Editor’s Letter SO I HAVE TAKEN UP A NEW WINTER SPORT. And like a crazy person, the first time I ever played was straight into a league match, having never, ever tried it before, and coming off a pretty serious injury. Unsurprisingly, in my first match I got walloped. By a chap who was probably born before the Second World War. Trust me, pushpenny is not for the faint hearted. My cricket club has put a team in the Stamford Pushpenny League, with our fortress for our home games, The Jolly Brewer (we haven’t won a game yet). Problem is, we are competing against teams who have been playing the sport for decades, and although we do very well on the drinking beer and eating chips side of it, we’re not yet Premiership standard on the coins. It’s brilliant fun though. For those of you who have not tried this ancient game which once thrived in this area (and hopefully will do so again), you’ve got three coins – two heavy, one light – and a board with 10 beds, in which you must land the coins through a combination of fine motor skills and brilliant tactical play. The first one to land coins three times in all 10 beds wins. What makes it especially fascinating is that the boards differ. Our home board is like greased lightning, the Augusta National of pushpenny boards, while the one Blackstones B team use is fast up the right side, but much slower in the middle and left. So you must choose you penny, and your shot, like a scratch golfer. Our young side (average age 41) has been welcomed in the SPL fold with enthusiasm and friendliness and we’ve had some cracking evenings, playing some, what is called round these parts ‘good old bors’. They’ve even given us plenty of advice and coaching, having seen our hamfisted initial attempts. By the end of the season, we might even have snuck a win. Games like this must not die out. It’s part of our local heritage – they must be played and the traditions continued. So feel free to come and join us, or ask in The Jolly Brewer, The Hurdler, Blackstones or the Tobie Norris, where they have a board for public use. You only need five people to make a team, and somebody I’m sure can find your pub or club a board. Send me an email if you’re interested, and I’m sure we can give you a game.
Enjoy the issue! Steve
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Publisher Chris Meadows chris@theactivemag.com Editor Steve Moody steve@theactivemag.com Deputy editor Mary Bremner mary@theactivemag.com Production editor Julian Kirk julian@theactivemag.com Art editor Mark Sommer mark@theactivemag.com Contributors Martin Johnson, William Hetherington, Jeremy Beswick, Julia Dungworth Photographers Nico Morgan, Pip Warters Production assistant Gary Curtis Advertising sales Lisa Withers lisa@theactivemag.com Sarah Stillman sarah@theactivemag.com Amy Roberts amy@theactivemag.com Editorial and Advertising Assistant Kate Maxim kate@theactivemag.com Accounts accounts@theactivemag.com Active magazine, The Grey House, 3 Broad Street, Stamford, PE9 1PG. Tel: 01780 480789
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