(see why)

Introduction

I had heard of this competition when we lived at Fivehead, only a few miles from Hambridge in Somerset, but I never managed to witness it so I am especially pleased to enter it now as clearly the weirdest sporting event amongst the Operation Yelsnot Chapter Two submissions.

While many of the other submissions are intriguing and give credit to the ingenuity and enthusiasm of my fellow competitors, few of them can really be classified as weird in the true sense of the word and while no definition of weird is referred to in the rules, may I take the liberty of reminding the Honourable Judges of the Oxford Dictionary definition: 'queer, odd, old fashioned, strange, incomprehensible'..

Furthermore, I would ask the Honourable Judges to recognise that this entry has been completed in the spirit of sportsmanship and fairplay which is justly associated with Operation Yelsnot, unlike some other entry which verges on the bounds of duplicity and exhibits shades of the worst excesses of professionalism in sport, namely competing to win at any cost however unreasonable that may be. I am confident that the Honourable Judges with their considerable experience in these matters will readily identify with this point of view.

Background

The Annual Shrove Tuesday Spile Troshing Competition held at Hambridge is organised by the Parish Council, has been running for well over one hundred years and has a unique historical and cultural background which has now developed into a sporting competition. It is derived from the ancient rural craft of thatching, especially strong in this area of Somerset which is one of the principal reed growing areas in the country.
The Competition

Competitors start by hitting the Spile into the box when at the lower, eaves edge of the roof, but things get progressively more difficult as the box is raised on its pulley higher and higher up the roof until it gets to the ridge. I was impressed by the skill shown, using the Trosh in either a backhand or forehand stroke and propelling the Spile off the end of its pole into the box up to 20 feet with amazing accuracy. Mishits were not uncommon and caused considerable commotion among the spectators, some of whom were lucky to escape serious injury - clearly the Health and Safety Executive has not penetrated this far into rural Somerset!

David, a farmer and member of the Parish Council organising committee, explained that this is very much a local event, ingrained into the history of the surrounding area. Up to the 60s each village entered one team of 4 male adults only, usually reed cutters or farm labourers, but in recent years this has been widened to include a youngster's team and now female teams, probably because there are no longer many reed cutters or even farm labourers around.

This is still a very unsophisticated competition and the organising committee are very keen to keep this traditional atmosphere; so there is not, nor do they want, a village fete atmosphere - there is no bunting or razz-matazz. Winning is for the honour of your Village, and a quantity of Perry's cider (and, I guess, the sore head which goes with it - and I saw plenty of evidence of the build up to that!). The modem involvement of a sponsor is really just to help the flow! As a result, there is very little publicity about the event and outsiders attending are fairly conspicuous and treated a bit like going into a country pub 20 years ago when everyone went silent as you entered! I think few people realise how isolated and remote this area of the Somerset Levels can be.

The Significance of Shrove Tuesday

I tried to find out why the event is held on Shrove Tuesday, but I was not able to get a convincing answer. The Vicar, who has not been in the village long, thought it was something to do with having a final party before Lent started and wondered if this was in some way connected with the religious influence which would have been exercised by the nearby Muchelney Abbey, which in its day was a considerable establishment.

Opportunity for Tonsley Events Involvement

I did get talking to Matt, a local businessman and like me, obviously something of an outsider (and rather of the green wellies and Range Rover brigade!). He lives in Hambridge and clearly felt that the whole event was just waiting for someone to come along and develop it. He would be very keen to work with someone who had event experience and an enthusiastic outlook, and it did seem to me that there might be an opportunity here for Tonsley Events; I request that the Honourable Judges might consider this possibility has some merit under Rule 21.
Each year on Shrove Tuesday, teams from local villages meet on the Village Green, outside The Bull public house to take part; competition is fierce and in many cases reflects inter-village rivalry which goes back over many years. This year teams took part from the villages of Hambridge, Isle Brewers, North Curry, Stathe, Burrow Bridge, Middlezoy and Othery.

A surprisingly modern touch is the involvement of a sponsor, currently Perry's Cider from Dowlish Wake (who in years gone by benefited from the excellent harvest of cider apples from Tudor Cottage); needless to say there was ample opportunity to sample this quality Somerset cider while the event was in progress!

Historical Background

I met `village elder' Joe, now in his late eighties but with a real mischievous twinkle still in his eye; he has worked in agriculture all his life and has been closely associated with the reed industry. He has been involved with the Annual Shrove Tuesday Competition since he was a boy and, in between several jars of Perry's best, he explained that the competition involves tools from the thatcher, used in a manner originating from the thatcher's work.

The Spile is a long wooden spike used to hold bundles of reeds on the slope of a roof until the thatcher is ready to stitch them into the thatch, or also used to hold ricks of reeds together when stored in the traditional Somerset long barns. The Spile can be stuck into the thatch with the aid of a long pole, but is then driven into place by the Trosh, a wooden `hammer' with a stone end, not unlike an old fashioned policeman's truncheon.

Another part of the thatcher's equipment is a wooden box used to hold all his different tools together on the side of the roof, and this box is on the end of a rope and pulleywheel set at the apex of the roof so that the box can be raised or lowered according to the height at which the thatcher is working.

Joe told me that the competition developed at least 150 years ago, but maybe considerably earlier, when the young apprentice thatchers used to amuse themselves, often after several pints of cider which were part of their wages, by hitting the Spile with the Trosher from the end of its pole into the box on the roof. In the early days of the competition, the box and pulley were still placed on the roofs of the houses round the Village Green, but so many windows got broken that sometime between the wars the competition was moved to the centre of the Village Green where the box and pulley were mounted on a specially erected gantry representing the side of a roof.

Conclusion

I confirm that this is my sole entry which should be put to the Panel of Judges for judgement under Rule 13.

I humbly submit that, under Rule 17 which states that an event will be judged `solely on its weirdness' and given the definition of weirdness previously mentioned, the Hambridge Annual Shrove Tuesday Spile Troshing Competition is clearly the outstanding event of all the submissions so far made in the Operation Yelsnot Second Chapter.

I remain,
Your Honours.
Your Obedient Servant
Robert Bruce

Dated this Eleventh Day of March
in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Six