This ancient event takes place each year on Good Friday and has been played annually in its current format, since 1932 at the Greyhound public house in Tinsley Green, West Sussex, is a team event, where teams of six players participate in a marbles knock-out tournament to win the title and a silver trophy. The event is open to anyone of any age or nationality and over the years players from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Wales and United States have participated alongside the English teams.
The tournament dates back over four century's to 1588 during the reign of Elizabeth I, when marbles was chosen to be the deciding game of a legendary sporting encounter between two young suitors, Giles and Hodge, over the hand of a Tinsley Green milk maiden named Joan. Every popular sport of the day were contested, in an Olympic style contest lasting one week. Hodge had been victorious at singlestick, backsword, quarter staff, cudgel play, wrestling and cock throwing, while Giles was successful in winning the archery, cricket-a-wicket, tilting at quintain (jousting targets), Turk’s head, stoolball and tipcat. With the score level at 6 - 6, Good Friday was the date chosen for the final event, and marbles was chosen by the girl to be the deciding game, and Giles defeated Hodge.
Rules and marble "jargon"
The championships are organised by the British Marbles Board of Control (BMBC) and the version of marbles played is "Ring Taw", known in USA as "Ringer" and in Germany as "Englisches Ringspiel". Forty-nine target marbles are grouped closely together on 6 foot diameter (1.8 metre) raised concrete ring covered with sand. Each of the target marbles is a glass or ceramic sphere having a diameter of approximately 12mm (half an inch). Two teams of six players of any age, gender or skill level, take turns to drive marbles off the ring by aiming a larger "shooter", also known as a "taw" or "tolley". which is a glass or ceramic sphere of 18mm diameter (three-quarters of an inch). A player's knuckle must be touching the ground when shooting, known as "knuckling down". Moving the tolley closer to the target marbles "cabbaging" is forbidden, as is any forward or other advantageous movement of a players shooting hand during shooting, which constitutes a foul known as "fudging". Any intentional or persistent contact between a player's clothing and a marble or tolley while it is motion, commits a foul called "blocking". No score results from a foul shot, which automatically ends the turn of the offending player, though the score achieved in that turn stands. Any player who makes three foul shots during a game is eliminated from that game. The first team to knock out 25 marbles from the ring is the winner.
1588 - Giles defeated Hodge at marbles to claim his prize of the hand of a local young maiden of Tinsley Green.
1888 - Sam Spooner wins the title on the 300th year of the event (according to British Pathé video 1938)
1932 – The Black Horse from Hookwood, were the first winners of the modern event.
1935 – 6 foot concrete ring used for the first time
1942 to 1945 – No tournaments took place due to the war.
March 1951 – The coldest recorded conditions for tournament when the Tinsley Green Tigers beat the Arundel Mullets in the final.
April 1962 - Glass marbles were used for the first time in place of older clay marbles.
March 1970 – Controversially the BMBC banned women from the main tournament because of the wearing of mini-skirts.
April 1973 - Len Smith of the Toucon Terribles wins a record (and still unbeaten) 12th individual title
March 1975 - Snow had to swept from the ring in temperatures of -2deg C. The "Terribles" win a record 19th title.
April 1977 - The tournament was moved to the Crawley Leisure Centre for one single time.
April 1987 – A Trophy was introduced for "the women's best individual player" and won by Jackie Hodge.
1989 and 1991 – Highest number of teams ever entered, 28 teams of six totalling 168 players competing.
March 1992 – The TennKy Sharpshooters from Tennessee and Kentucky, USA are the first overseas team to win the trophy.
April 2000 – Team USA won the title with a team made up almost entirely of shooters under the age of 18.
April 2002 – Saxonia Globe Snippers become the first German team to win the tournament.
September 2008 the Greyhound Pub, in Tinsley Green closed, only re-opening shortly before the next tournament.
April 2010 – Jen McGowan (formerly Jen LeBon) sets the standard for the ladies with a twelfth individual title.
March 2013 – Crawley-based Black Dog Boozers win the tournament for a 13th time, just 6 off the record of 19 set in 1975.
April 2016 – The Johnson Jets set the record for being runners up in 10 finals, having won the tournament on just once.
Laurel and Hardy 1947 Comedy double act
Jack Warner (actor) 1948 English film and television actor (Dixon of Dock Green)
Jackie Rae 1964 Television presenter (The Golden Shot host)
Tricia Ingrams 1974 TV news presenter (Capital Radio/ITN/Thames News)
Dave Allen 1976 Irish comedian
Chris Tarrant 1980-2000s ?? TV & Radio presenter (Tiswas, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Capital Radio Host)
Tom Watt 1980-2000s ?? Actor (Lofty from EastEnders) and Radio sports journalist
Rory McGrath 2009 comedian and writer and captain on They Think It's All Over (TV series)
Paddy McGuinness 2009 comedian and TV presenter of Take Me Out (UK game show)
British and World Marbles championship video preview 1938 by British Pathé
British and World Marbles championship video preview 1941 by British Pathé
British and World Marbles championship video preview 1962 by British Pathé
British and World Marbles championship video 2008 by YouTube
British and World Marbles championship video 2010 Sky News Intro
British and World Marbles championship video 2011 by ITN
British and World Marbles championship video 2011 by YouTube
British and World Marbles championship video 2013 by YouTube
British and World Marbles championship video 2013 by 3news NZ
British and World Marbles championship video 2014 on Bing
British and World Marbles championship video 2015 by BYN TV News on YouTube
British and World Marbles championship video 2015 by World Wide weird on YouTube
British and World Marbles championship video 2016 by Britclip on YouTube
