World Nettle Eating Competition returns to Dorset

The World Nettle Eating Competition returned to west Dorset on Saturday, June 25, at the Dorset Nectar Cider Farm, on Pineapple Lane, Waytown near Bridport.

View all the pictures through our interactive gallery above

A large crowd gathered at the farm as competitors chomped down on as many nettles as they could in 30 minutes to be crowned the winner.

Competitors were served 2-foot (0.61 m) long stalks of stinging nettles from which they plucked and ate the leaves. Traditionally, competitors were given an hour before the bare stalks were measured.

The winner named was the competitor with the greatest accumulated length of nettles.

Lucy Sangar and Jamie Wollen eating nettles at the World nettle eating championships at the Dorset Nectar Cider Farm at Waytown - 25th June 2022. Picture Credit: Graham Hunt Photography

Local Bridport resident, Lindy Rogers, was victorious and won the women's trophy cup after getting through 42 feet of nettles.

The men's title however proved harder to pin down as two men, Jamie Wollen and Niall, a Youtuber who came to the event dressed in a ghillie suit, both chowed down on 54 feet of nettles. The pair were then challenged to an 'eat off' during which both men raced to eat and swallow the leaves from one stalk as quickly as possible.

Penny Strong of the Dorset Nectar Company said that the competition was very close with both men finishing within milliseconds of each other but that Niall was awarded the cup.

Mrs Strong added: "It was an absolutely fantastic success. It really went very, very well - everyone had a fantastic time."

Bridport Town crier, John Collingwood, opened the event which was then hosted by local storyteller Martin Maudsley.

From 1996, the annual tradition used to took place every summer at The Bottle Inn, in Marshwood - attracting world-wide attention - as part of a charity beer festival.

However, The Bottle Inn, a 16th century pub, has been closed and sitting empty since 2020 and the World Nettle Eating Competition had not taken place since the last competition in 2019.

In an attempt to keep the quirky local tradition alive, Dorset Nectar Cider Farm announced that it would protect this public event and host the competition this year.

The nettle eating competition dates back to the 1980s when two farmers contested as to who grew the longest stinging nettle. When the winning farmer produced a 15-foot long nettle, the loser had to eat all the leaves from his stalk.

The aptly named Philip Thorne, from Colyton, Devon, in 2018, achieved the record for the most stinging nettles eaten during the competition - chomping an incredible 104ft of the plant.