"Sting" operation of a new kind

THORNY ISSUE: This championship is about consuming the most number of nettle leaves.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Television, for politicians with a vision

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• 'Australian police have become a laughing stock'
• Samjhauta plot 'bottled' in Mumbai
• Dravid rested, VRV Singh gets the call

Keywords: Bottle Inn, Marshwood

Marshwood (England): At Marshwood, a small village in Dorset, England, locals have been part of a very unique and bizarre event for the last 10 years.

Every year, The Bottle Inn, a pub in Marshwood hosts an annual World Nettle Eating Championship.

This championship is about consuming the most number of nettle leaves but it’s not as simple as it sounds, as they are no ordinary leaves. The mischievous part of this contest is that the leaves sting when one eats or touches them.

Popularly called the stinging leaves, nettles are not all that easy to eat and swallow. So, the participants need to be prepared, as they have to swallow as much as nettle they can in the least time possible.

”We have picked a patch that we've nurtured for about the last there months and have also organically fertilised. They (patches) are showing good broad leaves and the vegetation seems good. However, there definitely won't be a world record attempt here," World Stinging Nettle Championships organiser Shane Pym said.

So, this year the competition was all the more tough. But nevertheless, participants as always were excited and enthusiastic to be a part of the championship.

As soon as the contest started, one of the contestants said, "It's (leaves) really nice as they taste a bit like spinach."

While another contestant said that the leaves were “probably the nicest thing I've eaten."

This year Sonia Fewkes took the women's world crown by consuming a total of 30 feet of stinging nettles and Paul Collins emerged the winner in the Men’s category.

"I feel absolutely great. I never thought I could be world champion at anything so, it’s brilliant,” Collins said.

We all have heard of Hamburger eating championships, but tingling one's throat and tummy with the stinging leaves to win a championship, well this belongs only to Marshwood.