Toad-in-the-Hole

Most people, when they think of toad-in-the-hole, think of sausages cooked in a batter pudding. But not in Sussex, especially in Lewes, where the local Lions Club organises the world toad-in-the-hole championships. Toad-in-the-hole is an ancient pub game, played particularly in Sussex where it has been seeing something of a revival. It can be played one against one or by teams. The game requires a wooden stool with a lead covering, in the centre of which is a hole approximately two inches in diameter. The object is to toss toads - brass discs only fractionally smaller than the hole, onto the stool from a distance of seven feet and, with luck, down the hole into the drawer below, each player using four discs on a turn. As with darts, the teams try to reduce the score to reach zero, starting from 31. A point is gained if the toad stays on the stool top without striking the back board. Dropping the toad into the hole scores two points. Naturally, there are other rules and that is just a basic description.



The Lions Clubs in our zone hold an Olympic Games contest each year. In this, each club organises an evening activity so we have seven social events during the course of the year. Yesterday, Lewes Lions hosted their event - the toad-in-the-hole competition. Last year, Brighton won that event but I regret to say that yesterday both our teams were knocked out in round one. Maybe we will do better at the next event - a shuffleboard evening.