Long before the people of Wenlock in Shropshire opened the town’s race-course to all-comers to compete in the first Wenlock Olympian Society games in 1850, The Three Magpies in Harmondsworth, Middlesex, had been hosting various sporting events for nearly half a century. The Wenlock games is now recognised as the start of the modern Olympic Games movement and it could be argued that public interest in sporting events at the Three Magpies contributed to the pre-Olympic movement.

The Three Magpies, still a thriving pub today, is on the wide, flat, Bath Road (which now forms the northern perimeter of Heathrow Airport). The road and the pub were ideal for sports such as foot races, bare-knuckle fighting, steeplechases, shooting and hunting, and at only 14 miles from Hyde Park Corner, was a convenient distance for spectators to travel from a wide area.

A boxing match was arranged on 28th February 1822 between Acton and Kendrick. Vehicles of every description gathered on the Bath Road outside the Three Magpies. In a nearby field, the spectators stood around to form a ring. Boxing in the first half of the nineteenth century was not the organised sport it is today. It was bare-knuckle fighting in the open-air with an unlimited number of rounds. The fighters fought until one was unconscious or too exhausted to continue. In this match the betting was 2-1 on Kendrick. By 17th round, both men were at a standstill, but Acton was declared the winner over the exhausted Kendrick.

The sport of fast walking was thought to derive from the late 17th and early 18th century in England when footmen were compelled to walk or run alongside their Master’s carriage as they travelled. Noblemen would take pride in their footmen’s fitness, and would bet each other that their footman could walk further or faster than their rivals could.  Samuel Pepys, in his diary, mentions attending several such foot races and the sport became known as pedestrianism. It was particularly popular during the first half of the 19th century when crowds of spectators would gamble on the outcome. The sport had spread to America by the end of that century.

Mr Greatrex, a former sportsman, was landlord of the Three Magpies and encouraged the leading sportsmen of the day to take part in athletic events at his pub. A few yards from the pub was the fourteenth milestone (which is still in place today), and this was used as a meeting point for the start or finish of races.

Sometimes the race was against the clock and in 1848 two noblemen wagered the other 200-1 that no one could walk twenty miles in three hours.[1] The proprietor of the Blue Boar’s Head in Long Acre, London – himself a notable pedestrian – was asked to submit a candidate and Charles Westall was chosen. The parties met on the Bath Road at 2pm, and such was the excitement generated by two members of the nobility betting for high stakes on the ability of just one man, that over three hundred people assembled. Mr Westall, a Londoner, was 25 years of age and 5ft 9½in tall and weighed 9st 12oz. He was described as “manly-looking fellow in “extraordinary condition”. The race began at the Three Magpies (“the fourteen stone”) and proceeded towards London and back. The course was measured six times to ensure accuracy and with the spectators hushed he set off at 3pm. His style “elicited expression of admiration from the nobility and gentry present”. He had the support of a fellow athlete who regulated his speed and gave him refreshment. He was in fine form until the sixteenth mile when he began to get tired, and by the last two miles, he was struggling, but he completed the route in two minutes and thirty seconds under the three-hour target. When he finished he was greeted by great excitement and cheers from the spectators. He was taken into the Magpies and given “a good sound rubbing” to ease the cramp in his legs and to receive the warm congratulations of his Gentlemen supporters. This feat, equivalent to Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile record, was reported in newspapers throughout the UK.

As pedestrianism became popular, crowds would gather to watch and gamble on the result, Mr Greatrex, used his six acres of land behind the Three Magpies to build a  440-yard (a quarter of a mile) athletic track that circled a large fishing lake. On the 1st of May 1848 two well-known walkers, Robert Fuller and John Mountjoy staged a 40-mile match using a measured mile from the fourteenth milestone, near the Three Magpies, to the fifteenth milestone – still in place today near Longford village.[2] This was a race much anticipated because both of them were major stars of the sport, but also because of the gruelling distance. The good weather and the vast interest in the race brought out many spectators. However the wind and the clouds of dust and the horse-drawn traffic on the busy road was a hazard for competitors and spectators alike. The race was gruelling and Mountjoy, 45, appeared to be flagging until, after sipping some tea, he overtook Fuller, 32, in the 36th mile and was in front when Fuller suddenly collapsed a mile later. Mountjoy completed the race in seven hours, four minutes and seven seconds and went into the Three Magpies to be revived with a friction rub and warm tea. It was considered one of the best long-distance races on record. Meanwhile, during the day-long race, Mr Greatrex, ever mindful of keeping the spectators amused and their purses open, put on sporting entertainments at the rear of the pub on the new sprint ground. Sportsmen such as Ned Smith and Johnny Walker amused the public by a succession of bizarre races. One involved Ned Smith hopping for 120 yards whilst Johnny Walker ran 200 yards backwards which resulted in a defeat for Ned Smith.[3]

Although endurance racing was admired, sprint races were also popular and by mid-nineteenth century Henry Allen Reed (born in High Wycombe in 1826) held the record for running the fastest quarter of a mile with a time of 48.5 seconds. Reed competed against various challengers, each time for a larger purse, until he was challenged by an American, George Seward, to run a level quarter of a mile for £100 a side. The match took place on the turnpike road near the Three Magpies. The day before the match The Era described the proposed match as “the eve of a great event” which had generated intense excitement. Although both men were ranked at the top of their sport they had never competed with each other before. Reed had paid his opponent 10 sovereigns for the right to choose the venue for the race, and he had selected the Three Magpies Inn. The 25th June 1849 was a very hot day and although the match was due to take place at 3pm both parties agreed to postpone the start until 5pm, but they did not approach the start until 7pm. The measured distance was roped off two hundred yards from the finish in order to keep the 6000 spectators back.[4] The referee took up his position in a carriage half-way along the course, and the timer stood on the roof of the Three Magpies about midway along the course where he could see both the start and the finish line. When the racers moved to the starting line in their racing gear Reed was described as “being in the pink of condition having reduced his weight from eleven to a little over nine stone”. He was so confident of victory that he staked his last £20 on a bet to win. There were 25 false starts. Eventually Reed said to Seward , “If you are trying to ruffle my temper then the attempt will be futile. I will wait as long as you please because I am going to win.”

The good-looking Seward smiled and nodded.

Reed said, “Do you mean to go now, George?” and they were off. Both started at a fast pace and the spectators thought that Reed had used up his resources too early. Seward had won the toss for the side and stuck well to his man on the left side for about 100 yards, but then fell slightly behind. At 150 yards Reed was still going at a good speed and increased his lead by nearly two yards and as they approached the Magpies it was evident that Seward could not keep up the pace and was gradually left behind. As Reed crossed the finishing line in his famous 8-foot long strides he turned his head to see his opponent fourteen or fifteen yards behind, but the fast pace left Reed in a state of near collapse. His time was a remarkable 48.5 seconds. It was the first 440 yards run under 50 seconds. The current World Record Speed (2016) is 43.03 for 400 metres. 

The popularity of pedestrianism was its downfall. The amount of gambling it encouraged and the enthusiastic crowds that blocked the highway caused the police to stop events, and the sport had to move off the roads onto the proliferations of arenas now being built by enterprising publicans. In 1866 the first English amateur walking championship took place in Fulham and by 1880 the Amateur Athletic Association was formed. It introduced rules and regulations for the sport, now called racewalking, which became an Olympic event when the International Olympic Committee was formed in 1893.

Shooting was less of a spectator sport and usually a wager between two opponents. On 16 February 1850 a shooting match took place in the Three Magpies grounds. Mr Stringer bet Mr Morrison to shoot at 50 pigeons for £20. These would have been captured wild pigeons held in “traps” and released by a “pull” on the sliding lid to release one “bird” at a time.[5] All these terms are used in the sport of clay pigeon shooting today.

Equestrian events were not forgotten. In 1825 betting took place on a steeple chase which started at the Magpies and ended at the Dog Kennel on Ascot heath racecourse. The cross-country race was between Mr Montague and Capt. Hordham for 100 sovereigns. Each gentlemen took different routes, the former went across the heath to Staines and the latter crossing the Thames at Datchet Bridge.[6] The Captain won the 11-mile race in 42 minutes.

Long before the construction of the sporting arena at the Three Magpies, the pub was a weekly meeting point, in the winter months, for the Royal Staghounds hunt. Although not an Olympic sport it was still an important country event for elite riders and was sometimes attended by up to 500 sportsmen and many spectators. This many hooves trampling down the crops in this market garden area caused complaints and by the end of the century hunting had moved away from urban areas.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century a new invention created a popular sport that boosted the income of the Three Magpies. Bicycle mania led to the formation of cycling clubs and their members would go on regular excursions in the summer months. The Bath Road was a popular route and the Three Magpies was a respectable distance from London for it to be a good place for the club members to stop and eat before making their return journey. Even then the Three Magpies had a reputation for providing good food and drink to the travelling public as it still does today.

[1] Hereford Journal - Wednesday 23 August 1848

[2] Morning Advertiser - Monday 01 May 1848. Both milestones are still in place.

[3] The Era - Sunday 07 May 1848

[4] Seldon, Edward. George Seward: America's First Great Runner (Sears 2008)

[5] https://www.bristolclayshooting.com/history.php

[6] Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette - Thursday 07 April 1825. Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser - Friday 01 April 1825