Strange contests to draw crowds

By Tom Warren
BBC News

Winners of the Dunmow trials are carried through the streets

Every four years couples gather in the Essex village of Great Dunmow to convince a group of complete strangers that their marriage is not on the rocks.

For the lucky pairs who manage to persuade the "jury" that their nuptials are the real deal they are paraded through the streets and a "flitch" of bacon awaits as a prize.

The Flitch Trials is thought to date back to the 12th Century and is one of several unusual events taking place around England this weekend.

Graeme Wade, from the organising committee, said the event was so popular that a selection panel was needed to choose the five lucky couples who are taking part on Saturday.

"I think in our electronic age, something as traditional as this that goes back so many centuries captures the imagination," he said.

We had a little bit of a hiccup when the committee decided to ban pea shooters with sights. We also had some laser-guided ones John Wells, World Pea Shooting Championship

"The flitch of bacon is half a pig that's been cured. It was deemed to be a fantastic prize in the days when meat was known to be very expensive."

The jury is made up of "six maids and six bachelors" and the couples on trial must have been married for at least a year and day.

It is the kind of quirky event that captures the spirit of the English summer, particularly with visitors from abroad.

Some competitors use "laser-guided" pea shooters

"We had four applications from the USA this time," Mr Wade said.

"Ticket sales for the afternoon and evening trials have gone really well, we're expecting several hundred people.

"Throughout the whole day from 10am to 10pm we're hoping for many thousands of locals to be paying us a visit."

Row over shooters

In nearby Cambridgeshire, organisers of the World Pea Shooting Championship in Witcham are hoping for similar interest in their quirky event, also taking place throughout Saturday.

Several years ago there was a row over "modified" shooters, including the use of lasers to help guide the peas.

But this has now been resolved, said John Wells from the committee.

"We've been running it since the 1970s. It started from a village school situation where a teacher was reprimanding some of the pupils for pea shooting in class," he said.

"We had a little bit of a hiccup when the committee decided to ban pea shooters with sights. We also had some laser-guided ones.

Teams of five take part in the two-hour race

"The person who was most against the advanced sights left the village and we decided to have open competition again."

Mr Wells said the contest had grown in popularity in recent years.

"I think it's the quirkiness really and it's origin that appeals to people.

"Lots of people who have been previous champions carry on."

On Sunday more than 5,000 people are expected to turn out to watch the British Pedal Car Grand Prix, in Ringwood, Hampshire, branded as the real life "wacky races".

Thirty-six teams of five will battle it out for two hours in the New Forest town to see who can complete the most laps of the circuit.

The event takes place every other year as part of the Ringwood Festival.

Organiser Cliff Polton said: "It's the Monaco grand prix without the yachts or the fuel. The crowds are phenomenal we normally get about 5,000."

Some of the teams have spent the last year carefully designing and building their pedal cars in the hope of victory.

And there is fierce competition among some of the entrants, he said.

There is even a chicane near the local supermarket.