Bosley Tug of War Club took part at the Tug of War Association National Outdoor Tug of War Championships in Devon over the weekend, competing in mens and mixed weight classes on the day.    

The National Championships are held across a number weight classes for mens teams, ladies teams and mixed teams, with Bosley taking part in three weight classes on the day - the mens 560kg, 600kg, and the mixed 580kg competition where teams comprise of 4 men and 4 ladies each.  

Bosley went along to the championships with a squad of 12 men and 4 ladies, and were up against some tough competition from teams all over the country on the day. 

Bosley Tug of War was established in 1958.

The team was competitive across all weight divisions, and was competing at the event with the aim of reaching a semi-final with the chance to compete for a medal.

That objective was achieved in the mens 560kg weight class, with the team progressing to the semi-finals where they met the in-form team from Lincoln who were the defending champions.

Bosley went down to a 2 ends to 0 defeat and went into the bronze medal match against former world and European champions of this weight class, Sandhurst, and came away with a hard fought 2 ends to 1 win to take home a bronze medal. 

Bosley's mixed team.

In the other weight classes, Bosley missed out on progressing from the group stages, but gave a number of other teams a good run for their money.

In terms of the next generation, the club had three members of the team – George Large, James Whilock and Kitty Staden who were part of the Northern Region junior team who took part in the junior mixed 520kg competition where they came away with a well deserved silver medal, with Upper Eden from Cumbria winning the gold.

"We had a great day this year, and achieved our objective of progressing to a semi-final, which is always a tough ask in the lighter weight categories" commented club spokesman Alan Knott.  

"to then go on and win a medal was brilliant and this provides us with a good platform to kick on for next year" 

"We are now aiming to travel to Germany in September to take part in the open club competition at the World Championships in order to continue our progression and enable our younger and less experienced members the opportunity to build up their experience against top class opposition to enable us to take that next step to a higher level."

Tug of war is contested between teams of 8 people, and events are held in weight categories.

Commenting on the success of the juniors, Alan added: "It was great to see our junior members rewarded with medals on the day, and whilst we do not have a full junior team at present, it is very much our ambition to build up a junior section and we would encourage all parents to encourage their kids looking to get involved in a team sport to consider tug of war."  

"Likewise, we were a few short of female members this year, and again, we are looking to expand this side of our club as well as increase the size of our membership overall generally".  

"We are always looking for new members to join our club – as the sport is held in weight categories, the more members of any size that we have, the more competitions we can enter - so if anyone, male or female, is interested in joining our club, then feel free to make contact with us."  

More competitions are due to take place over the summer and Bosley will carry on taking part in the Tug of War Association National League. There are a number of events that are being organised in Cheshire in the coming weeks where local teams can get together and enter teams.

These include the following events: Macclesfield Sheepdog Trials on Friday August 2, and Bosley Tug of War Club will also be helping to run the tug of war event at the Cheshire Game and Angling Fair on Sunday August 4. Everyone is welcome to come along and support these events.  

They practice on Tunstall Road in Bosley, and you can get in touch with them on social media.