Britons braced to grasp the nettle -- and eat it

Entertainment News Article | Reuters.com: "'You have to adopt the correct technique to stand any chance of winning,' said Shane Pym, landlord of the Bottle Inn. www.thebottleinn.co.uk.

'The art is to fold the top of the leaf inwards, get it past the lips, crunch it and then get it down the neck. You can't let your mouth get dry or you will get stung.'

The championship has a short but colourful history.

It started in 1986 as a heated argument in the pub between two farmers who both claimed that the nettles at the back of their silage pits were the longest.

The landlady of the Bottle Inn intervened and declared an competition to resolve the dispute. Other farmers were also invited to take part.

Three years later, local man Alex Williams threw down a gauntlet to his rivals in the shape of a nettle measuring 15 feet 6 inches (4.7 metres). If anyone could produce a longer one, he boasted, he would eat it."