Did you know about Churchill’s hobbies?

“Work hard, play hard” is a philosophy Winston Churchill certainly followed. A soldier, a political animal, and Britain’s Prime Minister during World War II, he recognized how important hobbies were to a man living a high-pressure life. He once wrote “To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real.” Coming hot on the tail of our two-part article on Churchill (Churchill – Part I) (Part II), here’s a brief overview of his hobbies.

Painting. Churchill’s best-known hobby, he picked it up in a difficult period of his life. The disaster of the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I cost him the position of First Lord of the Admiralty in May 1915, and he was plunged into depression. He was attending a meeting of family members next month and saw a relative, Lady Gwendoline “Gooney” Churchill painting a watercolor. She invited him to give it a try, and he immediately fell in love with the activity, though he later switched to oil. He painted over 500 pictures (though only one during World War II), gave many of them away to friends, and had exhibited some under various pseudonyms. The one exhibition where he used his real name toured American museums in 1958 and was suggested by President Eisenhower. (The Supreme Commander – Part I) (Part II)

Polo. Churchill picked up polo during his army service in India, and was the only sport he was interested in. This is hardly surprising, since modern polo was developed in India, and British soldiers stationed there learned it from the locals in the 1860s. Churchill’s regiment won a first-class tournament against native teams a month after their arrival, and Churchill himself earned a reputation as an eager and promising player and a good judge of horses.

Animals. Polo horses were not the only animals Churchill loved. He kept numerous animals at his estate at Chartwell, including butterflies, fish, black swans, cattle and pigs. Regarding the last, he once said “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”

 Churchill also had many cats and two dogs – perhaps surprisingly, his dogs were poodles, rather than bulldogs, and both were called Rufus.

Cards. Churchill was the most famous player of Bezique, a 19th century French trick-taking game for two players using two packs of cards. There also exists a so-called “Churchill Solitaire,” a devilishly hard version of the solo game, which you can download as a free phone app. It was allegedly invented by Churchill himself, who taught it to the Belgian ambassador during World War II; in 1973, the ambassador passed on the rules to Donald Rumsfeld, then U.S. Ambassador to NATO and later U.S. Secretary of Defense, who made the game public.

Billiards. Churchill liked to play billiards, which possibly gave him something to bond over with Stalin, who was also a fan of a related Russian game. One billiards table owned by Churchill is now on display in a Las Vegas casino. (Stalin and Churchill, billiards players)

Bricklaying. Churchill’s most surprising and probably least-known hobby was bricklaying. Among other structures, he built (at least partially) the garden walls at Chartwell, a small one-room cottage for his daughters, and the home of one of his servants. One photo of then-Chancellor Churchill that appeared in the press had him pose over a wall he built, with one corner brick perching precariously. A professional bricklayer could not resist writing to him: “Now sir, this is not on a par with your State work, and I urge you to attend to its alignment and correct placing.…”

A mayor persuaded Churchill to join the Amalgamated Union of Building Trades Workers, assuring him of an unemployment benefit of one pound a week if he were ever called out on strike. The gesture was meant in good humor, but some laborers failed to see the fun of it, and the Executive Council of the Union eventually stripped Churchill of his membership.

If you would like to learn more about Churchill or the other notable leaders and commanders of the British war effort in World War II, you can do so on our Britain at War Tour. The tour includes visits to Churchill’s secret war rooms in London, the codebreaking facilities at Bletchley Park, the Bovington Tank Museum housing the world’s only running Tiger I tank, and many other World War II locations.