9 July 2016 — second Saturday in July every year — World Pea Shooting Championships on the Village Green in Witcham, Cambridgeshire

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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:

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Laser-guided pea shooters bring the event into the 21st century:

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The secret to wining? “It’s all about selecting the right pea,” says former world champion George Hollis, a local from Witcham.

Information:

http://www.witcham.org.uk/_sgg/m1m6_1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Pea_Shooting_Championships

http://www.cambridgeshire.net/organisation/world-pea-shooting-championship/39502.aspx#.U7PKFxZUbss

 July pea shooting