PEDAL-POWER replaced horse-power for a polo match with a difference.

Spectators are more used to seeing riders on ponies galloping around the polo field but over the weekend they were treated to the unusual sight of competitors on Penny Farthings instead.

Teams from England and Scotland used the giant old-fashioned bikes in a match which more than fulfilled the promise from organisers that it would be “highly entertaining”.

Money raised through the game, which took place at Cowdray Park, Midhurst, on Saturday, will go to the Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice near Arundel.

Players in each of the four-a-side teams were members of the national Penny Farthing Club, which is run by former England bicycle polo captain Neil Laughton.

A spokesman for the club said: “Bicycle polo was a demonstration sport at the London Olympics in 1908 and this is believed to be the first formal bicycle polo match on Penny Farthings ever staged.”

The match was sponsored by Focus Group who kitted out all the players in suitably smart shirts for the occasion.

Chestnut Tree House cares for about 300 life-limited children and young people and more than 100 bereaved families across Sussex.

It costs more than £3 million each year to provide all of the hospice’s care services, both at its main centre at Poling and out in the community in families’ own homes.

The hospice is not part of the NHS and so receives less than 8% of funding from central government.

Therefore it relies heavily on the support of the local community in order to keep its vital services going.

The Penny Farthing Club is open to new members for a joining fee of £25 including club t-shirt and insurance.

For more information, visit www.pennyfarthingclub.com.

background

During the 1870s the first all-metal two wheeled bicycles were developed.

The pedals were still attached directly to the front wheel, which became larger and larger as makers realised that the larger the wheel, the faster and farther you could travel with one rotation of the pedals.

Solid rubber tires and the long spokes of the large front wheel provided a much smoother ride than its predecessor, the Boneshaker.

Its shape led to the nickname Penny Farthing in the UK.