Played in Britain
Charting the heritage of a nation at play
WINTER SALE: great offers on Played in Britain books!
Only £15
The British Olympics • Great Lengths
Only £12
Uppies and Downies
Only £10
Engineering Archie • Played at the Pub • Played in Birmingham • Played in Glasgow • Played in Liverpool • Played in Manchester • Played in Tyne and Wear • The Best of Charles Buchan's Football Monthly • Charles Buchan's Arsenal Gift Book • Charles Buchan's Liverpool Gift Book • Charles Buchan's Manchester United Gift Book • Charles Buchan's Spurs Gift Book
All prices include UK postage
We publish books about Britain's sporting heritage. If you like an old scoreboard, or a mildewed pavilion; if you would like to know where to find the world's oldest bowling green, or the best Art Deco grandstand in London; if you're fed up with homogenised, commercialised sport, and long to dive into a Victorian swimming pool with gorgeous ceramic tiling; if you think potting balls all afternoon in a dimly-lit billiard hall is definitely not time mis-spent; if you have ever wondered why tennis and suburbia go together so well, then Played in Britain is for you...
Find out more about Played in Britain, our books and our authors
Played in Britain has a reputation for thoroughness and insight... editor Simon Inglis deserves credit for the clarity of his vision.
John Burnett, Folk Life: Journal of Ethnological Studies
Played in Britain news feed: reporting on Britain's sporting heritage
London's Olympic Games
January 16 2012
Martin Polley, author of The British Olympics, will be outlining the history of London's Olympic Games and Britain's rich Olympic heritage dating back to 1612 in a lecture for the London Parks and Gardens Trust at the Garden Museum in Lambeth on February 13.
Visit londongardenstrust.org for more information and tickets.
Football League founder honoured on centenary of his death
December 22 2011
Representatives from the twelve founder members clubs gathered in Birmingham on Tuesday December 20 to celebrate the restoration of the grave of William McGregor, the founder of the Football League, following a fund raising campaign by the Aston Villa Supporters Trust.
Edwardian tennis pavilion in Scarborough listed but derelict centre court stands set to go
December 5 2011
Originally home to the Yorkshire Tennis Club, a 1912 pavilion designed by Sir Edwin Cooper has been listed Grade II by English Heritage. But the site's former centre court, with its three sides of covered stands where the likes of Fred Perry and Rod Laver played, appears likely to be built over by housing.
For the news story see here, visit www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk, and for the listing description, visit english-heritage.org.uk
Carnegie Leisure Centre to reopen this month
November 11 2011
The swimming pools and spectacular Edwardian tile work in Dunfermline's Carnegie Leisure Centre will once again be revealed on November 26 when the facility is re-opened after an £18 million refurbishment programme. As featured in Great Lengths, the building originally opened in 1905 with two further pools added in 1984.
Find out more information about the refurbishment and view a preview gallery (both external sites).
Old Wembley Stadium's timber gates up for sale
November 1 2011
Some footballers considered them the gateway to heaven, some to hell. But now the massive 16' square timber gates that for 77 years formed the teams' entrance to the old Wembley Stadium are up for sale at Graham Budd's sporting auction in London.
Launching the British Olympics with a German twist
October 5 2011
One hundred and fifty years ago the German Gymnastic Society (or Deutsche Turnverein), was formed in London by members of what was then the largest single community of immigrants living in the capital. But what did this have to do with the launch of a new Played in Britain book and the history of the Olympic Games?
Read more UK sport heritage news articles »
Selected titles from Played in Britain
Great Lengths
The historic indoor swimming pools of Britain
By Dr Ian Gordon and Simon Inglis
Full of warm nostalgia, but in a serious meaty way, absorbing detail and fascinating social history… the usual Played in Britain trick (is) luring you into their world and making you care as much as they do about something to which you’d barely given a thought before. And… the quality of the photography is superb.
The Observer
For me, this series of books is invaluable. Previous lack of attention by sports historians to the built environment and the way this reflected or impacted on sport is now being redressed. Long may this excellent work continue.
Richard W Cox (University of Manchester) Sport in History
I love your books... keep this wonderful stuff coming.
Brenda Grace, Pontefract
Hugely impressive and immensely important, Played in Britain (is) rapidly becoming the guardian of the nation's sporting heritage.
A marvellous series - how did we ever do without it?
Brian Salter, East Grinstead
Buy Played in Britain books from this site. Click 'buy now' links to add books to your basket. Signed copies are sent where possible. UK orders are post-free.
The British Olympics
Order your copy of The British Olympics, Britain’s Olympic heritage 1612-2012, post-free to UK customers.
Played in Tyne and Wear
Order your copy of Played in Tyne and Wear, charting the heritage of people at play, post-free to UK customers.
Sporting Plaques
In the run up to the 2012 Olympics, Played in Britain will be working with English Heritage to identify individuals and locations worthy of a sports-related blue plaque in London. View our gallery of existing sporting plaques and find out how to put forward your own nominations.