Stinging nettle eaters compete for world title

There were green-teeth smiles all round following the annual World Stinging Nettles Eating Championships in Dorset.

The event was the centrepiece of a solstice weekender at the Bottle Inn in Marshwood, near Bridport.

Last year's champions Lucy Dermody and Michael Hobbs successfully defended their titles to take the bottle trophies.

A contest for the longest stinging nettle grown was won by mental health worker Jamie Giles for the second year in a row.

Thirty-one contestants took part and organisers estimated nearly 1,000 people attended overall.

The hour-long competition on Saturday involved eating the leaves from 2ft lengths of stinging nettles before the empty stalks were counted.

The Bottle Inn first hosted its nettle eating contest in 1986 and the tradition almost died out when the pub closed in 2019.

In 2022, it was revived by Dorset Nectar Cider Farm, which ran it for three years while the Bottle Inn was shut.

Tessa and Julian Blundy, who bought and renovated the 16th Century pub, restarted the competition in 2025 and revived a contest to grow the tallest nettle.