Being British XIII

[eyeofthetiger]

Hello again! Well the era is going to be kind of complicated because I'm thinking of where some of the next gen kids would live. Socmaybe a town that is small now because we don't really know how the town would grow. And I think that by the Weasley's would be a good idea.

Thanks!

[Sapphire at Dawn]

Neil's right; Ottery St Catchpole is probably based on Ottery St Mary. I'm from that sort of area, though slightly to the east, and I know that everything in the Westcountry is a small town. Something like Taunton, Crewkerne, Chard, Langport, Somerton or Yeovil in Somerset (I know these places, so if you want more info on them, just give me a PM), or maybe Honiton, Bideford or Okehampton in Devon. It doesn't really matter about the era, because these places aren't likely to grow much.

Alternately, you could just make somewhere up based on a local place name, like Neil suggested.

Sarah x

[eyeofthetiger]

I think I will use Langport for my story. Thanks everyone for you help!

[Equinox Chick]

Dani

The three main sports in this country are Football (you know it as soccer), Rugby and Cricket.

Cricket is a summer game, Football and Rugby are generally winter games (although football tends to only have one month off now July)

We don't play much ice-hockey and if you said hockey we'd assume you meant the game being played on grass. It's popular in schools and we do reasonably well at the Olympics in the sport, but it's not a game with a huge following.

~Carole~

[eyeofthetiger]

I have another question. I know that soccer (or you guys call it football) is a big sport over there, but are there other sports that are played? Like basketball, hockey, or maybe cricket?

Thanks in advance,
Dani

[welshdevondragon]

Given my flatmate's just been raving about the match last night, I'll also add tennis. Although most people only really pay attention when there's a British player involved or at Wimbledon it is still a pretty popular game.

Alex

[Northumbrian]

Dani

To add to what has already been said. There is a significant difference between sports which are played, and sports which are watched.

Football is certainly top dog in terms of players and fans (and the entire world, apart from one country, calls it football). It is played by almost everyone. Schools have teams, small towns and villages have teams (the closest semi-professional team to me are Blyth Spartans, or possibly Bedlington Terriers), pubs have teams, and the television schedules are dominated by football.

There are two different Rugbys. Rugby Union is played by teams of fifteen, Rugby League by teams of thirteen.

Cricket is the summer game and unlike the games above is played only in good weather and good light (therefore rain (or bad light) often stops play.

It is said that football is a gentleman's game played by thugs, rugby league is a thug's game played by thugs, rugby union is a thug's game played by gentlemen and cricket is a gentleman’s game played by gentleman.

These four games are by far the most popular spectator sports and they also have a lot of players. It’s probably worth pointing out that although rugby comes a poor second in England, it is possibly more popular than football in Wales.

The only game that comes close in terms of both players and television coverage, so far as I know, is golf.

If you’re looking for a game for your protagonist(s) to watch then, other than the above, there isn’t a lot of choice. There are athletics stadiums, speedway circuits and raceways dotted around the country, field Hockey is also played and a few lunatics play American football, and even baseball, but they are right on the fringes.

If, however, you’re looking for a game for your protagonist(s) to play then, there is a lot of choice. Other than the big four, at any local sports centre you’ll find:
a five-a-side league (indoor football!), badminton, squash, tennis, basketball, judo and karate clubs (plus more) exist at almost every sports centre. There are swimming clubs at almost every pool and athletics clubs, boxing clubs and triathlon clubs are easy to find, too.

Outdoors there is golf. Cycling, whether it’s street racing, bmx riding or mountain biking is popular. The local skateboard kids will find somewhere to practice despite the lack of any formal skate parks.

Then there are the non-sports, games like darts and snooker.

-N-

[eyeofthetiger]

Then there are the non-sports, games like darts and snooker.

Okay, so the three I need to remember is football, rugby, and cricket. Now for another question. What is snooker?

[Maple_and_PheonixFeather]

Snooker is very similar to what Americans play called "pool" or "billiards". While not the same, they are very similar, so that should give you a good idea

[eyeofthetiger]

Oh okay. Thanks everyone for the help. As always, it is much appreciated.