It all started with a teacher’s inspiration. In 1971, John Tyson, primary school headteacher in the Cambridgeshire village of Witcham, confiscated peashooters from two errant pupils. But then he had a eureka moment. His idea: a peashooting championship alongside the community’s annual fête.
Mr Tyson’s idea was an instant success. The championship became an annual presence in the local calendar, raising funds for the building of a modern village hall and attracting contestants from as far afield as the United States. It even has its own Wikipedia page.
Peashooting – the challenge for every age
More surprisingly, peashooting became embedded in Witcham’s culture. Many have fond memories. Villager Iain Housden told me that since childhood he has entered the competition or judged every year, while for some, like Pete Beecroft, it takes 25 years to compete.
Paul Gipp, 2026 champion in the ‘Traditional’ category, says: “It was pretty easy to get into the championship as I actually grew up in Witcham. I only live a couple of miles away from Witcham now. My son is nine years old, and he convinced me it was a good idea to start competing again.”
And the Witcham hobby catches them young. Matthew Hill has just done his GCSEs. In 2026 he won the ‘Junior Teams’ category. He explains: “My mum organises the event, and I’ve been brought up with peashooting my whole life. I really enjoy it.”
Seeking the competitive advantage
Peashoot technology has changed very little in the time the championship has tested it.
“Over the years people started bringing laser sights into the competition, which is great. It adds that sort of quirkiness,” says co-organiser Eleanor Herring (not Matthew Hill’s mum), “But it meant that the people with laser sights had an advantage over people who just wanted to turn up on the day and pick up a peashooter and a pack of peas.”
Witcham used to have both an ‘Open’ and a separate ‘Ladies’ category. However, Herring explains that in this competition there is no advantage whether you are a man or a woman. So ‘Ladies’ was scrapped a couple of years ago. “Now we have the ‘Open’, which allows all the laser sight people to come through, and we now have the ‘Traditional’, which means that anybody can come in with their 12-inch pipe, pick up a pack of peas on the day, and have a go.”
The championship has a complex set of rules. That may reflect its origin as a teacher’s creative riff on a disciplinary issue. Herring traces it to other developments in peashooter technology.
“We have a rule from when people started coming with poles to put their peashooters on. So we said that they couldn’t have a pole that stood on the floor. They can make their peashooter as interesting as they want, but nothing can touch the floor. Then one year somebody came with a pole that they put on their foot.”
The laser issue rouses surprisingly strong opinions.
“I don’t think sights should be allowed,” argues Beecroft. “The standard is just a tube. Some people do put laser sights on and all sorts of strange things. But if it’s a breezy day, the peas can go anywhere. It’s more fun being traditional with it.”
Beecroft was the only person with a tale of damage or injury inflicted by a peashooter. “I know a person who cracked someone’s windscreen with a steel ball bearing once. They then ran away”
The pandemic hiatus
The pandemic hit Witcham’s game rather harder than the ball-bearing hit the windscreen. For three years the event wasn’t held at all. Iain Housden remembers: “We thought about doing a smaller version, but in the end we just didn’t run it.”
The official history tells of a restart in 2023 and a new team coming forward to take on the management of the event. People are optimistic about the future.
“It’s got a nice community spirit with it now”, says Housden, “People come from elsewhere in England. I don’t know whether there are internationals as well. I think it’s ever growing. Last year was big. This year is even bigger!”
It’s true the Americans are not back yet, but Austrians participated.
Bonkers British championships
Peashooting is not the only bizarre championship on these shores. There’s the World Pooh Sticks competition and the World Conker Championships. “I heard of a snail race [correct, it was yesterday at Congham! – Ed] that goes on somewhere around the same time of year in Norfolk,” says Herring. “That sort of quirky, British, bonkers event that everybody gets involved in…”
One very serious competitor is Josh Burrows, sports correspondent of the Telegraph. His team, the P Musketeers, won the 2025 ‘Traditional’ competition.
“What’s left in peashooting for me is to compete for the individual place,” says Burrows. ”I’d like to think that teams wouldn’t spend months preparing. It depends how much you want to win. Most of us were practising last night, a bit this morning, but no more than that.”
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