WATCH: Richmond man victorious in penny farthing polo grudge match
By The Editor 12th Aug 2020
If you were taking a Sunday stroll along the riverside last weekend, your eyes may have turned to a man riding a modern penny farthing in a kilt.
But Jon Beswick was not on a relaxing jaunt like the rest of us: the Richmond resident was en route to competing in the annual Penny Farthing Calcutta Cup Match at Ham Polo Club.
The game saw Scotland pip the auld enemy England 8-7 in a thrilling contest.
It was the sixth edition of the match, held by the Penny Farthing Club since 2013.
Where did the sport originate?
Competitive Penny Farthing Polo was invented by Neil Laughton, an entrepreneur and adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records for riding a penny farthing no handed.
He told Richmond Nub News: "When I ride through Westminster on my 54 inch wheeled bike, everyone waves, cheers or takes a photo and it always puts a big smile on people's faces."
England captain Laughton has ridden his farthing 100 miles in a day and competes in international races.
Last year alongside David Fox-Pitt, Scotland's victorious captain from the weekend, he raised £26,000 for the charity Mary's Meals by riding from Land's End to John o'Groats in 11 days.
We digress… Back to the action
The rules are broadly similar to polo on horseback – four a side, mallet in the right hand, the usual 'riding off' and hook stick defence allowed.
Fox-Pitt made his way down from the Highlands for the match and plays in his home country for Dundee and Perth Polo Club, Scotland's largest.
His teammates over the weekend included Beswick, who kept his kilt on for the game and First Lady international Melissa Eisdell.
Despite Scotland's victory in the blazing sunshine on Sunday, August 9, England are ahead 3-2 in the series, after the eternal rivals' first encounter at Cowdray Park in West Sussex ended in a stalemate. Other fixtures have been played at Herne Hill and at Guards Polo Club.
Inevitably, riders are crashing and falling off quite a lot.
Laughton hit the turf nine times during the five 7-minute chukkas which they played this year in front of just 100 club members and players.
In past years there have been thousands of spectators cheering them on.
Let's hope for next year's fixture it will be back to business as normal – as normal as polo on penny farthings can be.
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