The World Coal Carrying Championship - bags of fun for the Bank Holiday!

Amongst the weird and wonderful traditions of the British Easter Holiday is the World Coal Carrying Championships. Each Easter Monday, the small village of Gawthorpe, near Ossett in West Yorkshire, is host to this energetic competition. The event consists of Men’s, Women’s and Children’s races. Men carry 50kg of coal and women 20kg in weight.

The Championships were originally run from the Shaw Cross colliery to the May Pole, although the collieries in this area were closed in the 1960's.

The local tradition in fact only goes back to 1963, when in the village pub, the Beehive Inn, one local man challenged another to a test of stamina and muscle.

The event now starts from Owl Lane, outside the Royal Oak, where both men and women race over approximately one mile (1108. 25 yards to be precise), with a sack of coal to secure the best time. To qualify for completion of the race, the sack must be dropped on the Village Green where the traditional Maypole is situated in the heart of Gawthorpe. Gawthorpe's Mayday celebrations date back to at least 1875 when a seventy-foot fir tree was bought and erected by public subscription on the village green. The maypole was last replaced in 1986.

The current record for the Coal Run is 4mins 6secs.

Sadly the competition has not been run in 2020 or 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.