'During a game of football on an autumn day in the year 1823, on a ground called the Close at Rugby School, one William Webb Ellis, a sixteen year old pupil of the school, with a fine disregard of the rules....first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, and so began the modern version of this major world sport.
Until you've been to Rugby, it's hard to imagine that the world-wide sport of rugby football took its name from our bustling market town. When you're here next to the hallowed ground where the game began, the atmospheric surroundings of Rugby School will transport you back to the day in 1823 when William Webb Ellis changed the game forever.
If you're a true fan of the game, a trip to Rugby can become a pilgrimage as you find yourself delving into the origins of the sport, the history of the players and the uniqueness of the town's connections. This will be an experience you'll treasure throughout life; after all, where else can you stand next to the spot where a worldwide phenomenon was born?'
I love Rugby, of course I do. I was born there, and grew up there. It'll always have a soft spot in my heart as we've been through a lot together. However, this description has been exaggerated...a whole lot.
'Bustling market town' - ummm, yeah, the market is ok. You have people shouting at you, and there's the famous man who walks around his stall in fluorescent leggings. It's not exactly bustling.
The 'atmospheric surroundings' - apparently will transport you back to 1823. You need to be in the history zone in order for this to vaguely happen. It's exciting to see where rugby was first inspired...but it loses its novelty when Rugby School has a reputation that only pretentious snobs go there, and apparently Harry Potter's Emma Watson once studied there. Knowing the nitty gritty of the school and its reputation to the rest of the town (aka people who didn't go to the private school but to a normal state school) dampens the atmosphere of it a bit.
Taking a 'pilgrimage' to Rugby. Please do not. I have lived in Rugby for nearly 21 years now, and I haven't a clue where to find out about the player's history, the origins of the sport and what not. I believe there's a very small outlet somewhere to find out - but I've been in there once and it doesn't give you much information!
And having an experience you'll treasure throughout life - standing NEXT to where the sport was inspired. It's a school, you're not allowed on the ground. I have had the opportunity to stand on the ground, though it was at a conference and marquees were all over the ground - but I do enjoy remembering that I once stood where William Webb Ellis first picked up that ball.
This was not supposed to have been a scathing review of the Rugby tourism website, but I'd just like to see the truth being published. Raising the profile of Rugby in this way just gets people's hopes up, to find its not *that* fancy. It's a lovely, charming, little town with many other quirky features, memories (on my part) and you can have fun there if you seek it. Sell it as it is! It's got a shopping centre called the Clock Towers, and inside there is a huge clock and on the hour every hour, the famous tortoise and the hare story is displayed. When I was a kid, I used to insist on watching it - and I still stop and pause if I pass it today. It's simple, yet charming.
Pick the not so historically or aesthetically impressive parts of Rugby, and sell those. After one visit, those tourist sites will be boring. So tell them about the quirky parts! I'd love it.
Hello :)
ReplyDeleteI think you're being a bit harsh on Rugby School, saying that 'only pretentious snobs go there'. Yes, there are people at Rugby who think the sun shines out of their arse, but for the most part people who go to Rugby are hard-working (and are from hard-working families) and the majority of people are there on scholarships. Rugby School also gives quite a lot back to Rugby Town; every Thursday groups of students go to the local Primary Schools and help out in classes, for example, I did one-on-one reading with 7 year olds who had fallen a bit behind, and just the extra attention helped them come on leaps and bounds. Other groups go out and visit the elderly, and do their shopping, or just spend time with them, and others go and take disabled children out on trips to give the parents a break one afternoon a week. Rugby School also holds science fetes for primary school children throughout the year to try and show pupils who may find science boring, just how exciting it can be and to try to 'turn them on to' science. Rugby also allows local schools to use their sports facilities at heavily discounted rates.
Also, you can go into the grounds of the school, and whilst you can't go and stand on the Close (no-one can unless they're playing Rugby) you can certainly go and stand by Doctor's Wall where the plaque to WWE is sited. I can't count the number of times I've had my photo taken with Japanese tourist groups there! You can also get tours round the school, and you can see all the bits that are mentioned in, for example, Tom Brown's Schooldays, you only have to ask at the school bookshop, museum, or library.
Whilst I'd agree that saying coming to Rugby is a pilgrimage is probably going a bit far, Rugby does have a certain amount to offer, including the School, so please don't dismiss it out of hand. I feel quite hurt that people from Rugby town see me as a 'pretentious snob', especially since I grew up here too, I just also happened to go to Rugby School. I hadn't realised that was the attitude, and up until now, it certainly isn't something I'd experienced. Please don't make such sweeping statements about us, most of us really are very nice people (and in my case, it's hard to be a snob when I spend my days ankle deep in other people's body fluids working in the NHS)!
ps. Emma Watson didn't study at Rugby, she would have been the year below me, she went to school at the Dragon School in Oxford as far as I'm aware, but probably had most of her education on film sets...
Ellie Derrick