5 Unique British HOBBIES I Had NEVER Heard of Before Moving to the UK

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Before I moved to the UK, I had a very uh vague mental image of what British hobbies might be. I thought maybe football. Well, I thought soccer actually, but what they call football, cricket, I don't know, maybe talking about the weather. What I didn't expect was to stumble across grown adults tumbling down a hill after a wheel of cheese, or to find out that mud larking was not only a real thing, but a real popular thing. The more time I've spent in the UK as an American, the more I've realized that the British relationship with hobbies and tradition and the outdoors and eccentricity is genuinely unlike anything I've encountered before.

[00:00:36]So, here's a rundown of some of the British hobbies that genuinely stopped me in my tracks. Things I'd never heard of before moving here and that I now find weirdly compelling. Before I get started, this video is not sponsored.

[00:00:48]This is not a sponsorship, but I wanted to let you know I have posted my latest For the Love video. all about miniature model making with one of the UK's leading model makers, and I've linked to it in the description below. You can watch as I panic over whether my mini tree has enough leaves and learn the secret to making grass look realistic in a miniature model. Spoiler alert, it has something to do with an electric charge.

[00:01:11]I'm not joking. Anyway, after you watch this video, check out that one. Okay, so first up on my list is Morris Dancing. I first saw Morris dancing at a village fate and I honestly wasn't sure what I was looking at. It was essentially a group of people in white clothing with bells strapped to their shins waving handkerchiefs in the air and there was a tune that went along with it. It felt ancient and it turns out it sort of is.

[00:01:38]Though the romantic idea that it dates back to some pre-Christian fertility ritual is mostly a myth. The documented history of Morris dancing puts it firmly in the post-medieval period with real records and tune collections appearing from the 17th century onwards. What surprised me the most is that there isn't just one Morris dancing. There are several distinct regional styles uh like Cotswald's Morris which is the version most people picture. This has the white outfits and handkerchiefs and kind of cheerful chaos. Then there's border Morris which comes from the counties along the Welsh border which is a completely different beast. It's rougher and louder and has tattered jackets and a more like stomping energy. Then there's Northwest Morris tied to the old milltowns of the industrial northwest which is more processional and accompanied by a kind of brass band tune. And one of the most important parts of Morris dancing is actually the social side. Dancers belong to sides which is what they call their teams. And the whole thing is about rehearsing together, performing at pubs and faith and showing up for seasonal celebrations like Mayday. If you want to see it live, folk festivals like Whitby are great starting points. Or just keep an eye out at your spring and summer village fates.

[00:02:48]Like I said, that's where I first saw it. Most towns have a local side that welcomes complete beginners. The emphasis is very much on community. Next up on my list is mudarking. Now, this one blew my mind a little because mudarking is kind of what it sounds like. You go down to what they call the foreshore of a tidal river, usually like the Tempames, and you look in the mud for stuff, old stuff, really, really old stuff. The Tempames, for example, has been at the center of London life for roughly 2,000 years. And every low tide peels back another layer of that history. Mudarkers regularly find things like Roman pottery, medieval buckles, Georgian clay pipes, and Victorian bottles just by walking along the riverbank. The name originally referred to the desperately poor, mostly children, who scavenge the banks for anything they could find. These days, it's been reframed as a hobby and a form of amateur archaeology. And there's a very passionate community around it.

[00:03:43]It's actually regulated, which is worth knowing upfront. If you want to remove fines from the temp's foreshore, you need a permit from the Port of London authority. And anything that looks genuinely significant should be reported under the treasure act. The responsible collecting side of it is taken very seriously by the community. You log where you found things. You don't disturb archaeological layers, that kind of thing. And the kit is surprisingly low tech. You just need waterproof boots, gloves, a small tel, a torch, and an understanding of the tide tables.

[00:04:15]Experienced mudarkers often use apps to log the GPS coordinates of their finds.

[00:04:19]And the Museum of London runs identification sessions. are also guided walks and social media groups if you want a way to get involved that doesn't involve doing it alone. Next up on my list is competitive conquers. Yes, conquers. Yes, competitive. The horse chestnuts on a string game that I've talked about in the past. It's almost certainly associated with uh childhood rituals. But here in the UK, there is also an organized rulebound competitive scene for conquers. Um the basic game, if you're not familiar, is pretty simple. You have two players, two conquers on strings. You take turns swinging at each others until one of them breaks. But once you get into the competitive layer, things get even more interesting. Preparation methods are debated with genuine passion, drying, baking, soaking in vinegar, hardening, and antiseptic solutions. The World Conquer Championships have been running since the 1960s, and it draws competitors who have put a lot of thought into their Conquer strategy.

[00:05:18]What I love about this is the tone. It's very British in the fact that like it's competitive, but it's also kind of absurd and everyone is in on the joke.

[00:05:28]Village Fates sometimes run conquer tournaments alongside marrow growing competitions and like best garden prizes, which says everything you need to know about the spirit of what it is.

[00:05:39]Next up is fell running. And this one is not so much eccentric, it's very hardcore, but it was still completely new to me. Fell running is a form of mountain running native to the upland regions of northern England. So like the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.

[00:05:54]It is not the same thing as trail running, not even close. The word fell comes from Old Norse and refers to high open and boggy upland terrain. Fell running courses are basically unmarked.

[00:06:07]Navigation is part of the challenge. And the ground under your feet might be bog.

[00:06:13]It might be a nearly vertical grassy slope. Who knows? That's part of the fun. The sport grew historically from shepherds and quarry workers racing informally between communities and it kind of still carries that no frrills self-reliant aspect to it. Uh race finishes are often usually at like a village hall and you don't get uh too much for doing this. Uh which is why I will not be participating because you would have to bribe me with a lot of money for this. Um, but you might just get like a cup of tea and a job well done. And the other reason you wouldn't find me doing this is because I'm very bad at maps and navigation and uh actual map and compass competence is not really an extra thing that you need. It's a core skill for fell running. Some of the bigger events have compulsory lists that include a map, compass, waterproof jacket, and emergency foil blanket because the weather really can turn dangerous on a dime. That is a very American term I think to use on a dime, but whatever the British equivalent is.

[00:07:13]And next on my list is cheese rolling.

[00:07:16]If you spent any time on the internet, you may have already seen the footage of a crowd of people hurling themselves down a nearvertical hill in the English countryside tumbling, cartwheeling, uh just generally free falling, uh with cheese. That's I don't know how else to put this. It looks completely unhinged because it is completely unhinged. And it's been happening on the same hill, Cooper's Hill and Glostershure since at least the early 19th century. The setup is this. A 3 to four kilogram round of double Gloucester cheese is rolled from the top of a hill that drops basically 1 meter for every meter of horizontal distance, i.e. steep. Competitors then chase it. The cheese in practice goes so fast that no one can actually chase it.

[00:07:58]So the winner is simply whoever reaches the bottom first, however they get there. And however they get there usually involves a significant amount of falling. What's interesting is that the local council withdrew official support years ago over safety concerns, which I do not blame them for, but the locals and the event just kind of carried on informally anyway. Local volunteers organize it. Ambulance cover gets arranged informally and people keep turning up from all over the world to participate. Injuries are common as they would be if you decided to fall down a hill for fun and is kind of widely understood to be part of the deal. The atmosphere though is cheerful rather than reckless. Local families and cheese makers and regulars and tourists who have no idea what's going on are all mixed together on a hillside in late May. It's probably the most extreme example of something I've noticed more broadly since moving to the UK is that the British commitment to a tradition doesn't really weaken just because the tradition is objectively a bit dangerous and makes very little sense. If anything, that seems to be part of the appeal. Now, that brings me to the end of this video. As always, leave your comments below.