"According to www.britannia.com, 'the first of what were to become the annual Brookes' Olympian Games were held in 1850, with small monetary prizes being awarded for success in such sports as running, the long jump, football (soccer), quoits and cricket.' I have heard that the ancient game of quoits could have been one of the five games played at pentathlon meetings held in Greece over 2,000 years ago. It was banned during the Middle Ages at the height of its popularity as it took archers away from their archery practice. International games between Wales and England began in 1896; the first contest taking place in Cheltenham.

There are minutes of the Montgomeryshire County Quoiting League dating back at least as far as 1924. Albert Baker's booklet "The History of Quoits in Wales", takes us from 1896 to 1948 when the County Quoiting League in Montgomeryshire was still running, and did so at least until 1950.

The ancient game had died out in Mid Wales when, in the early 1970s after a holiday in Scotland where he saw the game being played, Bernard Jones of Caersws brought the idea back to Montgomeryshire where the interest was re-kindled. As well as Caersws, the villages of Tregynon, Llandyssil which boasted an A and B team, Bwlchyffridd, Bettws, and New Mills were also members of the Montgomeryshire County Quoiting League.

In addition to their weekly league games, on one Saturday each year, the villages would host a Grand Prix competition, a 'Junior' Championship, Welsh Championship, with Llandyssil and Caersws each hosting the annual International competition against Scotland, twice - Llandyssil in 1983 and 1991, and Caersws in 1979 and 1987. The competition was traditionally hosted on alternate years by Wales and Scotland which is how it remains to this day. The 2006 International will be held at the Glenburn Miners' Club, Prestwick, Ayrshire.

There were also village fetes, carnivals, fairs and other events to fill in the weekends throughout the summer. Quoits competitions were included in local events such as Llanfair Caereinion & District Agricultural and Horticultural Show, Llanbrynmair Show, Cefn Coch Sheepdog Trials, the Severn Valley Ploughing & Hedging Match and Manafon Garden Fête. Temporary beds were even created at events like Newtown Carnival and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells for demonstration games to be played.

Caersws became a very popular venue on the quoiting calendar, largely due to a contingency of Scots who, in addition to the bi-annual journey south for the Internationals, in 1979, began making an annual visit to Caersws for the first Saturday in July which was traditionally the day Caersws hosted its Grand Prix competition.

Arriving on Friday afternoon, and staying until Sunday, they became firm favourites with the local community, and villagers would look forward to their arrival and the camaraderie that came with it. It made the Caersws competition the largest in the County, with play sometimes carrying on well into dusk.

Initially, the Scottish visitors stayed in the homes of Caersws locals, and would reciprocate in August when a coach would leave Caersws for Prestwick. Latterly though, they preferred to stay in the village itself at The Red Lion or The Unicorn, where there was easy access for the ageing group, to all the village amenities. The village buzzed from Friday right through to the Sunday, and as years went by, so the leaving time got a little later!

As the players aged, so they did not participate in the actual quoits competition, but still they came faithfully every year to pick up where they'd left off the year before, renewing old acquaintances and making new ones. Some came every single year until 2003, bringing with them, second and third generations. Despite the addition to the village population, and the copious amounts of alcohol consumed during the weekend giving a much-welcome boost to the local economy, there was never a moment's trouble in all the 25 years.

Much of the demise of the interest in quoits in Caersws, came about when the quoiting ground, which was easily accessible being centrally located between the Red Lion Hotel, and the Village Club/Hall, owned by Caersws Quoits Club President Mr Francis ("Pop") Roberts of Greenlands which he kindly loaned to Caersws Quoits Club, was sold for re-development following his death. The quoiting beds had to be relocated and were moved to the Recreation Ground - home of Caersws "Bluebirds" Football Club just outside the village. It was never the same after that. The site is about quarter of a mile out of the village itself, and can only be accessed via the busy road bridge over the River Severn, which also carries the main A470 - not to be taken lightly, particularly in the summer! The quoits competition is almost an all day event, with games being played constantly throughout the afternoon from around noon, till gone supper time. Spectators like to be able to watch a game, get a drink, watch another game, have some lunch, watch a couple of games, get some tea, watch a game, go for a shower, watch the semi-final and final before going to one of the village pubs to finish off. It's that sort of sport but this is nigh-on impossible with the location being so far out of the village. The quoits population is not as young as it was, and players need to eat and drink too!

The Montgomeryshire League has long gone and Caersws is the only village left now, actively participating in the sport. The Caersws Grand Prix competition has been kept alive so far, but for how much longer is debatable.

There are three Caersws players active at the present time - Brendon Lloyd, Russell Owen and Russell's son David with Dewi Jones, one of the original players of the 1970s still a supporter. Brendon and Russell are regular members of the Welsh team which plays annually against Scotland. Prestwick hosted the 2006 International on July 29th."

Written by Linda Evans from Caersws