Athletics and Football (extract)

ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 4i galaxyof pedestrian abilitythe amateurs began to imitate them. We have seen that, between 1845 an( i I 8S2, there was great public interest shownin pedestrianism,and it is accordinglynot surprisingto find that the first regular athletic meetings begin to be heard ofabout this time. In 1849 there was a regular organised athletic meeting at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, which was continued till 1853, when it was aban­ doned. In 1850 Exeter College, Oxford, started a meeting, which has been continued annually down to the present day. The following account of the first of these, which has been sent to us by one of the competitors himself, can hardly fail to be interesting to modern athletes ; and the programme, which is probably the sole extant specimen, is in itself interesting enough to justifyits reproductionin these pages. ' Exeter College, Oxford, was one of the first institutions to start an athletic gathering, and it may not be uninteresting to givea narrative,collected mainlyfrom the recollection of eye­ witnesses, of the first set of sports ever held there, and of the gentlemen whowere the originators and first performers. 'The yearwas 1850. It was the eveningafter the College Steeplechase(vulgarlycalled the " CollegeGrind "). Some four or five congenialspirits, as their manner was,were sipping their wineafter " hall " in the " rooms" of one, R. F. Bowles(brother to John Bowles, the well-known coursing squire, of Milton Hill). Besidesthe host there wereJames Aitken, Geo. Russell, Marcus Southwell, and Halifax Wyatt. The topic was the event of the day, and the unsatisfactoryprocessof ' negotiating' a country on Oxford hacks. "Sooner than ride such a brute again," said Wyatt, whose horse had landed into a road on his head instead of his legs, " I'd run across two miles of country on foot." "Well, why not?" said the others; "let's have a Collegefoot grind," and so it was agreed. ' Bowles, whoalways had a sneaking love for racing—born and bred as he was near the training grounds on the Berkshire Downs—suggested a race or twoon the flat as well. Again