The laws that were passed in the past sometimes beggar belief. However many of them are still in force. Happily they are not enforced. Here are ten examples of the daft laws of our land.
- Under the Town Police Clauses Act (1847) it is illegal to slide on ice or fly kites in a public place
- Any resident of Chester is allowed to shoot a Welshman with an arrow if he is within the city walls on a Sunday
- Taxi drivers are required to ask all passengers if they have smallpox or the plague
- It is illegal to eat mince-pies in England on Christmas Day
- A boy under ten years of age is not allowed to see a naked mannequin
- A bed may not be hung out of a window
- It is illegal to be drunk on licensed premises
- In Liverpool it is illegal for a woman to be topless in public, unless they are a clerk in a tropical fish store
- In Scotland it is illegal to be drunk and in possession of a cow
- It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance
