Jay Martin competes in the 2023 Stroud Brick Throwing competition on Saturday. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina Neil
Stroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina NeilStroud Brick Throwing competition and family fun day, 2023. Picture by Marina Neil
Cricket is one thing, but there's another rivalry burning between Australia and the UK and it has its participants tossing bricks.
It started in the 1960s when the brick-making villages of Stroud in Gloucestershire in the UK and Oklahoma in the US held the first brick-tossing contest. The brickworks towns of Stroud Ontario, in Canada, and our own community in NSW got wind of the goings on and decided to test their mettle the following year.
Our local competition is the only one that has posted scores annually for the past six decades.
The latest edition of the competition was held at Stroud Showground on Saturday, along with a range of family activities - including music, more than 50 stallholders, a rolling pin tossing contest and wood-chop event.
The traditional street parade was followed by an evening concert by Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley.
About 100 competitors eagerly stepped up to try their arm at the brick and rolling pin toss.
Mia Finch of Booral posted the lengthiest rolling pin toss at 92ft. Angus Devon, also of Booral, took out the brick throwing at a distance of 90ft.
"Everyone wanted to have a throw," committee secretary Maree Hart told the Newcastle Herald.
Now, it seems, the Poms are back to contest the title, reigniting the rivalry in the past few years. The Stroud UK event is expected to take place next weekend.
The Stroud brick throwing competition has a six-decade tradition connecting Strouds of the UK, US, Canada and Australia in a friendly international competition. This picture from the Newcastle Herald archive shows 2006 reigning champion David Maybury tests his arm.
The rules are pretty simple: teams are gradually eliminated through a local competition before the international contenders are selected. At 3pm on competition day, the international teams hurl a five-pound (about 2.3kg) brick and distances are calculated.
The results are phoned to Stroud in Oklahoma, where they're collated.
The UK holds the current brick tossing record at a length of 142ft 6inches - or roughly 43.3 metres - though for standardisation the contest is exclusively measured in the Imperial scale.
Brick throwing competition days of years gone by. The annual festival has been running for 62 years this year at Stroud.
In 1962, Australia suggested a rolling pin tossing contest to go alongside the brick throwing, the record for which is held by the US at 156ft 4 inches.
Brick throwing competition days of years gone by. The annual festival has been running for 62 years this year at Stroud.
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