Cambridgeshire village takes centre stage for World Pea Shooting Championships
The annual competition has attracted people from across the world
Plans are taking shape in a Cambridgeshire village ahead of perhaps one of the country's quirkiest events later.
The World Pea Shooting Championships in Witcham has previously attracted visitors from around the world, including the USA, Spain and New Zealand to compete.
And as the event, to be held on Witcham village green is in its 50th year, organisers are aiming for a healthy turnout.
“I think it’s something different, something quirky,” Joy Walker, one of the event organisers, said.
“Having that world pea shooting trophy on your shelf is something good to encourage a talking point and I think it’s about the pride of winning the event.”
What are the World Pea Shooting Championships?
The World Pea Shooting Championships has been held in Witcham since 1971 but did not take place during Covid-19 lockdowns.
When Witcham Village Hall was built, fundraising was a priority for the hall’s committee members with the aim of keeping hall hire charges at a fair rate.
That was when the pea shooting championships was thought when village headmaster, John Tyson, confiscated peashooters being used by pupils at the local school.
Mr Tyson then thought about using the pupils’ pea shooting skills in the form of a competition, which is now one of the village’s main fundraising activities.
Each competitor has five peas to shoot towards a target, with the inner ring scoring five points, the middle ring three points and the outer ring is one point.
"There's a lot of competition to win"
Those with the highest scores move into the next round, and at the semi-final stage, competitors have 10 peas to shoot.
“We’re expecting many local people to turn up; there’s a lot of competition between local people wanting to win the championships,” said Joy.
“It’s about the aim at the target, the amount of puff you have in order to blow that pea, the trajectory of the pea, so there are many skills people need to become the world pea shooting champion.”