Christmas tree 'flinging' success for winners from St Leonards and Hailsham
England boasts many unusual rural pastimes from cheese rolling to wellie flinging but Sussex has an unusual contender.
Last Saturday Clive Collins of Catsfield Christmas Tree Farm oversaw a Christmas Tree tossing competition which has become a popular winter event in the Catsfield area since launching in 2020 and now draws participants from across the South East.
Competitors must grab a six foot Norway spruce steady themselves and throw the tree as far as possible with youngsters split into under ten and under 16 categories for smaller trees.
Farmer Clive said: “The tree fling has become a much loved part of our Christmas build-up and people really do take the competition seriously.”
Dozens of spectators cheered on their favourites.
The women’s event was won by Becky Palmer from St Leonards, whose strong right arm has won her the 2023 and 2024 titles. She threw 7.88 metres. Last year’s winner Louise Thompson, also from St Leonards, managed 5.65 metres.
James Gardiner from Hailsham won the men’s event with a throw of 10.45 metres but the world record remains at 12 metres set by Klaus Pubnaz of Germany.
Clive positioned his wheelchair well behind the competitors but was pleased to record the winning distances and will be busy preparing and selling trees for the next six weeks.
Spectators are already hoping that the Christmas Tree tossing competition will be included in the next Olympics.