World Pea Shooting Championships — July 10, 2011 (second Saturday in July)
Held every year on the Village Green in Witcham, Cambridgeshire.
Competitors and spectators come not only from all parts of the UK but also from Europe, New Zealand, and the U.S.
The championships began in 1971 as a fundraiser for the new Village Hall. John Tyson, headmaster at a local school, suggested this as a constructive way to harness his naughty pupils’ penchant for pea shooting. He’d been confiscating peashooters for quite by then. Why not put them to a good use?
Cream teas will be served. There will be a barbecue.
Winners’ names are added to a shield, which is in memory of John Tyson:
Laser-guided pea shooters bring the event into the 21st century:
The secret to wining? “It’s all about selecting the right pea,” says former world champion George Hollis, a local from Witcham.