 Held the second Saturday of July every year on the Village Green in Witcham, Cambridgeshire, 77 miles northj of London.
Competitors and spectators come to the pea shooting championshi’s from all parts of the UK as well as Europe, New Zealand, U.S., and other countries. Participants stand 12 feet from a target that is smeared with wet putty. Peas are shot through a 12-inch tube, 12 feet towards a 12-inch target. Peas hitting the target are counted. Depending on where the pea hits the putty, awards can be five, three or one point. Accuracy, not distance, is the aim of this competition. 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. Peas are grown in the low, marshy land of Cambridgeshire. |
