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ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17938 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
 Posted: 16-06-2013 20:24 Post subject: World Cabbage Hurling Championships held in Lincolnshire |
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Soon it will spread to cauliflowers, Broccoli, turnips.
| Quote: | World Cabbage Hurling Championships held in Lincolnshire
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-22907378
The cabbage hurlers are based on trebuchets
Cabbages are being hurled from large catapult-like machines in what is claimed to be the first sporting event of its kind.
The hurlers are based on trebuchets, weapons used to fling projectiles in the Middle Ages.
Inventor John Ward made a pair for the World Cabbage Hurling Championships, being held in Lincolnshire.
It is part of the two-day Holbeach Town and Country Fayre, which started on Saturday.
The hurlers, named Spotted Hen and Spotted Dick, threw cabbages over a distance of 230ft (70m) in tests.
Mr Ward then adapted them so they are less dangerous and only hurl the cabbages about 98ft (30m).
Continue reading the main story
How to be a cabbage hurling champion
The aim of the game is to hurl the cabbages into tractor tyres laid out on a field.
Inventor John Ward said: "The idea was to have three members in a team because of having one member to load the cabbage, another to aim or line the cabbage up in the sling, with the third member to fire the trigger on the command of the controller, this being me!"
Points are awarded for each cabbage which lands in a tyre. More points are awarded for the tyres which are further away.
'Quite lethal'
He said: "It's basically a glorified catapult but you've got a counterbalance on one end. Think of a see-saw with a big weight on one end.
"They are based loosely on the trebuchet design but I have detuned them as with a full weight, they would be quite lethal."
Cabbages are typically grown in Lincolnshire, where the fertile soil is ideal for brassica crops.
The county also hosted a bowling competition played with cabbages, as part of celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Mr Ward said the hurling championships promoted Lincolnshire products, with more than 200 cabbages being supplied free of charge by a local farmer.
Annual event
"Most fresh vegetables found in shops and supermarkets will have come from Lincolnshire, plus those to the frozen food industry as well," said Mr Ward.
"We've got cabbages in Lincolnshire and what better way to get them to your customer than using a trebuchet."
He made the hurlers, which are about 11ft (3.4m) tall, from recycled "bits and pieces" that would otherwise have gone in a skip.
Mr Ward now hopes the event will be held either annually or every other year.
"Nobody is doing cabbage chucking and hurling in other places with a trebuchet," he said. |
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| Cochise Great Old One Joined: 17 Jun 2011 Total posts: 1106 Location: Gwynedd, Wales Age: 58 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 17-06-2013 06:28 Post subject: |
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| Punkin chunkin's much better! You get to use weapons. |
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theyithian Keeping the British end up
Joined: 29 Oct 2002 Total posts: 11704 Location: Vermilion Sands Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 17-06-2013 15:14 Post subject: |
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This is Lincolnshire.
If you let them have trebuchets, you'll be fishing Poles out of The Wash tomorrow! |
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| Cochise Great Old One Joined: 17 Jun 2011 Total posts: 1106 Location: Gwynedd, Wales Age: 58 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 18-06-2013 07:39 Post subject: |
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| I'd really like to build a trebuchet. Although the potential for Darwinian self-harm is considerable. Incidentally, my spell checker thinks trebuchet should be spelled Bucharest. |
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