I’m not a Welly Wanger! But Dave is!!

I’m not a Welly Wanger! But Dave is!!

Hi there

Thanks for popping in. Friday’s blog a private peak, right? Well, it’s Friday, it’s been quite a busy week, so Dave and I got away from the office early today, and decided to enjoy the lovely weather up on the Ashdown Forest. It has been very wet here darn sarf, so we went via the house and got our wellies on. For the benefit of our foreign friends, Wellies – short for Wellington Boots – are a kind of rubber footwear that folks often wear in bad weather, such as rain or snow, and also during muddy walks, as was the case today…

His and hers. Here we see our well loved wellies. I bought mine a few years ago when we went to the Glastonbury festival. Best buy EVER!!! Best festival ever too! Certainly one to remember. We were so knackered wading through the mud that we couldn’t even face Adele headlining on Saturday night at the Pyramid stage! Mind you, we had seen her at the 02 with Paul in the March before, so there was no FOMO! Check out the mudbath!! Carnage.

Anyway. Back to today. Same wellies and up on the forest we went. Oh boy! Was it muddy! But no problemo with wellies on!

Let’s have a little trivia session, shall we? Did you know…

  1. Wellies are named after their inventor, Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington. He asked his shoemaker to modify his riding boots, and the rest as they say is history. Wellington led the British Army to victory against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, and folks – especially British aristocracy – started wearing his new style of boot, too. The name “Wellingtons” stuck.
  2. Wellies were originally made of leather, but in 1856, the North British Rubber Company (famous today for the brand Hunter Boots) started manufacturing rubber Wellies, making them 100% waterproof.
  3. Wellies became popular in both Britain and across the globe after the 2 world wars. During both wars, the North British Rubber Company was commissioned to produce rain boots for soldiers in an effort to stop “trench foot”. When soldiers brought the boots home, farmers and those working in harsh weather conditions adopted the footwear because it kept feet warm and dry.
  4. Wellies were originally only one color: black. In 1956, Hunter Boots introduced green boots. Today, you can buy wellies in all colours and crazy designs.
  5. In some countries, it’s considered proper rain boot etiquette to wear “lived-in” wellies. Well, that’s Dave and me then! Stylishly muddy!

So we were chomping across the forest today, and a fella was lobbing a ball for his dog, using one of those boomerang type lobbing things. Probably called a dog ball thrower.

Dave : “Never had those gadgets in my dog days…I couldn‘t throw a ball now to save my life. Mind you, I did win the Welly Wanging Competition back in the day…. by a country mile!”

Barb: “The Welly what?!?”

And then Dave proceeded to tell me all about Welly Wanging. Yep. It‘s a thing! And little did I know that I was married to a Champion Welly Wanger!

So I thought I‘d write a little homage to Dave, the Trophy Winning Welly Wanger.

I’m not a welly wanger, I’m a welly wanger‘s wife

But I shan’t be wanging wellies –

It’s Dave’s Welly Wanger Life!

He wangs the welly far and he wangs the welly high;

He’s a super welly wanger is my welly wanger guy!

So there you have it. Dave the Champion Welly Wanger. Who knew…

Stay safe.

Love always!

Barb xxx

29 thoughts on “I’m not a Welly Wanger! But Dave is!!

  1. Lol. Brilliant poem! Don‘t own wellies but maybe should for living around here. Might tempt me out of the house more often. Have a good weekend. Lots of love. Hxx

  2. By the way, I’m still wearing the wellies I had for my first guide camp at age 11, I draw my state pension in a couple of weeks. How’s that for longevity!

  3. Hi Barb
    Really cute poem…maybe I should have a pair as we are about to buried here in Nova Scotia with a lot snow..
    Interesting history on the Wellies
    Have a awesome day

  4. Other missus!!! Really wouldn’t want to read that little ditty out in public for fear of tripping over my own tongue and using some somewhat rather colourful expletives!
    Did you know about the wife carrying race they hold in Finland?? Just saying!! 🤣😉❤

    Debbie Lee

  5. I recently got wellies to fit my curvy legs from the wide company. For years I have struggled to get wellies that didn’t scrunch at the bottom of my calves.
    The owner of the welly company’s husband was working at my work for a few months before Christmas which is how I found out about the company.
    It fun to go out walks again and not come home with my trousers covered on mud!

  6. Ha, ha – brilliant poem Barbara and always knew Dave was a champ! Back in the day I used to help run a church youth club and welly wanging was a favourite summer game! Not sure we would have been up to Dave’s standards though!

  7. One of my very few claims to fame within our family is that I won the Ladies Welly Throwing completion back in the mid 70’s 😳 by a country mile in the Motorcaravan Club Meet. Due to misplaced bone structure in my right arm, I threw it two handed over my head standing with my back to the target area. All the organisers (male), were ribbing me that I was facing the wrong way, but then cheered when they measured the distance I’d achieved. 😜👊🏻

  8. That was really funny, and the verse good. Must admit I am really hoping we can see the little Vikings again, seems ages, as I always read the blog…..hoping they get a mention too.

  9. Great verse. Is his trophy a silver wellie? My ancient wellies are blue and well worn in the very mud woods. It’s getting hard to get them off so I’m looking out for a boot remover (I saw one on an antiques programme!).

  10. Great poem, its strange how little things spark a memory & you find out things from the past. Welly wanging was something the kids did at Scout & Guide camp back in the day. I have never found them very comfortable & difficult to get off because of a high instep. Certainly the best footwear for muddy fields like Glastonbury.

  11. Wish I could get wellies to fit my leg, no chance, can’t get boots either so when it is bad weather sadly housebound. Been very foggy and cold here today, freezing now. Just got in from visiting eldest grandson for his Birthday, 27 tomorrow. Does not seem all that long ago that he was a baby. xx

  12. Brilliant poem. I have two pairs of wellies, one pair of black ones, which were given to me by a friend a couple of years ago, and a pair of fur lined (tho alas the fur is a bit on the thin side now) wine coloured, which you will find me wearing daily at the moment when I’m walking my dog. The wine coloured ones, I bought from the shoe shop where I worked at, when I left school, which makes them over 40 years old. xx

  13. I tried welly wanging when I went to my local youth club (when it was a thing), I wasn’t very good then but I ended up good at darts. I mentioned welly wanging to him indoors and he hadn’t heard of it and we only grew up 6 miles apart.
    Strange that.

  14. Hi Barbara
    Love the poem got a bit tongue tied trying to read it out to Jackie but gave us a laugh.
    Love
    Ruth & Jackie xx

  15. Hello Barb, what a great laugh this morning, who knew that Dave was a champion Welly Wanger? We may be going to watch our grandson play rugby this afternoon and that will definitely be a welly exercise. Take care and stay safe everyone. Bx

  16. I have a pair of red ones bought years ago. Love them. My bestie Marilyn had parties on her birthday and she would set up games ,like putting up horse jumps but lower and minus her horses plus other games and challenges for us all to do .I think the welly wanging got the best laughs . Who knew that throwing a welly to land in marked square in front of you could have so many people running for cover in different directions. Great verse too, lol

  17. Ha ha love the poem.
    We’ve just discovered mice in the shed and they’ve filled a pair. Of wellies right to the top with nesting material. Not sure I want to wear them again now!!

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