Tug of War will pull spectators at county show

Human strength competition on Saturday

Tug of War is coming to Devon County Show this week.

The annual celebration of agriculture and everything Devon is back to its traditional third week of May, following the covid years.

Among the attractions is one oldest games in the world, pitting the strengths of two teams against each other.

It's practiced in some form in almost every country in the world, but outrageously is no longer recognised by the International Olympics Committee.

The season for pulling (insert your own joke here) is just about to get under way.

The rules are simple. Each team pulls the rope until the marker crosses onto one of the teams’ side. The marker (white tape) is in the middle of the rope. It requires collaborative strength.

Jessie Shaddick, captain of Team Anstey, last year’s winners of the Devon County Show competition, is getting her team in prime condition for the Tug of War competitions for Westpoint this week.

She said: "We’ve got eight women on our team and we train religiously once a week.  We normally perform in around six-to-eight competitions per year, and we’ve just been crowned second in the overall FWA (Far Western Area) league.  We currently only compete in the South West league but we’re hoping to progress to the national league later this year.  Watch this space. 

"We compete primarily because we love it.  Every team member is part of the young farming community which can be a lonely existence.  Getting together once a week means we get to socialise which is so important.  But the physical aspect is also great for mental health as pulling really gets the endorphins fired up. 

"We’re all pretty sporty individuals.  We normally all get together to do local Race for Life Events, and two  of our team members, just successfully completed the London Marathon.  Molly said it was the hardest thing she’s ever done and is still wearing slippers to work!

"If we fall, we can’t sit down for too long and there’s no cursing permitted on the rope (difficult when you’re under such pressure).  If you do, you risk disqualification."

Devon County Show starts on Thursday, with Tug of War at 1pm on Saturday.