Stumbled upon yesterday while on a walk with my friend Annette in Hampstead Heath: A huge group of people dressed in 1920s costume, men and women, assembled in a huge meadow, playing some kind of series of games.
We asked one of them who walked our way what on earth was going on.
"Oh, it's the Chap Olympics," he said.
"What is that?" asked Annette.
"Well, basically a celebration of all things gentlemanly." he explained. "And we have contests. Right now it's a cucumber-sandwich-tossing contest."
God bless London for having some of the most diverse cultural communities on earth-- but this seemed to take the cake. We watched for a while, bemused, as people streamed in. They were all around our age. Young women wearing fancy 20s style dresses, men with suspenders and 20s style hats...
As we walked away Annette commented how it used to be the case that telling someone he isn't a gentleman was considered a huge insult-- a way of claiming rank in a classist system.
"So the chap olympics," she continued "are a sort of celebration of classism. Fascinating, really, this country we live in."
Personally, I thought it was pretty damn amusing.
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