Sedan Chair Racing Championships
4,040 views · Published 26 November 2018 · 4:30 · Indexed 18 October 2026
Channel: Britclip · 2018 · Travel & Events
The championships which are very competitive are a series of races with teams of five members per squad. Four male bearers who end up carrying the chair and the fifth team member is a female - the passenger inside the chair. I know which one I would rather be! The course is approximately 600 metres long and involves performing tasks at various points, such as bobbing for apples, drinking ale and eating cake. Who ever said the British don’t know how to enjoy themselves! Once the playground of visiting royalty and gentry who came to sample the health-giving spa waters of the Chalybeate Spring, the Pantiles lies at the heart of historic Royal Tunbridge Wells. This famous colonnaded walkway owes its name to its original pavement of square clay tiles (‘pantiles’) which once covered the walks of the promenade laid in 1698 at the request of Queen Anne after her son the Duke of Gloucester fell on the slippery ground. Although the walks were repaved in 1793, the Pantiles retain much of its original character and unique charm – and visitors can still sample the water of the Chalybeate Spring served by the traditional Dipper during the summer! On the sound of the starter gun, the lady will run down the steps to the Chalybeate spring and take in a glass of spring water before running back to the chair to be carried along what was the old fish market. Then it’s another dismount and the lady has to quickly eat a piece of ‘Pantiles cake’. At the bandstand the lady has to bob for an apple. Finally at the bend in the course the carriers put the chair down whilst taking in a jug of ale, after which they sprint with the chair to the finish.
