Quirky Guide

There’s quirky, there’s brave and there’s just plain foolhardy. And this oddball event in southwest England definitely rates among the latter.

Every June, a pub-full of contestants stuff as many stinging nettle leaves into their increasingly swollen mouths as they can in an hour. Why you may ask? Well it seems that two farmers once contended to see who had the longest nettles growing on their land. In a throwaway comment, one jested, “If you can find a longer nettle, I’ll eat it.” And the rest is history.

The eye-watering action takes place at the Bottle Inn in Marsh Wood, Dorset on the second Saturday in June.