Uppies and Downies is a version of Hand
Ba game, with roots in even earlier games, played in
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Loc ...
, West
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
, England. The modern tradition began some time in the latter half of the 19th century, with the match played annually at
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
to raise money for local charities.
The game
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 Hall Parklands.
There are no other ostensible rules of play and the game is primarily a rough and tumble
scrum
Scrum may refer to:
Sport
* Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league
** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union
* Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi
Media and popular culture
...
interspersed with break-away sprints by members of one team or the other, with some similarities to
rugby. Some players from outside Workington take part, especially fellow West Cumbrians from
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is t ...
and
Maryport
Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, Historic counties of England, historically in Cumberland.
The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the no ...
, resulting in about a thousand players on each team.
The ball
An Uppies and Downies ball is made from four pieces of cow leather. It is in circumference and weighs about . Only three hand-made balls are produced every year and each is dated.
Prizes
The player who hails the ball gets to keep the ball and will take the ball into the Town centre for people to get photos with for donations.
Socioeconomics
Uppies and Downies refer to the residents of the top (East) and bottom (West) of the town, which slopes down towards the sea. In the modern incarnation of the game, the Downies were originally residents of the marsh and quay, a working class area of the town demolished in the early 1980s and traditionally looked down at by the more affluent top of the town, where the local petty bourgeoisie lived.
Safety concerns
Due to its unpredictability, the game can spill over into the town centre. In the past, police have issued safety advice to visitors and local parents warning of getting caught up in the inevitable rough and physical encounter.
Statues
A pair of coal-black iron-ore coloured figure statues created by Maryport sculptor Colin Telfer depict the Easter mass event; one stands outside
Workington Hall, and the other at the town harbour.
Threat from supermarket development
In 2009,
a proposed development plan to build a Tesco Extra store on the Cloffocks threatened the future of the event. The plans were dropped in 2011.
References
External links
*
BBC Cumbria News coverageITV Border News coverage
{{Association football
Sport in Cumbria
Traditional football
Workington