7:50pm Friday 3rd July 2009
By Richard Vernalls
THE countryside art of hat tossing is to be resurrected at a popular racing event.
Tossing a coke – the regional name for a bowler hat – died out in the late 19th century but is being brought back for the Shelsey Walsh Hill Climb tomorrow.
The game was once a competitive sport among young gamekeepers and brewers but died out as the popularity of the headwear waned.
Hobsons, an award-winning Shropshire brewery, is behind the return of the English tradition to mark its launch of Twisted Spire Blond Ale.
The deft art of throwing a bowler hat was perfected by country gamekeepers who would launch their cokes at any nearby birds which had been missed by beaters during a shoot.
Artful coke tossers were soon in demand and contests soon took place between neighbouring countryside estates.
Henry Hobson, a game-keeper turned brewer, cleverly adapted the sport to ascertain whether his lads had been imbibing before lunch.
If suspicious, he would ask them to toss a coke to land between two barrels. It wasn’t long before this also developed competitively between staff of rival breweries.
On event day, competitors will have three challenges to pick from during eliminator heats.
The first one is to place a coke between two barrels and second and third to land it on the left and right barrels respectively.
Finals will be held at the end of the summer hop harvest in Cleobury Mortimer, home of Hobsons Brewery.
As well as completing the standard coke tossing challenge, the finalists will be asked to see if they can throw a coke as high as the town’s twisted spire, the namesake of the brewery’s latest beer.
Winners will become Keeper of the Honorary Henry and be presented with a year’s supply of Twisted Spire ale.
Nick Davies, Hobsons master brewer said: “We wanted to launch our vibrant new beer with something really different. Coke tossing fits the bill but unlike our predecessors the competition will be open to both men and women.”
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