When: 13th July 2013 from 12pm
Where: Village of Witcham near Ely, Cambridgeshire
£: Adults £2 and children £1 to enter the contest
What is it?
The 43rd World Pea Shooting Championship & Village Fair will take place on the Green at Witcham in Cambridgeshire on the 13th July. The fair begins at 12pm with the competition itself starting at around 1pm.
The World Pea Shooting Championships have been held in Witcham since 1971. Witcham is a small village in Cambridgeshire and the original championship was invented as a way to raise funds for the village hall.
Like all good stories, the ‘Peashoot’ has a curious and amusing origin. The village schoolmaster, Mr Tyson, caught some mischievous pupils amusing themselves by pinging their unfortunate schoolmates with peas and he confiscated the offending weapons. At the time the village had identified a need for a village hall and they were seeking ways to raise funds. Mr Tyson came up with the idea of a World Pea Shooting Championship and it was an instant success.
Today the championships are so popular it attracts visitors from the USA, Scandinavia, France, Spain, New Zealand and Holland. The event still raises money for the village hall.
Registration to take part in this year’s event will take place at 12 noon on the day of the championships. Anyone, young or old can take part and the peas and shooters can be bought at the fair. If you have never tried it before then don’t worry, it is very simple to master and there is a practice area available to everyone. The target consists of three circles of putty. The inner circle scores 5 points, the middle circle 3 points and the outer circle 1 point.
Other entertainment at the fair includes novelty games, face painting, stalls, bric-a-brac, plants, ice cream, a lunch-time barbecue and cream teas served in the hall.
More info: www.witcham.org.uk