Clever clog Taff just short of world record

10:30am Tuesday 10th April 2007

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HUNDREDS of people flocked to a Rossendale pub for the little known sport of clog cobbing.

Every Easter, competitors gather to see who can throw a clog furthest down a path next to the Roebuck Inn, Burnley Road East, Waterfoot.

Competitors in the annual World Clog Cobbing Championships chuck their clogs backwards over their heads, and the farthest-flung footwear wins the contest.

The competition began in the early 1960s after locals came up with the novel way of raising money for charity.

And the event has grown into a tradition which attracts people from all over the Valley.

Jackie Willis, one of the organisers, said: "The event was really popular and despite the bad weather people went into the drizzle to have a go."

Andy John, 35, known as "Taff" set the world record in clog cobbing with a 93ft throw last year.

However despite his best efforts, with a winning 87.6ft throw, he fell short of rewriting the record books yesterday.

In a nail-biting final he went head to head with Damon Maher, 19, of Water, who chucked an 85.4ft throw.

Taff, who plays for Rossendale Rugby Club and lives in Stacksteads said: "I thought I was going to have to settle with second place but I don't do second place.

"It was tense but I managed to pull out a winning throw right at the last minute."

Lisa Stewart won the women's contest with a 59.2ft throw.

Young Jordon Noon's 49ft throw gained him first place in the boys section while a local girl known as Tasha won the girls section with a 34ft chuck.

Clog cobbing is just one of hundreds of unusual feats to make it into the Guinness World Record books.

It boasts bizarre records such as an Indian boy who has 25 fingers and toes, former rat-catcher Ken Edwards from Glossop who ate 36 cockroaches in one minute and a French man who eats 2lbs of metal every day.