Dear Readers, I’ve written about stinging nettles several times before, but Peter Marren’s book ‘The Devil’s Garden’ mentions the annual raw stinging nettle competition, which is held every year at The Bottle Inn in Marshwood, near Bridport in Dorset. Blimey! You’d better get a move on if you want to take part, because it’s happening in a few weeks’ time.

The Festival dates back to 1997, when a barman challenged some sozzled drinkers at the music festival held at The Bottle to see how much raw stinging nettle they could eat. The nettles are cut into two-foot lengths, and the competitors have to strip the leaves off with their bare hands and eat the leaves. The current record holder for men is Tom Wheeler from London, who ate 116 feet of leaves, while the female record holder is Beth Hodges from Wales, who ate 64 feetsworth.

The nettle eating competition is limited to 30 competitors, and those eating the nettles will be kept well supplied with beer and cider, as this is thirsty work, best lubricated with something alcoholic I’d have thought. Apparently although one’s mouth does get thoroughly stung, the nettles lose most of their sting power if well-chomped, and the most painful part of the anatomy is the hands. Horny-handed sons of toil who have well-calloused fingers apparently do best at handling the plant, but you can expect your tongue to turn blue, and your voice to drop a couple of octaves. Is it worth it, I ask myself? I’d be a bit worried about my throat swelling up and rendering me incapable of breathing, but this hasn’t happened yet.

The Bottle is also holding a competition for the longest stinging nettle grown within a ten mile radius of the pub, which seems like a less painful option for the more competitive amongst you.

You can read all about it here.