics Compendium

^4 288-299 Rural Games 288 The contribution oscfhools and universitiesto the development of organised sport up to 1900 (with special reference to athletics and swimmin/g) TM. . James. Leicester University, 1977. PhD thesis. 289 The history otfhe English Schools' Athletic Association, 1925-1980 / D. A. Young. Manchester University, 1981. MEd thesis. Rural Games 290 The lastrecords of a Cotswold Community: being the Weston Subedge fieladccount book for the fintalwenty- six years of the famous Cotswold Games, hitherto unpublished, and now edited with a study on the old time sports of Campden and the villcaogemmunity of Weston, by Charles RoberAt shbee. Campden: Essex House, 1904. Ivi, 59p Ijmiled ea.of75 copies BL: C.99.f.22 The author, best known for his work as anarchitect and designer, founded the Guild and School of Handicraft (1333). 291 Some records otfhe annual Grasmere Sports 1852-1910 / compiled by HugWh . Machell; the forewordby the Rev. H. D. Rawnsley, profuseliyllustrated from photographs. Carlisle: Thurnam, 1911. 80p; illus Limiteded. of250 copies BL: 791 l.k.8 'There was a time whmenen wrestled fornothing more than a leather belt, when leapers leaptfor a pair of gloves, and footracersran for ahandkerchief. Thus it was atthe Stone Carrs Meeting in I?#?.' Thus begins this record of the Grasmere sports which covers nearly sixtyyears, with results andreports oefach meeting. Even a casual glance through the lists reveals some of the great names of nineteenth century athleticsuch as TomRay the pole-vaulter, the professionaltriple-jumper Hogg who cleared 49ft 9in in l&SS, or TomBurrows whojumped 45ft Siin 1333 and later became a world champion at club-swinging. In the 1550s,separate amateur and professional competitions were instituted fortiame, and in 1557 the brilliant little American jumper William Byrd Page cleared 6ft lin for a Gamesrecord which still exists. 292 The Grasmere book. Grasmere: Grasmere Games Society, 1953. The records of the Grasmere Games are of particular interest to historians of field events since these are the only English professional games where field events have precedence over track. 293 Grasmere sports results 1852-19A52m. bleside: Grasmere Sports Committee, 1953. 24p; illus; pbk 294 A history ofChipping Camden and Captain Robert Dover's Olympick Games / Christopher Whitfield. Windsor: Shakespeare Head, 1958. xi, 284p BL: 1036211 295 Heigh for Cotswold: barief account of the Cotswold games. Evesham: Red Apple, 1965. Extractfrom The Book ofDays', editedby Kobert Chambers(1863!64). BL: Cup.510.aaf.2 ^ See also: A297 296 See the conquering hero comes: an illustrated history of the Grasmere Sports Senior Guides' Race / compiled by Michael Miller and Denis Bland. Kendal: The authors, 1973. 40p; illus; pbk Limited editionof900 copies SBN: 9502986-0-3 297 Heigh for Cotswold!: a history oRfobert Dover's Olimpick Games / Francis Burns. Chipping Campden: Robert Dover's Games Society, 1981. 47p; illus, 1 map; pbk ISBN: 0-9507487-0-6 BL: X.629/15986 Based on the author's 1960 master's thesis, supplemented by subsequent work, this is a lucid account of the Games organised (or possibly revived) in 1612 by Robert Dover in the parish of Weston Subedge, Gloucestershire. As Dr Burns states: 'In their activities the gamhaevse been most likethe more widelyknown Lakeland and Highland Games, but Dover's Games have a mulcohnger known history'. ^ See also: A295 298 The midsummer games: elements of cult and custom in traditional English sport / J. Goulstone. Bexleyheath: The author, 1982. 68p; pbk BL: X.950/15212 299 The summer solstice games: a studyeaorlfy English fertility religion/ John Goulstone. BexleyheTathe: author, 1985. 115p; index; pbk ISBN: 0-9510556-0-7 BL: YC.1989.b.2407 A rich source of accounts of rural games in all parts of Britain and abroad, with references to running. [ 26 ]