Scores of people turned up to the return of the world nettle eating contest. It was the first event in three years at Dorset Nectar Cider near Bridport on Saturday.
The men's title was taken by a YouTuber called Niall, who entered the contest decked out in a ghillie suit. Both Niall and fellow contestant Jamie Wollen chomped their way through a whopping 54 feet of nettle leaves in 30 minutes.
Niall then beat his rival in a closely fought eat-off. Lindie Rogers took the ladies' title by working her way through 42 feet of nettles in the allotted 30 minutes reports DorsetLive.
Organiser Ryan Strong said: "The World Nettle Eating Contest went very well. We were hoping the rain wouldn't spoil the day and in the end, it did not rain whatsoever.
"It was a great turnout on the day for Nettle Eating. It's really great to successfully revive this quintessentially Dorset quirky event."
Ryan said about 20 people took part in the nettle eating, while about 1,000 others watched on from the relative safety of their picnic tables. The event had previously taken place from about 1996 at The Bottle Inn in Marshwood, which hosted the last event in 2019.
However, the pub has since closed and Ryan and Dorset Nectar Cider stepped in to ensure the tradition could continue post Covid-19 pandemic. He said: "I hated the idea of this brilliant, uniquely Dorset festival being lost to time so convinced the rest of the family to host it here at the Dorset Nectar Cider farm."
