We in Britain are world-famous for our historical and often unusual traditions, although most of the world doesn’t realise that many of the most famous ones have faded out of popular view over the years. Thankfully, there are more than a few people willing to dive into the history books and dig up our oldest practices, and we’ve picked out a few that are the most interesting.
Games and Hobbies
There are countless old board and table games around the world that have been making a major comeback recently. We’ve seen games like the Canadian classic Crokinole come back into vogue amongst hobbyists in the last few years, and even the Plinko game format from 1970’s America has found new life recently at places like https://casino.betfair.com/game/plinko-go-arx as a common feature of gambling game line-ups, albeit with a new digital format to match current trends.
In Britain, the traditional games and activities on the rise include games of skill like the Medieval game Nine Men’s Morris as well as a surprising resurgence in more niche activities like bowls. Probably the most surprisingly dramatic turnaround has been in the world of darts, a game often dominated by older generations that is now seeing an injection of younger talent in the professional scene.
Food and Drink
While British dishes on the whole don’t hold a great reputation internationally, most can agree that the famous ones are exceptionally good at providing that warm and hearty feeling for the cold weather. Then, we have the more unusual creations like the ones found at https://englishlive.ef.com/10-strange-british-dishes, including jellied eels which is understandably quite rare now.
Certain traditional dishes, however, have been seeing a surge in popularity recently thanks to both international attention and clever variations. For example, American social media has relatively recently discovered the classic Scotch Egg and fallen in love with it, and now the markets of London commonly feature the dish along with multiple variations like chorizo or chilli versions.
Crafts and Skills
There was a point in time where certain British crafts and creations were comfortably at the peak of the European market, although with the Industrial Revolution, the traditional way of doing things dropped off significantly. As described by The Guardian in https://www.theguardian.com/culture, a lot of skills such as boat building or stained-glass making are at risk of being lost.
That same article also highlights the opposite in some cases, however, and this is being driven by a newfound appreciation for the artisanal and handmade. Skills such as brilliant cutting, the art of carving patterns into sheets of glass, as well as handmade furniture crafting are all now in fashion along with the ‘shabby chic’ upcycling movement, so while there may not be hope for every single skill, a few are certainly set to come back strong.
Thankfully for everything above, a new wave of interest in the traditional looks ready to help everything along even further. We’ll probably still be best leaving the jellied eels where they are, though!
Article written by Ben Spencer
