3 mins. duration

The Dangerous Sports Club in the UK, which claims to have invented bungee jumping 21 years ago, has created a new invention for their thrill-seeking members. A gigantic catapult, which can propel a human 200 feet through the air at 60mph into a huge safety net.

We witness the members dressed in the club's trademark dinner jackets as they propel a very nervous but brave lady into the blue yonder. She lands in the safety net but recoils out of it and hits the ground with a deafening thud and groan. She is rushed to hospital where they diagnose a broken pelvis. She was lucky it could have been her neck!

Hunters are strange folk. And once a year they gather in Dortmund for the deer shouting championships. They don strange uniforms and create bizarre noises which imitate singing, waling and mating deer. The instruments they use are strange and exotic horns in one shape or another.

3 mins. duration

Strange but true, this sport has gripped dog lovers all over the world. We visit the Benelux International Championships in Belgium and marvel at the wondrous feats these dogs can perform. They literally dance on their hind legs! Participants from the UK, Holland, Belgium, Germany and the Czech republic.

Duration 6:00 minutes

Polo is played every winter on the frozen lake at St Moritz and the game attracts a wide array of international glitterati at this, the opening event of the high society winter season.We follow a regular face in St. Moritz, Renate Hirsch Giacommuzzi, throughout the weekend’s festivities. We visit her at her luxurious hotel, Badrutts Palace, and then do some window shopping downtown St. Moritz. In the evening we go to the lavish Gala dinner at the Suvretta Hotel and meet the rich, famous and beautiful. The next day we go, of course, to the game itself on the frozen lake…this is the highlight of St Moritz’s winter season and everyone is out in force.

4:32 mins. duration

Shrove Tuesday sees the kick off at Ashbourne in Derbyshire of the world's oldest, largest, longest and maddest football match. Up to ten thousand players compete for two days with a hand painted, cork filled ball. The goals are two miles apart and the ball is played through the streets and the local river.

3:05 mins. duraion

4,000 foolhardy runners gather each year for the maddest, most dangerous gruelling slog, half cross country race, half assault course, in which contestants have to run 14 miles across bogs, crawl under barbed wire, swim under water through a soup of mud, clamber up rock faces, walk planks, haul themselves across tightropes and grope their way through tunnels of freezing water. Before entering, contestants have to sign their own DEATH WARRANT. At the end of each "Tough Guy race" there are usually about 6 broken legs, various dislocated joints and several severe cases of hypothermia. The ambulances never stop.

A day at the races on Ladies Day is a sight to behold. We accompany 2 well known London socialites, Patricia Hayes and Jayne Payne, down to Ascot on the train. We picnic with Lady Colin Campbell and Prince Mongol Kapur. As the day wears on and the champagne takes its toll we witness hilarious shenanigans on and around the course.

3 mins. duration

A 7-day non-stop race with 32 teams, representing 14 countries, covering a distance of 300 miles in Northern Ireland.

Spectacular footage showing various disciplines: track, kayak, mountain bike, horseback ride and run, abseiling, juma climbing, Tyrolean traverse, cavingÉ

2.30 mins. duration

The prestigious National Sporting Club regularly stages black tie dinners for members and guests.

The highlight on these evenings is after dinner boxing. Staged in the magnificent art deco 'Napoleon Suite' in London's CafŽ Royal, 300-400 guests partake of a candlelit dinner at tables placed around a boxing ring.

We join the event on Burns night, and witness the ceremonial piping in of the traditional haggis. 4 fights then take place, each one consisting of 6 two - minute rounds.

A day at the races on Ladies Day is a sight to behold. We accompany 2 well known London socialites, Patricia Hayes and Jayne Payne, down to Ascot on the train. We picnic with Lady Colin Campbell and Prince Mongol Kapur. As the day wears on and the champagne takes its toll we witness hilarious shenanigans on and around the course.

3 mins. duration

Every year in the month of June England celebrates its most extravagant social event by staging ©Ladies' Day" at Royal Ascot.

Robyn, a top London milliner, designs hats for this occasion and accompanies us on an unforgettable journey to the famous horse race, where we are witness to a hilarious and exotic display of ©My Fair Ladies".

1:36 mins. Duration

Perhaps the most famous New Year's Day football fixture, probably the longest standing and certainly the most violent is the annual "Ba" in Kirkwall, Orkney. Contested by teams made up of 400 villagers born above the Market Cross...'Uppies'...and below...'Doonies'.

The aim is to plant the ba'...a 4lb leather ball filled with cork, at the opposite end of the town. The sea is one of the goals. There are only three rules: no women, no time limit and no players under 15. And there's no referee.

Each year in August the city of Dinant in Belgium hosts an unusual and spectacular race with amazing home made boats. 250 of them race down the river Meuse and points are given not just for speed but also for original designs. This year we see a floating 2CV, an Eiffel Tower, the Nautillus, a Cathedral, the obligatory Viking brigade etc etc

3 mins. duration

On the 14th June 30 teams race 3,28 Km through the North Yorkshire town of Knaresborough with beds on wheels.

Each team consists of six participants of the same sex who push the bed, and one member of the opposite sex, who lies in the bed.

After racing through the streets of Knaresborough the teams have to cross the River Nidd, which always provides spectacular footage.

2:40 mins. duration

The traditional Knaresborough Bed Race has found its counterpart in ThŸringia, Germany.

On 5th July the village of Friedrichsroda staged a Teutonic version with entries from Germany, France and the USA. 41 Teams and thousands of spectators turned up. The route is 2 Km long and climaxes with a river crossing, which always provides spectacular footage.

Each team consists of six participants of the same sex who push the bed, and one member of the opposite sex, who lies in the bed.

3:55 mins. duration

Birdman Rallies take place in all parts of the world but Bognor Regis is the true HOME of the Birdman. We accompany the Rally and witness the participant's attempt to follow Icarus by taking to the skies in a craft of their own making.

Participants take off from Bognor Regis Pier to a mighty crowd of enthusiastic onlookers. Prizes are given for originality and success.

3 mins. duration

One of the most spectacular and wildest events in St Moritz is the International Swiss Championships in Bobrun Skating.

This is the last event of the bob season. 150 fearless participants, wearing padded ice-hockey outfits and helmets, skate the floodlighted bob run and many of them end up sliding instead of skating.

image: © Verkehrsverein St Moritz

1.30 mins. duration

20 participants snorkel through a filthy bog in the heart of Wales in a yearly display of brave frivolity. They swim 120 metres through a rain filled peat bog in record breaking time for charity and bravado.

3:10 mins. duration

Every Easter Monday in Leicestershire a huge hare pie is ceremonially carried through the streets to the local church where it is blessed and then distributed to the people.

Then anything between five hundred and a thousand players turn up to kick 3 small beer barrels through the countryside between 2 rivers, which are a mile apart. The game is between two villages, the goals are the rivers, and there are no holds barred.

The Great Christmas Pudding Race has taken place in Covent Garden every December since 1980. Teams from schools or companies race around a course carrying a Christmas pudding, and there is musical and magical entertainment. The event raises money for Cancer Research UK.

1.30 mins. duration

Every Easter Monday for the last 34 years this unusual event takes place in the heart of Yorkshire's mining country.

The participants are laden down with a 50 kilo sack of coal and must run 1 mile with it from the 'Royal Oak Pub' to the 'Shoulder of Mutton Pub'. It's a hard race and many don't make it to the end.

There are separate heats for men, women and children.

3:20 mins. duration

The Coast-to-Coast race is the most prestigious and toughest triathlon in New Zealand. It leads through a stunning landscape; mountains and rivers of breathtaking beauty. The 125 mile race starts in "Western Beach" on the Southern Island and finishes in Christchurch.

Five camera teams follow the participants running, biking and canoeing to extremes.

That archetypal British schoolboy pastime Conkers has crossed the channel and found an enthusiastic German following. We visit the German Westerwald for the 2nd German Conkers Championships. Contenders from the home of Conkers, Ashton in the UK, fly over to defend their title.

2:37 mins. duration

Charlie Bray is one of those old-fashioned countrymen with a perfect cottage garden, a great love of trees, plants and animals and a wild enthusiasm for a sport that came to an end for most of us when we left school.

He has been world champion twice and is famed both at home and abroad for his devotion to the conker.

We visit Charlie at his cottage and then accompany him to Ashton in Northamptonshire. We are greeted by 130 participants from England and Europe and about 4,000 spectators for a spectacular day at the thirteenth World Conker championships.

3 mins. duration

Every year in June hundreds of people gather at Coopers Hill in Gloucestershire. Then dozens of foolhardy men and women chase down a ridiculously steep hill in pursuit of the local cheeses, which are rolled out in front of them.

A race with a difference. Many participants end up with broken bones and are rushed off to hospital. The 'game' was banned for a while because of the dangers involved.

3 mins. duration

Not many people understand cricket and it is even more difficult to understand why they should play it on the frozen lake at St. Moritz. On the 11th and 12th February for the tenth year running 6 teams from Holland, Switzerland, England and India staged a cricket tournament of a different kind.

Chris Lewis, Gladstone Small and Jason Gallian were star guests. The day was blessed with dazzling sunshine, wild drinks and lots of eccentric Brits messing about in the snow...

3 mins. duration

The Dangerous Sports Club in the UK, which claims to have invented bungee jumping 21 years ago, has created a new invention for their thrill-seeking members. A gigantic catapult, which can propel a human 200 feet through the air at 60mph into a huge safety net.

We have spectacular footage of the first major accident at the club when Stella Young recoils out of the safety net after being thrown and crashes to the ground. She is rushed off to hospital.

At a later event we witness daredevil Oxford students putting new and improved catapult through its paces. Exhilarating footage as they are hurtled through the air at breakneck speed.

2:38 mins. duration

Ten years ago English eccentrics, bankers and archaeologists made a dream come true. They built a replica of a Greek Trireme - an ancient warship used against the Persians in the Aegean Sea.

200 men and women seated on three levels row this fantastic vessel down the River Thames, past the Houses of Parliament and under Tower Bridge as a showpiece of classical splendour to celebrate 2500 years of Democracy.

6 mins. duration

The International 'Gold Rush' Dog Race on the frozen lake at St. Moritz is held each year in February. The jet set glitterati provide additional colour to this unusual event located in this extravagant and beautiful setting, nestled in the snow covered Engadine.

The event comprised of 23 races with over 100 dogs from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, USA and Russia. They can reach a top speed of 70 kilometres an hour. Fascinating visuals as huge Scottish deerhounds jump hurdles in the snow. Exotic Borzois from Russia, Afghans, Sloughis (arabian greyhounds), Greyhounds and Azawakh are just a few of the unusual breeds taking part.

image: ©Verkehrsverein St Moritz

2.30 mins. duration

Eric's flamboyant style has turned him into a personality on the showbiz circuit: regular appearances on TV, radio and in the newspapers have made this erstwhile pop star manager a force to be reckoned with.

Eric manages the affairs of 35 English football players and is one of England's most outspoken and amusing football agents. He defends himself against the many accusations of corruption and bribery in the football world, and gives us a glimpse behind the scenes.

3 mins. duration

Eton scholars who played ball against three walls of the college chapel unwittingly founded a game, which has since travelled the world. Eton Fives is a form of squash.

The player hits the ball with his hand and the court is an exact replica of those very walls, including steps and parapet, of the college chapel.

Although slowly in decline in this country, Fives has been taken up with a passion in Nigeria, where the game is followed far more seriously than it ever has been here. We visit the college as Eton takes on Westminster.

3:22 mins. duration

It is not known exactly when the Eton Wall Game was first played, but the first recorded game was in 1766. St. Andrews Day matches between the Collegers and Oppidans are legendary. This year St. Andrews Day falls on 21st November.

The Eton Wall Game is exceptionally exhausting but is the greatest imaginable fun to play and is far more skilful than might appear to the initiated. The skill consists in the remorseless application of pressure and leverage as one advances inch by inch through a seemingly impenetrable mass of opponents. Few sports offer less to the spectator.

The last goal to be scored was on St. Andrew's Day in 1909.

69 Athletes meet up in Kathmandu, drive 100 miles to Jiri, Nepal then trek on foot with Sherpas cooks and porters for 10 days to Namche Bazaar. Then to acclimatise they walk a further 20 miles and climb to 17,500 feet to the Everest Base Camp.

Then the race starts, accompanied by 10 medics, they run down Mount Everest to Namche Bazaar. The winner took 3 hours 56 minutes and several needed medical attention due to the altitude.