# The Local History Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110 "2021-03-31T19:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/1 "2021-03-31T19:47:08Z")
Kind of _Today In History I Saw_\* - Well, maybe you saw it today, or maybe you read it, or maybe it’s something you knew already which had just been on your mind. Or something you simply want to share. I just thought hearing about other people’s local history would be fun. And let’s not be too restrictive about what constitutes “local” (or indeed “history” – I think at least _somewhat_ in the past would be a fair minimum requirement. A couple of decades plus?) Tell us something interesting. Shall I start us off? Today we went out with our friends J and L to [Sheffield Park](https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheffield-park-and-garden) in Sussex (UK). There’s quite a history to the place – note to Australian Dopers: it’s the same Sheffield as the Shield; the estate still has its own cricket ground, [graced by many a famous player in the past (pun intended)](https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheffield-park-and-garden/features/the-legacy-of-cricket-at-sheffield-park). Less well known is its wartime history. A couple of years back there was an archaeological dig in the East Park, with limited public access (we went). In the build-up to D-Day, [thousands of Canadian troops were stationed there](https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheffield-park-and-garden/features/the-canadians-in-the-park--sheffield-park-and-garden-during-the-second-world-war): > Over one hundred huts were laid out in a random formation beneath the tree canopies, hidden from view of any enemy planes. They were used as dormitories, wash rooms, storage huts, workshops and mess rooms to cater for all the needs of the troops. Historic photographs show us what these looked like and how they were used, plus there is one remaining hut within the gardener’s compound that is still going strong. And indeed, if you walk down from the car parks to the excavation site, you’ll pass that hut on the way. There are odd little things that stick in your mind about the site. For me, one of those ceramic bobbin things that are used to carry/guide electrical wiring – screwed into a tree nearly 80 years ago and still there today. There were _many_ such camps across the South East of England, marshalling men and materials. Of course, these huts were thrown up quickly and rapidly perished (or were scavenged for scarce materials by local farmers post war.) It’s one of the contradictions of relatively modern history: because it’s so modern, there is less interest in investigating and preserving it - at exactly the time when the most material can be salvaged. j \* - with a doff of the cap to both [Today in nature I saw](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/506) and [Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across/851674/1724) PS: the pun is on the name of WG Grace, famous cricketer and frequenter of Sheffield Park; The Sheffield Shield is an Australian Cricket Trophy, paid for by the Earl of Sheffield. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/2 "2021-04-01T14:15:09Z")
Well, I learned this on Jeopardy! the other day: Junius Booth, father of John Wilkes Booth, once threatened to kill Andrew Jackson. (He was also an alcoholic, a bigamist, and generally unstable and aggressive). > **[Junius Brutus Booth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junius_Brutus_Booth)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Junius Brutus Booth (1 May 1796 – 30 November 1852) was an English stage actor. He was the father of actor John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. His other children included Edwin Booth, the foremost tragedian of the mid-to-late 19th century, Junius Brutus Booth Jr., an actor and theatre manager, and Asia Booth Clarke, a poet and writer. > Booth was born in St. Pancras, London, Great Britain, the son of Richard Booth,... Just a family of assholes, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/3 "2021-04-01T14:16:29Z")
Whoops, not local! Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/4 "2021-04-01T15:32:29Z")
After reading a book called _Bear Flag Rising_, I made a point of visiting the three sites relevant to the American conquest of Los Angeles. The Battle of Rio San Gabriel pitted a joint force of American sailors from San Diego under Stockton and Army troops who came overland from the East via Santa Fe under Kearny against a force of Californio mounted lancers and artillery under José María Flores. With the help of unshipped naval guns, the Americans drove off the Californios (they didn’t really consider themselves Mexicans) and crossed the river near the current intersection of the 605 and Washington Blvd. The Lancers were chased to the next river over (The Los Angeles River) where they were finally defeated at the Battle of La Mesa, 4 miles south of downtown LA in the current industrial enclave of Vernon. While Stockton and Kearny argued about who would accept the surrender of LA, John C. Fremont raced into LA from the North via the Cahuenga Pass and accepted the surrender from Andres Pico in a little adobe still standing across the street from the current Universal Studios/City Walk complex. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/5 "2021-04-01T16:12:10Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Well, I learned this on Jeopardy! the other day: > > Junius Booth, father of John Wilkes Booth, once threatened to kill Andrew Jackson. > (He was also an alcoholic, a bigamist, and generally unstable and aggressive). > [Junius Brutus Booth - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junius_Brutus_Booth) > > Just a family of assholes, I guess. Not everyone. Edwin Booth saved Robert Todd Lincoln from falling in front of a train. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/6 "2021-04-01T16:25:22Z")
I did not know that! Edwin, I take it back. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/7 "2021-04-01T16:36:07Z")
I grew up in Saskatchewan where there are several monuments to Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont who rebelled against the Canadian government (because of legitimate grievances in the treatment of Metis and Native Canadians). So I had mixed feelings when I visited Port Hope, Ontario where there is a monument to Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Williams (“The Hero of Batoche”) who fought against them. I guess I know now how some Americans feel about monuments to Civil War soldiers (on either side). ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/8 "2021-04-01T17:19:16Z")
In the late 19th and early 20th century, my home town produced 90% of the world’s needles. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/9 "2021-04-01T17:33:16Z")
This one is very topical since it is the 540th anniversary on 29th March. There was a bit of a “to do” just up the road from me > **[Battle of Towton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Towton)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between an estimated 50,000 soldiers in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, the Yorkist army achieved a decisive victory over their Lancastrian opponents. As a result, Edward IV deposed the Lancastrian Henry VI and secured... https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=240&width=426&href=https://www.facebook.com/SillyHistoryBoys/videos/the-wars-of-the-roses-a-musical-review/172080684639173/ We had the Civil war battle of Marston Moor, which is only five miles or so from Towton but I doubt the Royalists found it one little bit Civil, in fact it was downright nasty - someone could have got hurt > **[Battle of Marston Moor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marston_Moor)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > 1643 > 1644 A bit further over by around 12 miles was the battle of York but we don’t talk about it since we lost > **[Battle of York (867)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_York_(867))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > The Battle of York was fought between the Vikings of the Great Heathen Army and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria on 21 March 867 in the city of York. > Formerly controlled by the Roman Empire, York had been taken over by the Anglo-Saxons and had become the capital of the Kingdom of Northumbria. In 866 this kingdom was in the middle of a civil war, with Ælla and Osberht both claiming the crown. The Vikings, who had arrived on the eastern sho... Add in another four or five miles and you get the Battle of Stamford bridge - we talk about that because we kicked Viking ass, there is still a raod called Viking Lane in the village > **[Battle of Stamford Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stamford_Bridge)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > The Battle of Stamford Bridge (Old English: Gefeoht æt Stanfordbrycge) took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada and the English king's brother Tostig Godwinson. After a bloody battle, both Hardrada and Tostig, along with most of the Norwegians, were killed. Although Haro... There’s a few more skirmishes, and precurser battles around and about - dunno why, must be summat in the water ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/10 "2021-04-01T18:05:36Z")
Our most famous bit of local history is probably **Quantrill’s Raid** when a band of pro-slavery guerillas from Missouri burned most of the town to the ground. There’s even been a couple of movies made about it. > **[Lawrence Massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_massacre)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Confederate victory >  United States (Union) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/11 "2021-04-01T18:21:11Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Junius Booth, father of John Wilkes Booth, once threatened to kill Andrew Jackson. > (He was also an alcoholic, a bigamist, and generally unstable and aggressive). > > […] > > Just a family of assholes, I guess. Assasinholes? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/12 "2021-04-01T18:38:19Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > In the late 19th and early 20th century, my home town produced 90% of the world’s needles. So many questions… we need to know more. At the risk of sounding obsessed by WWII history (I’m not, but there are a lot of sites round here), here’s something from today’s bike ride: I cycled along the path of a [stop line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_anti-invasion_preparations_of_the_Second_World_War#Field_fortifications). These were networks of pillboxes which, as protection against invasion, were located strategically to stop (or more accurately, slow down) German forces as they headed towards (in this instance) London. [This site, mapping Surrey’s pillboxes](https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/surrey_pillboxes/), effectively illustrates the stop line I cycled past, more or less from Edenbridge to Blindley Heath. If you scroll East and slightly South on the map, you’ll see how the line extends across Surrey, south of London. Here’s a google streetview of a pillbox on the route I took. [Pillbox](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.1892255,-0.0016326,3a,75y,224.45h,79.51t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sN2Uc9tvTKsc_UhosJhTV2A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) The cycle ride passes 6 or 7 of these. Unlike nissen huts, these are _solid_ (for obvious reasons) - hence they are often still intact even now. There were, I think, 3 stop lines between the coast and London, manned by the home guard - those too old or unfit to be conscripted. I read of, or saw in a documentary, brief detail of recent military modelling performed to try to establish if the system would actually have worked. Answer: probably; it would have slowed invading forces enough to allow the navy to get to the English Channel and break up the German supply chain. j ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/13 "2021-04-01T18:56:20Z")
Back in my original hometown (well, in the county), was the site of a surprise British ambush against the Continental Army’s 3rd Continental Light Dragoons. As the 3CLD was bedded down overnight in some farmhouses and barns, the British Army (using _twelve companies_) circled, and captured/killed 69 prisoners, and killed 70 horses. > **[Baylor Massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_Massacre)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The "Baylor Massacre" (also "Skirmish Near Tappan", "Rebel Post Near Old Tapan", "Tappan Massacre", and "Raid on Old Tappan") was a British attack on September 27, 1778, which surprised the 3rd Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons under the command of Colonel George Baylor during the American Revolutionary War. It occurred in the present-day town of River Vale, New Jersey. The Continentals lost 69 soldiers killed, wounded, or captured. One Briti... Tripler That’ll take you down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/14 "2021-04-01T19:12:03Z")
The most well known event in my town’s local history is probably a Johnny Cash concert. But we were also the site of the first AC power generation station west of the Mississippi, which first started operating in 1895 and was fed by a dam built by free labor from Folsom Prison. > **[Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folsom_Powerhouse_State_Historic_Park)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park is a historical site preserving an 1895 alternating current (AC) hydroelectric power station—one of the first in the United States. > Before the Folsom powerhouse was built nearly all electric power houses were using direct current (DC) generators powered by steam engines located within a very few miles of where the power was needed. The use of rushing water to generate hydroelectric power and then transmitting... ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/15 "2021-04-02T11:49:09Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Add in another four or five miles and you get the Battle of Stamford bridge - we talk about that because we kicked Viking ass, there is still a raod called Viking Lane in the village And straight after kicking Viking ass, Harold took his army 185 miles South in four days and got an arrow in his eye trying to stop the Normans (Who were really Vikings pretending to be French) from invading. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/16 "2021-04-02T13:27:56Z")
I was hiking an abandoned segment of highway 60 and noticed that CocaCola bottle bottoms are a common artifact. The bottles succumb to the depravations of rock throwing children and gun toting plinkers but the thick bottoms survive. The interesting part is that the bottoms have their bottling location cast into the glass. Being so durable these items will enter the geologic strata with the other pebbles and durable debris. In a few million years they’ll just be part of the rocks. Imagine the surprise of some other world techies when their Earth Rover discovers a rock with a shiny, blue green edge inscribed ALMAGORDO NM. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/17 "2021-04-02T15:29:49Z")
The most famous thing happen in my home town in the UK (small village south of Oxford, called Compton, amusingly for fans of 90s hip hop) is the Battle of Ashdown which happened just outside (exact location is not known but it was somewhere on the Berkshire Downs around Compton) > **[Battle of Ashdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ashdown)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Battle of Ashdown, was a West Saxon victory over a Danish Viking army on about 8 January 871. The location of Ashdown is not known, but may be Kingstanding Hill\[a\] in Berkshire. Other writers place the battle near Starveall, a short distance north of the village of Aldworth and south east of Lowbury Hill. > The West Saxons were led by King Æthelred and his younger brother, the future King Alfred the Great, while the Viking commanders were Bagse... Things got pretty quite for a millennia or so in Compton after that though shot to worldwide prominence in the 1990s the setting for the awful BBC show Trainer 🙂 (and moderate fame as the birthplace of the England footballer [Theo Wallcott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Walcott)) : > **[Trainer (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trainer_(TV_series))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Trainer was a British television series transmitted by the BBC between 1991 and 1992. It was produced by Gerard Glaister as a follow-up to the long-running series Howards' Way. > Filmed in and around the village of Compton near Newbury, the series was set in the world of horse racing. It starred Mark Greenstreet as Mike Hardy, an aspiring horse trainer keen to set up his own stables. Other major characters included local gambler John Grey (David ... Where I currently live in Hyattville Maryland has a shorter history, obviously, but is famous for the battle of Blandensburg (Bladensburg is the next town over but the actual site is between modern Blandensburg and Hyattsville): > **[Battle of Bladensburg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bladensburg)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > The Battle of Bladensburg was a battle of the Chesapeake campaign of the War of 1812, fought on 24 August 1814 at Bladensburg, Maryland, 8.6 miles (13.8 km) northeast of Washington, D.C. > Called "the greatest disgrace ever dealt to American arms," a British force of army regulars and Royal Marines routed a combined U.S. force of Regular Army and state militia troops. The American defeat resulted in the capture and burning the national capital of... Blandensburg is also famous for the dueling grounds where Admiral Decatur was killed: > **[Bladensburg Dueling Grounds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bladensburg_Dueling_Grounds)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > John Mason McCarty vs. Armistead Thomson Mason (1819) > Stephen Decatur vs. James Barron (1820) > Daniel Key vs. John Sherbourne (1836) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/18 "2021-04-03T11:10:50Z")
In the 1920s, Pawhuska, Oklahoma, was the richest and most murderous town in the world, an era barely mentioned in the tow’s Wiki history. The story is at [Osage Indian murders - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage_Indian_murders) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-local-history-thread/939110/19 "2021-04-05T15:04:53Z")
I realised, today, that my home town’s most famous tradition, Uppies And Downies, won’t be taking place this year (COVID) and presumably didn’t take place last year. This is the wiki for the game: > **[Uppies and Downies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uppies_and_Downies)** > > Uppies and Downies is a version of Hand Ba game, with roots in even earlier games, played in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The modern tradition began some time in the latter half of the 19th century, with the match played annually at Easter to raise money for local charities. > The object of the game is to "hail the ball" (throw it up in the air three times) at the opposing team's goal. The Downies' goal is a capstan on the Prince of Wales' dock, while the Uppies' is the gates of Workington ... OK, my account is going to differ slightly. I agree that the origins are ancient and the modern incarnation is a revival, and I’m not going to argue with the dates. My understanding is that Uppies were colliers and Downies were fishermen (with mates, extended family etc included on each side); and that currently being either an Uppie\* or a Downie is a matter of birth, presumably dating back to a family member who _was_ a collier or a fisherman. So, for 150 years or so this mayhem has occurred three times a year, all in the space of a few days over the Easter period. There is no time limit and essentially no rules. This local newspaper article from a few days ago (sharing text with the wiki article - hmmm) is on the mark at many points: > **[Looking back at Workington's famous Uppies and Downies through years](https://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/19200610.looking-back-workingtons-famous-uppies-downies-years/)** > > This week will mark only the second time in the history of Uppies & Downies that the town of Workington won’t be able turn out en masse at the… > The event does not have formal organisers, it is a happening and thousands between players and supporters [sic] simply turn up on match days, which begin at 6.30pm. > > The games simply end when the ball is hailed. > > But this year, due to the coronavirus outbreak, no one will gather at the ‘scop-off’ point for the Medieval mass football game. “Scop” is the Cumbrian word for “throw”. Anyway, you now need some video. Here is some. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rotPD5_hIj8/maxresdefault.jpg "Uppies and Downies Good Friday 2019") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rotPD5_hIj8) j \* - maybe the singular is spelled with a Y - I don’t know. Oral tradition, yeah?