SO3689 : Bishop's Castle Stone Skimming Championship - competitor
taken 13 years ago, near to Eaton, Shropshire, England
The 4th annual Bishop's Castle Stone Skimming Championship took place at Bow House Equestrian Centre on Sunday 26 June 2011, all profits going to support prostate cancer charities.
The rules state that stones must bounce three times to count and are only measured within the marked 'lane'. A marshal raises her red oven glove if the throw fails on this. The course is marked by two ropes with plastic bottles attached as floats. The left-hand rope has numbered bottles attached at 1 metre intervals to aid other marshals in reckoning the length of the throw.
As well as the stone skimming, there were many side-shows including Stone the Crows, Roll the Stone, Toss the Boulder, No Stone Unturned and Pile the Stones.
Controversy about this event Link
The ill-fated Bishop's Castle railway Link (open for just 70 years, for 69 of which it was in receivership) ran through the site of this event very close to the lake where the stone-skimming took place but there is no sign of its existence here these days.
Further east near Cheyney Longville (SO4284) the trackbed forms the Onny Geological Trail Link
Bishop's Castle Railway Society Link
BBC Shropshire article Link
Bishop's Castle website Link
Wikipedia article Link
Update April 2012 - British Stone Skimming Championship website Link