00:00In the bustling tapestry of Britain, where centuries-old traditions blend seamlessly with modern life,
00:05there exists individuals who march to the beat of their own drum.
00:10Meet the inventors, the dreamers and the eccentrics, whose daily lives are anything but conventional,
00:15as we showcase the vibrant eccentricity that colours the landscape of British culture.
00:21Unconventional Brits invites you to step into the worlds of local legends,
00:25celebrating the delightful diversity that makes Britain truly extraordinary.
00:30Coming up this week, we'll marvel at the formation wheelbarrows,
00:37we'll find another meaning for bin-dipping, and we'll celebrate St George's Day in style.
00:45I did 24 years in the army, and then when I got out of the army, I became a pub landlord.
00:50And the first pub I ever, or the second pub I had, was the Lynxie St Hans,
00:54and somebody had put all the flags on a couple of years before me,
00:57and I thought it was a good tradition, I carried it on.
00:59Then I went, my other pubs that I've had, I've done the same.
01:03I took this pub over just over a year ago now, so it's the first proper time I've had a chance to do this.
01:08So, you know, it's on the main thoroughfare in Blackpool, you know, plenty of people passing by.
01:12So we just put lots and lots of flags out, and, you know, hopefully people will come and enjoy it with us.
01:16So we've gone all out with all the flags, all the bunting and everything, to try and encourage people to come out and celebrate St George's Day.
01:23In my opinion, we don't celebrate it enough. We do celebrate a lot of the other scents from the other countries now,
01:29but we need to get more behind our own, and try and celebrate it in a good manner.
01:33Happy St George's Day!
01:35Happy St George's Day!
01:38He's jumped into me when I was a young Cub Scout and such like, you know, we did quizzes and things,
01:42and, you know, we learnt about all the patron saints, not just St George, all the other ones as well.
01:46And he's something that stepped with me.
01:47Obviously, I'm very passionate, you know, I fought for my country for 24 years.
01:51It's just something that, you know, we've got the right to celebrate our own saint in our own country.
01:55So the horse is Clyde. He sort of, like, works on the promenade and other such places.
02:00He's actually a great animal, you know, as you can tell, he's quite content to have someone riding on him,
02:05coming into an environment like the pub. So it was a really, really good, really good ride with him.
02:10So how many years have you been doing this for?
02:13About eight years now. Eight years, yeah, with the different pubs and such like.
02:17So this has kind of followed you on from pub to pub?
02:20Yeah, it's followed me on from pub. Obviously, I'm the passion behind it, so I try and drive it.
02:24You know, the best I can. And hopefully some people will follow.
02:27So the staff have been very interested in it. You know, obviously, they've seen what I did last year with the horse at my old pub.
02:32So I've come to this one. They said, are you going to do it this year?
02:34I said, yeah, we'll do it again this year. You know, we'll try and get the horse.
02:37And we did. And we've done everything the same.
02:39But a bit bigger and a bit better each year. Just try and add to it each year.
02:43I think just things have changed, you know, and there's more things going on in people's lives and everything.
02:48People don't have as much time on the hands as they used to these days.
02:51So I think it's just, you know, it's just good that, you know, we can, you know, it's only once a year.
02:55You know, we can get dressed up, make you feel of ourselves and have a good time.
03:00We used to have the bull's head at Blackpool. It's just up the road.
03:04And I used to help out there and we did it there.
03:07But it was like a year ago, maybe two years ago, where we started introducing the horse.
03:12I think it brings quite a lot of people in, brings a lot of the community together.
03:17They see it riding them down and think, oh, the horse is there.
03:20So they come in and, you know, everyone will be together and it's quite a fun day.
03:25Well, actually, I'm just going to enjoy the atmosphere what's taking place today.
03:29And I've been listening to one of the radio stations.
03:32They've been thrashing it out all day long.
03:34There's massive big celebrations in different parts of England.
03:36Noticeably in Nottingham and down in Kent.
03:39Proper big parades.
03:40The schools are closed and there's massive big parades taking place.
03:43I hope this will catch on with everybody else.
03:47Still to come, we'll find out why this man is sat in his bin.
03:51We think we're a bit like Morecambe and Wise or Spike Milligan.
03:54Other people might think we're just rubbish.
03:56But we think we're quite funny and people do seem to like it at the shows and that we do.
04:01We base ourselves on the Red Arrows with the adage that we are lower and slower and considerably older and not as good looking.
04:16But all that said, we run around the field doing what we would call formation manoeuvres and just try and make people laugh.
04:27You know, we have a great uniform.
04:30It's kind of the red T-shirt, white shorts, blue tights, red caps, giveaway sunglasses that somebody got from somewhere.
04:40These things have been going for 10 years.
04:42We just try and say to people, put your phone down for a bit.
04:47Have a bit of fun with us.
04:49Who's going to want to watch a video clip of us?
04:51Nobody.
04:52So join in.
04:53You cheer.
04:54Have a good day and be involved.
04:55We set up 10 years ago and Barlow has a very good carnival that operates through this village.
05:01A fantastic summer day out.
05:03And we decided that we would form a sort of sister unit to the Red Arrows, the Barlow Red Barrows.
05:09And the intention at that stage was just to do Barlow Carnival.
05:16And we came to Barlow Carnival and of all things we won a bit of a prize, which was really well paid actually.
05:24It was 500 quid we won.
05:26And we never expected to win this money.
05:29And so at the end of the year, we were left with 500 pound and between us, we decided that a friend of ours who lives up in Dromfield had a little boy who got leukemia.
05:40I'm going back 10 years now.
05:42He was at Sheffield being treated and what have you.
05:45And we bought him a small laptop for him to use whilst he was undergoing his treatment, et cetera, et cetera.
05:52And it really got us addicted to fundraising.
05:55And we kind of we saw the potential of what we're doing and what we've continued to do for 10 years, which is basically push Red Wheel Barrows around the field looking very stupid and daft and all that sort of stuff.
06:09And we have a great time doing it.
06:12And we have a great camaraderie within the group who do it.
06:16It does us all a great deal of good to be involved in it.
06:20I think I can speak on behalf of everybody who's here today for the practice when I say that it really is a fantastic, diverse set of people who come together and have a lot of fun.
06:31So it's sort of good old fashioned stuff.
06:33And we're we're we're in that sort of I don't know.
06:39We think we're a bit like Morecambe and Wise or Spike Milligan.
06:42Other people might think we're just rubbish.
06:44The thrill and the buzz from the crowd, the audience really participate and they get involved.
06:50And the eggy one and the fact we're doing it for charity.
06:53It's a lovely way to spend a weekend.
06:56Well, I've been doing it 10 years now.
06:57So and I keep coming back for more.
06:59I think that says it all.
07:01And just looking around at the team, I think I'm the eldest statesman now.
07:06I'm the oldest one.
07:07When it's back to back weekends.
07:08Yeah, it is exhausting.
07:10And you get members of the public saying, oh, I'll have a go.
07:13And then when you say you have to run with that wheelbarrow.
07:16I'd seen a few posts with wheelie bins or ice baths.
07:32And I didn't want to go spend hundreds of pounds on a on an ice bath.
07:36And I had a spare green wheelie bin that had never been used.
07:39So I just filled it with cold water.
07:42And that was last September.
07:44And including today.
07:46Today was day 222 in a row.
07:51And it doesn't matter what the weather, what sort of day I'm having.
07:57I'm in that bin.
07:58I used to try cold showers as part of a good morning routine.
08:05I'd read on various social media threads and posts that cold water was good for you.
08:12A good start to the day.
08:16But I didn't really get on with cold showers very much.
08:18But I kept doing it.
08:20But then I started seeing people swimming in the sea and rivers and cold water therapy.
08:25Jumping through ice holes and things like that.
08:28And I wanted to try that.
08:31On days that I couldn't get to the lake, it really got me down.
08:35Because I knew that I wanted to get to the lake.
08:37I wanted that rush, that adrenaline from cold water.
08:41Because it really is an adrenaline rush.
08:46And I would miss it.
08:47And not being able to go would actually have a real negative effect on my state of mind.
08:56I'm not thinking about you even.
08:57And I'm not thinking about my day at work.
08:59I'm not thinking about anything else that's going on in my life.
09:02I'm just thinking about the water.
09:07The cold water.
09:08And after that, I start to let the rest of the world in on my terms.
09:13So without making more of that than it is, it's simply as simple as listening and hearing the birds.
09:22So the coldest I've done is just under one degree in that bin.
09:30The wall of the bin actually ices up on the inside.
09:34And it's one of the things that I actually went in.
09:36Broke through the ice to get in.
09:38I've brushed inches of snow off the bin to get in some mornings in pitch black.
09:45Nothing but the stars.
09:46So PTSD wasn't the main drive towards me going for cold water therapy.
09:53I had things before I joined the Air Force.
09:57And again, I think there's a lot of people who've served in the Armed Forces would say that a career in the Armed Forces maybe helps you hide from issues.
10:06Because you're so busy and you constantly have a different focus, whether it's a new posting, a new destination, a new detachment.
10:18It doesn't stop so you can get through life without having to stop and sit still for any length of time and deal with any issues you've got.
10:26I can't imagine not doing it.
10:28And everybody I've introduced to it, they've messaged me days later to let me know that they've gone back and done it again.
10:37And they can't believe how clear their mind's been for the rest of the day on days that they do it, how much they miss it on days that they don't.
10:44And of course, when they say they miss it when they're not doing it, that resonates for me because that's what drove me to dipping in the bin.
10:53Next week, we'll travel to a shopping centre far, far away to find a charity event which is out of this world.
11:00We see the kids, the adults see Star Wars shops and think, oh my God, we need to go and get a photograph.
11:05And people just put money in the bucket and have a photograph, yeah.
11:09But it definitely draws attention to us.
11:10It's a nice surprise just to bring a bit of sort of something that's not expected to a shopping centre.
11:16I think the supermarkets are great because people aren't expecting to bump into stormtroopers and Darth Vader while they're doing a weekly shop.
11:22We help charities and events with Star Wars characters.
11:25Star Wars.
11:26I just found a goodbye share accident, came across them, went to the crewing event, introduced myself, hence eight costumes later and quite a bit of money later.
11:42It wouldn't be unheard of to take your helmet off and then tip the sweat out.
