What ho! Chaps and chapettes of all persuasions gathered last weekend in Bedford Square Gardens for The Chap Olympiad, an annual vintage bash which celebrates in equal measure panache, imagination and skullduggery.
For the first time, the Olympiad was split over two days. There was no shortage of well-attired contestants lining up to take part in the games like Ironing Board Surfing, the Hop, Skip and G&T and The Three Trousered Limbo. Umbrella Jousting saw brave souls clamber aboard bicycles and speed towards each other with only an umbrella and a briefcase to defend themselves while the Cucumber Sandwich Discus brought out the competitive spirit and almost led to a couple of the attendant papparazzi being decapitated by flying plates.
The arid wit of compère Tristan Langlois kept the audience amused as did some of the contestant names (for example, Lucy Elastic and Gaylord Fistingdon). Stewards kept a keen eye on proceedings with immediate disqualifications imposed for wearing sports clothing or training shoes. Meanwhile, the Flirtinis were on hand to stretcher off any injured participants in between handing out medicinal measures of gin.
All photos (c) Lisa Thomson.