This film is part of Free

Playing Bandy on Womack Staithe

Schoolboys loosen up with some wild swipes at the ball with their bandy sticks, and the ladies warm up with graceful figures-of-eight.

Home movie 1960 2 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for East Anglian Film Archive

Overview

The game of bandy developed from field hockey in a number of countries around the world – in Russia, the sport is called Russian Hockey. In the UK, it is a winter sport from the fenlands of East Anglia, where fen skating on frozen broads became a popular tradition in the eighteenth century. The game is similar to ice hockey, but a ball is used rather than a puck, and the team, pitch layout and many of the rules are similar to football. Curved wooden sticks are used to control the ball.