Rivalry revived by pudding throwers

Mmm.... Award-winning puddings from the Bury Black Pudding Co.

Competitors from as far afield as Australia have gathered at a pub in Greater Manchester for one of the most bizarre competitions in the world.

The Royal Oak in the village of Ramsbottom, near Bury, was hosting the World Black Pudding Throwing Championship on Sunday.

The competition was saved from closure by the pub after the previous venue - the Corner Pin pub in Rossendale, Lancashire - shut down.

The aim of the annual tournament is for each competitor to try and knock some Yorkshire puddings off a wooden platform 20 feet up the pub wall with three throws of a black pudding.

It is believed the contest is a revival of the Lancashire-Yorkshire rivalry.

Historically Bury, now part of Greater Manchester, was in Lancashire.

One legend says the event is based on a battle during the Wars of the Roses.

Both armies are said to have ran out of ammunition and instead threw food at each other.

Councillor Tim Chamberlain, of Bury Council, said: "This is a uniquely Lancastrian event, a unique feature of the area's events calendar, a boost for tourism and great showcase for one of Bury's most famous products."

Black pudding is a Lancashire delicacy, made of cooked pigs' blood, fat and rusk, encased in a length of intestine.

It first arrived in the UK centuries ago with some European monks who visited Yorkshire before making the trip over the Pennines to Lancashire where the food was given the name black pudding.