Played in Britain
Charting the heritage of a nation at play
We publish books about Britain's sporting heritage. If you like an old scoreboard, or a mildewed pavilion; if you would like to know where to find the world's oldest bowling green, or the best Art Deco grandstand in London; if you're fed up with homogenised, commercialised sport, and long to dive into a Victorian swimming pool with gorgeous ceramic tiling; if you think potting balls all afternoon in a dimly-lit billiard hall is definitely not time mis-spent; if you have ever wondered why tennis and suburbia go together so well, then Played in Britain is for you...
• Find out more about Played in Britain, our books and our authors
Played in Britain news feed: reporting on Britain's sporting heritage
Cycle and swim round east London's historic baths
June 27 2009
Join Played in Britain editor and co-author of Great Lengths, Simon Inglis, on a Sunday afternoon bicycle tour of the historic swimming baths of Hackney in east London. Organised by the Hackney Society, the tour on July 12 will offer a rare chance to see inside Haggerston Baths (closed since 2000), and will conclude with a swim at London Fields Lido.
Cricket museum proposed for Mitcham
June 27 2009
Mitcham Cricket Club in London, which claims to be the oldest cricket club in the world, having been playing on Cricket Green since 1685, is at the centre of Merton Council's proposals for a new cricket museum in this south London suburb. Apparently Lord Nelson was a regular spectator of Mitcham's games.
Legends of the boxing ring stay close after the final bell
May 23 2009
There are 43 former boxers' associations in Britain, says Played in Liverpool author Ray Physick, and their members' oral testimonies provide a fascinating record of this often misunderstood community of ex-sportsmen. Ray's lecture on the Merseyside Former Boxers' Association, delivered to a recent conference on Sport and Oral History at the University of Huddersfield, is now online.
Mansfield honour Golden Girl
May 5 2009
Sherwood Baths, opened in 1934, is to be re-named the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre in recognition of the swimmer's achievements at the Beijing Olympics. The pool, which features in Played in Britain's Great Lengths, is currently undergoing a £5 million refurbishment.
Read more UK sport heritage news articles »
Selected titles from Played in Britain
