1. Some way to the north from my home in coastal South Wales there is an annual event which involves completing two lengths of a trench (sixty yards long and six foot deep) cut in a peat bog and filled with near-freezing stinking water. Competitors must wear snorkels and masks but a wet suit is optional. What is this event called? Llanwrtyd Wells Iron Man Championship World Bog Snorkeling Championship Welsh Annual Boggle Championship The Insane and Insanitary Challenge

2. For this competition the action takes place annually in Dorset. Apparently the basis of the competition is for participants to very carefully eat a specific weed of a challenging size. One of the outcomes is that the tongue of the contestant turns black. So what is this competition called? World Dandelion Eating Challenge World Ivy Eating Challenge World Thistle Challenge World Stinging Nettle Eating Challenge

3. In my youth and early manhood I played rugby and occupied a position in the front row of the scrum so I was not unused to having my shins ‘accidentally’ kicked. But I was surprised to discover that ‘shin-kicking’ was apparently an ‘Olympick sport’. At least in this little town it is even today. Which Cotswold town claims to hold the oldest continuous ‘Olympick Games’ in the world? Chipping Campden Little Slaughter Chipping Sodbury Broadway

4. The Crab Fair is held each year in Cumbria in the Lake District of the UK. It features a pastime which could be described as competitive face-pulling. What is it traditionally called? Gurning Grunting Shurning Spelting

5. As a student in the 1960s I took part in this activity and so was very pleased to find out it was still going strong in a village in Lincolnshire. Teams of two are required and a knowledge of the aerodynamic form would be a useful attribute but useless if you can’t safely (and gently) catch a thrown object. What activity is being described? World Marble Throwing Championship World Mangold Hurling Championship World Egg-Throwing Championship World Wellington Boot Hurling Championship

6. This has been a traditional village and pub game for some time. Allegedly an early exponent of this tricky game had sufficient skill and power to be able to shatter a glass drinking tankard with one flick of his ‘tolley’. So do you know what game I’m describing? Quoits Skittles Bull Ring Marbles

7. In my formative school years we used to have ‘seasons’ for school playground activities like marbles. One other pastime was an autumnal game which persuaded many of us to come forward to battle for the honour of being the ‘conqueror’. We only had three strikes, if we lasted that long. What game or activity am I describing? Answer: (One Word but plural, Caesar did this to Gaul - what a cheek.)

8. This competition is open to both genders which is unusual in British traditional pastimes. It is held annually and requires a deadeye aim and a great deal of puff. It is often won by someone who has regularly eaten all of their green vegetables! Which sporting pastime is being described? Bean Bagging World Championships Asparagus Darts World Championships Sprout Archery World Championships Peashooting World Championships

9. This most traditional of Somerset sports requires the participant to stand in a pitching basket and, holding his/her object by its tops, hurls it as close as possible to a target. What is this called? Swede Bashing Mangold Hurling Potato Mashing Turnip Throwing

10. Apparently, each year, many dozens of competitors turn up to attempt to break the record for this ‘activity’ which was set on the same ground way back in 1980. They are only allowed to use only a garden fork (with tines) and whatever musical instruments they think might help. What magical event is being described? World Worm-Charming championships World Wasp Weighing Competition World Snail Serenading Championships World Moth Mesmerising Championships