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.

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.