The Bonsall World Championship Hen Races are held every year on the first Saturday in August. The event has won international acclaim and has been featured in many TV documentaries in this country and abroad. It has been televised live on Sky TV and the BBC “Country File” report of the hen race has been screened three times.
The area has a long history of hen racing, the most famous race being the Ible Hen Race. The races at the Barley Mow began 15 years ago when landlord Alan Webster decided it was time to revive this wonderful old tradition. The Hen Races are free to watch and anyone with a hen can take part.
As always the Bonsall Hen Races proved to be great entertainment. There was the occasional battle between competitors with three hens receiving the yellow warning card for fighting on the track. One of the hens took the warning to heart and reformed her behaviour but two ignored it, got the red card and were sent off. It was like watching World Cup Football all over again – and all the races were being filmed for German television. I’m not sure what they’ll think about so many red and yellow cards being awarded. There was great commentary from Alan, John, and Ric with plenty of jokes and lots of laughs and special commentary from race sponsor Sally Foulds, who runs an animal and pet minding business.
At the end of the day a collection was made on behalf of a registered charity which aims to provide a comfortable retirement for battery hens and this raised £31.00. A cheque for this amount will now be sent to the “Battery Hen Welfare Trust”. (For more information on this charity please see their website. (www.thehenshouse.co.uk.)
Watch the race here
2 comments:
do they eat them if they lose?
They eat them even if they win !!
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