The Pudsey Clog Festival – one of the 40 Humourous British Traditions

The most popular events are the athletics. ‘Fetch thy Clog’ is popular with whippet owners who train their dogs all year to run after a clog and return it. The clogs are placed 100 yards from the start line. When the starting judge shouts ‘dogs to the clogs’ the whippets are released and race to their clogs; the first dog back gripping the right clog in its mouth wins the prize. However, the clogs are uniquely identifiable and if the winning dog brings back the wrong clog then it is disqualified. In this instance, the race is re-run. This might explain why the 1956 race took eight hours and was eventually won by a dachshund called Molly, who was the only dog left from the original 223 competitors.

Other clog events include the 100-yard dash, the high jump, and the long jump. Competitors in the long jump must land in the sand still wearing their clogs otherwise a no-jump is declared. Then there’s the throwing events including ‘Lob the Clog’ where the contestant stands in a shot putt circle and hops up and down on one foot three times before hurling the clog from his or her other foot. There’s ‘Welly the Clog’ when people take a run up and then kick the clog furiously from their foot – on odd numbered years the event changes slightly in that the clog must knock over a cutout shaped like a Lancastrian archer, a throwback to the Battle of Towton when the Yorkist archers had to improvise after running out of arrows.