Wellie Wanging - History of Welly Wanging

History of Welly Wanging

Welly Wanging originated in Upperthong at a time when people didn’t have the distraction of PlayStations, shopping or watching TV to while away the time. So people had to be inventive and create games around the everyday objects they had at their disposal. Being a rural village, Upperthong folk didn’t have a great deal of stimulation to work from so it’s no surprise that the locals discovered an alternative use for the most popular footwear in the village – the Welly Boot.

History has it that the sport originated from a spat between two farmers in the local pub one night. An unfortunate incident saw the spilling of ale into the wellington boot of an innocent and unwitting bystander. Notwithstanding the virtual criminal act of spilling ale in the first place – something that would almost certainly have caused a chorus of boos, hisses and well deserved verbal abuse directed at the clumsy oaf. The farmer whose trousers were now sodded and whose foot was drowned up to the ankle was not best pleased by all accounts. In a fit of rage he removed his boot and preceeded to chase the drink spilling fool out of the pub swinging hard and fast with his improvised rubber weapon.

Unfortunately, with only one boot he was considerably slower than his prey. And so in a fit of frustration he wanged the boot as hard as he could in the direction of the escaping farmer. It’s unclear whether he missed or managed to clonk the chap on the back of the head. Legend has it that locals re-enacted the scene over the following weeks. And that this somehow turned into a friendly competition as to who could throw the welly most like the angry farmer – who threw it a long way apparently. From that point on Welly Wanging made it into Upperthong village life and then upwards and onwards onto the global stage.

Many other countries have their own equivalent of wellie wanging. The town of Taihape in New Zealand, styles itself the gumboot-throwing capital of the country (or the gumboot-throwing capital of the world), while an annual Boot-Throwing Championships takes place in various European countries such as Germany, Finland and Poland.