MARK'S JUST A CHARMER WITH WORMS AND THERE'S
NO WRIGGLING OUT OF IT!
07:30, 6 November 2009
SOME turn buckets upside
down and whack them with a spade, while others try and coax them out the ground with heavy metal music.
But according to Mark Jones, the traditional way to charm worms from the ground is by 'twaddling and twanging'.
The popular technique involves sticking a garden fork deep into the ground and hitting the handle to create underground
vibrations.
Two years ago Mark, from Sawley, had never heard of worm charming and had no idea
there was a World Worm Charming Championship.
But after being talked into entering it this year
by a friend, he said he is now a convert.
The
40-year-old said: "Standing around in a field in Cheshire with more than 250 people trying to charm worms out of the
ground might not seem like everyone's idea of fun but it is such a good laugh.
"I
have a friend who lives in Cheshire, where the annual world championship event takes place and two years ago I was due to
go there to see him for a barbecue.
"He said to me 'Jonesy, I'm going to take you
to the local worm charming championship before the barbecue – it's a right laugh'.
"When
we got there and saw people standing around with buckets, bits of wood and stereos trying to get the worms out of the ground,
we decided we would enter the following year."
According to the International Federation
of Charming Worms and Allied Pastimes the rules are quite simple. Each team of two is allocated a 3 metre x 3 metre square
of land in the school field where the event takes place. At 2pm the horn sounds and the competitors have 30 minutes to collect
as many worms as they can.
There are two prizes on offer: the most worms – a record that
currently stands at 567 – and the heaviest worm.
Mark, of Repton Road, said: "This
year my brother Bryn and I entered a team and managed to collect 230 worms, which was not bad for a first effort.
"With 10 minutes to go we also had the heaviest worm which weighed 6g, but we were pipped at the post by someone
who found one weighing 6.17g.
"We were gutted. It would have been great to have won a prize
on our first go."
Mark said that people from all over the world travel to Cheshire to talk
part.
"For something that's a bit of fun people take it very seriously and there are
teams from Australia, Hungary and all over Europe," he said.
"There are 144 squares,
so 288 people are stood around trying to get these worms out the ground.
"It's mad."
Mark said some people turn buckets upside down and hit them, while others put hi-fi speakers face down on the ground
and try to charm the worms out with music. But the method he and his brother Bryn, 27, use is 'twaddling and twanging'.
Mark said: "Your garden fork is your twaddle which you stick in the ground and wiggle about, and you use a bit
of wood to hit the handle of the fork, and that's called your twanger.
"Apparently it
is the vibrations in the ground that brings them to the surface.
"Once the timer sounds to
say the competition is over, the worms are taken in a pint-sized glass where they are counted in a secure area.
"All the worms are then turned out into a trench and covered over with soil so they are safely returned to the
ground so none are hurt during the competition."
Mark said that for next year's event,
which takes place in June, he and his brother are going to get friends and colleagues to sponsor them 1p per worm with all
the money going to Treetops Hospice in Risley.
Kate Shaw, fund-raiser at Treetops, said she thought
it was a great idea.
She said: "It sounds like real fun.
"I'll
make sure he doesn't wriggle out of his commitment and become a worm that turned!"
Mark
said he wanted to add a bit of competition as well for next year's event.
He said: "We
are going up with my mum and Bryn's girlfriend and make it girls against boys. It should be a real laugh."
For more details on the World Worm Charming Championship, visit www.wormcharming.com.
To
donate to Treetops Hospice visit www.treetopshospice.org.uk.
