On this Day 1978: May Day ‘Jarping contest’

OTD, May 1st 1978

Report by Chris Tarrant from the Crown Inn at Chinnor, Oxfordshire, explaining the traditional May Day contest of ‘Jarping’, where contestants use hard boiled eggs to demonstrate their skills at the sport.

Inside the pub Chris Tarrant talks to an expert explains the rules of the ‘sport’ of Jarping and describes the penalties inflicted if cheating is suspected and bribes offered. We see people ‘Jarping’  -striking a boiled egg against another boiled egg; the winner is the person with the least damaged egg.

This ’78 competition was between local children and sailors from HMS Warrior. One contestant accused of cheating is covered with eggs.