Haldon tug of war team returned to Devon with a handful of medals following success at the British and Irish Outdoor Tug of War Championships.

The weekend of competitions was hosted by the England Tug of War during their 60th Anniversary year in Bedfordshire.

Teams from across England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales competed in the various weighted competitions across the two-day event (Saturday 11 August and Sunday 12 August 2018).

Club captain of the ladies’ team, Emma Davie said: “The teams have been training hard over the summer with at least two sessions a week at the training yard and additional evenings at the gym to improve strength and fitness. We have been concentrating on reaching our target weight with a healthy diet whilst working on the teams pulling technique and style”

After winning the National Young Farmers tug of war finals in 2017, the teams have been concentrating on the tug of war association this year with competitions taking place all over the country, from Felton in Bristol to Cheshire Game Fair.

After competing at the England Tug of War Championships in Oxfordshire in June, the ladies team were invited to attend the British and Irish Closed Championships in August to represent England A in the ladies 560kg competition. The group stage included England B (Bedford), Wales A (Trecastle), Wales B (composite team comprising of pullers from Cupids Hill, Glamorgan, Hermon and Ladis Pinc) and Scotland (Ayrshire). After the group stage, Haldon reached the pull-offs where they pulled Wales B, winning 2-0. The finals against Scotland (Ayrshire) was a good pull, with both ends going to Haldon resulting in Gold medals for the Ladies’ team.

Haldon Ladies went onto compete in the Open championships the following day, where they collected a Bronze in the 520kg competition, Silver in the 560kg competition and a very well-deserved bronze in the mixed 4x4 580kg competition after a five-end pull-off with York Tug of War Club.

The Haldon men’s team also attended the Open championships where they competed in the 560kg, 600kg and mixed 4x4 580kg with the ladies. The men pulled some good ends against clubs from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland, and were placed third in their group for the 600kg competition finishing behind the gold and bronze medal winners.