BLACKHEATH Hockey club will mark its 150th anniversary by holding a Victorian themed hockey match against a team of parliamentarians on the heath, the site of the original club.

Among the MPs set to take part on May 12 are Stephen Hammond, Caroline Spelman MP and Tim Loughton.

The game starts at 2pm and will see the Kent & Sussex league club Blackheath go back in time to play a traditional Victorian hockey match, complete with 1861 rules and mixed teams dressed in full Victorian hockey kit using 1861 equipment.

Gentleman club members will swap their high-tech shorts and modern hockey shirts for cotton plus fours, button-up shirts, formal jackets, cravats and caps, while the ladies will trade their modern short hockey skirts for full-length heavy cotton versions, high-necked button up blouses and boots.

The Victorian rules match forms part of a day of hockey celebrations which starts at noon on the heath to mark the club’s anniversary, raise awareness of the sport in the run up to this summer’s Olympic Games and encourage more young people to take up hockey.

England Hockey, the national governing body, will attend the festival with its national hockey road-show, which gives budding young players the chance to pick up a stick and try the sport.

There will be an inflatable pitch, a cage and shooting net where they can try their hand at taking a penalty flick and a skittles alley - a game where children have to knock over as many skittles as possible with a hockey ball.

Recognised as the oldest hockey club in the world, Blackheath HC also marked its landmark anniversary with a special dinner last Saturday at the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich.

For more information, call Andy Bartlett on 07764 480753.

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