Ramsbottom residents have snubbed an attempt by Peta to turn a beloved event vegan, telling the animal cruelty charity to 'just leave people be'.
Tradition Under Fire
Once a year, people from across the region and the world flock to the Bury town for the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships which sees competitors throw black puddings at stacks of Yorkshire puddings on a plinth 20 feet in the air. The winner is the person who knocks the most off.
Local legend claims the tradition dates back to the War of the Roses when the warring factions of the House of Lancaster and the House of York at a battle in Stubbins, Lancashire, are said to have run out of ammunition and resorted to throwing food at each other. But a new squabble has arisen this year after Peta issued an open letter to the organisers calling for the event to use vegan black pudding only.
Peta's Offer
The letter states: “You probably know the saying ‘It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt’. In the case of the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships, someone does indeed get hurt: pigs. That’s why we’d love to help make this quirky event even more memorable by replacing the meaty black puddings with tasty vegan ones, free of charge.”
Peta added it would also throw in vegan Yorkshires to complete the event.
Local Reaction
Ramsbottom residents are unimpressed with the charity interfering with their championship, however. Marketing company director Martin Buckley, 62, said the event is a ‘great family fun day out’.
He agreed there should be a vegan option so anyone who wants to can take part. As this is already offered by the organisers, he feels Peta should ‘leave well enough alone’.
Retiree John Lingard echoed this sentiment, with the 68-year-old saying: “It doesn’t bother me [that it’s meat]. Just leave people be.”
Others spoke of the championship as part of their local heritage. Another retiree, Alan Gray, 68, said: “It’s tradition, isn’t it? It should stay as it is as far as I’m concerned.
“We’re losing a lot of tradition [...] We should take modern values into account, but at the same time modern values should take tradition into account.”
“That’s not what a black pudding is,” Lindsay Morrison, 67, weighed in. She added: “If you’re going for what a traditional black pudding is, and Bury black pudding is world famous, then I think you have to stick with what it was.”
Organiser's Response
Event organiser Paul Jenkins told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that Chadwicks, which supplies the championship, does offer a vegan alternative for those who would prefer to use that, adding these were ‘competition weight and size’ so as not to ‘break any rules’.
There are ‘no plans’ to do away with the traditional black puddings, however, he said.
Mr Jenkins added: “I think the black pudding championship is now on a par with the cheese rolling in Gloucestershire and the World Gravy Wrestling Championships. It's one of those ones that’s becoming a sporting calendar event for people.
“In not too long, it'll be up there with the Ashes and the FA Cup final. We've got big plans [...]
“We have people coming from all over the world. We had a Japanese film crew last year, people from Canada, Thailand, America. There were some Australians that came and we had some Swedish competitors.
“When we asked them ‘are you just here on your holidays’, they said ‘no, no, we have come for this’. It's become a calendar, weird odd British event and people flock to it now. We're very proud of that.”
Event Details
Held in Bridge Street, the championship has an adult and a junior heat with competitors having to ‘hurl’ black pudding underarm at the suspended Yorkshires from a golden drain grate. The day also features live music, merchandising and a black pudding food truck for those who ‘wish to eat as well as throw’.
It raises money for local charities, with Mr Jenkins saying this year’s proceeds would go to Ramsbottom Pantry, a local food bank, and to Bury Hospice. Previous events have raised in the region of £1,000, but the organisers are hoping to push that towards £1,500 next month.
This year’s World Black Pudding Championship is set to be held on Sunday, September 13, from 11am to 6pm.
