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The World Coal Carrying Championships, Gawthorpe. Courtesy of Gawthorpe Maypole Committee
When Lewis Hartley mocked his drinking buddy Reggie Sedgewick with the words "Ba gum lad tha' looks b******d" in Gawthorpe's Beehive Inn back in 1963, little did he know that his comment would lead to the World Coal Carrying Championships.
What began as a £10 bet between two friends has become an international event (well, an American competed once), recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the proving ground for the world's greatest coal carrier - or "Coil Humper", to use the local parlance.
The men's event requires competitors to carry 50 kilos of coal over a distance of 1108.25 yards (nearly a mile), while women carry 20 kilos the same distance.
The racing starts around noon at the Royal Oak public house on Owl Lane, and finishes at The Maypole on the village green.
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