Last year, on a bitter November day, I went hunting in the Home Counties. What I was left with, as well as a cold that lasted for weeks, was a profound sense that I had just witnessed something that is fast disappearing.

The day started with a football match between fishermen and fireman on the beach before crews took to the seas in fancy dress for a raft race. The football match has been held every year since 1893 and the raft race since 1971.

Boxing Day is celebrated each year on the day after Christmas, on Dec. 26. It's not a holiday that made its way to the U.S.