In a field in Falmouth, a crowd is preparing for battle. “I don’t hug my enemies!” one friend tells another as they register for the town’s third annual Worm Charming Championships. It’s a war on two fronts: between man and beast, as we attempt to lure recalcitrant earthworms out of the community centre sports pitch, and between the 100 plots, each occupied by a team hoping to win one of three invertebrate-themed trophies. It’s even going down between families. “Mum, I need to warn you we’re going to win,” my friend’s four-year-old daughter Hebe says seriously.
