The Pirates of Penzance

[Gob]

My old stomping ground. Golowan used to be a great day out, it looks like they are making it bigger each year.

Thousands of pirates gather in Penzance to break record

The record for the most number of 'pirates' in one place has unofficially been broken by thousands of people gathered in Penzance, Cornwall.

A total of 8,734 people in fancy dress assembled on Penance promenade on Sunday at 1300.

They smashed the previous world record set by 6,166 pirates in Hastings in 2010.

The pirate gathering was part of the Golowan Festival which celebrates the traditional feast of St John.

Organiser Andy Hazelhurst said: "We had all sorts of standards of costume from Johnny Depp look-a-likes to little kids with stripy t-shirts.

"We even had dogs dressed up, although they didn't get counted."





More images here

He said it was fitting that Penzance, made famous by Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, should hold the pirate record: "If you say Penzance what do you think of?

"The rest are just upstarts.

"Hastings complained that they were not famous for anything else but we pointed out that they did have the Battle of Hastings."

The organisers in Penzance said they have gathered evidence of the number of people who took part in the record attempt to send to the Guinness Book of Records organisation in the hope of getting official recognition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-13924295

[Long Run]

The ninjas were there too. You just can't see them.

[Gob]

Nice image here;

[loCAtek]

Hey, that's not a pirate, that's a limey scallywag!

[Gob]

A west Cornwall town is celebrating after being officially recognised as a world record breaker.

The Guinness World Records has confirmed that Penzance now holds the title for the largest gathering of pirates in one place.

On Sunday 25 June, 8,734 people in fancy dress assembled on Penzance promenade at 13:00 BST.

They have now officially broken the previous record set by 6,166 pirates in Hastings in 2010.

The pirate gathering was part of the town's annual Golowan Festival which celebrates the traditional feast of St John.

The record attempt was the brainchild of Penzance resident, Angie Butler, who wanted her home town, made famous by the Gilbert and Sullivan opera, The Pirates of Penzance, to hold the pirate record.

Participants were asked to wear pirate items including bandanas, cut-off trousers, eye patches, pirate hats and cutlasses.

Organiser Andy Hazelhurst said: "We had all sorts of standards of costume from Johnny Depp look-a-likes to little kids with stripy T-shirts.

"We even had dogs dressed up, although they didn't get counted."

They were counted on to the promenade in Penzance by official counters


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-15854438

[Gob]

Now it's elves!!

A south Wales town claims it has beaten its own record for the number of elves gathered in one place - with over 900 of Santa's helpers coming together.




Bridgend town centre was awash with people dressed in green and red tunics and pointy hats in the hope of becoming record breakers.

They succeeded in breaking the previous record of 720 elves, which was set last year.

New York had held the record but said it could not compete with Bridgend.

The American city had already admitted defeat this year, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg conceding in a recent letter: "It is unlikely that New York will have an opportunity to accept the challenge this year and we wish you continued success with your 2011 Elf-steddfod.

"Best wishes from the Big Apple."

To qualify as an elf, people had to turn up wearing their own red or green costumes.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16131184

[Sue U]

Thousands of pirates gather in Penzance to break record

While this is clearly good news for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it is sobering to consider just how many orphans there must be in the vicinity of Penzance.

[loCAtek]

Why is it cooler to be a pirate, than be a bandito? They're both drunken thieves are they not? I suspect racism, here!

[Rick]

As a pirate you only have to wear a bandana, as a bandito you must wear a large floppy hat.

In both cases the eye patch is an accesory.

Can ya tell when I don't spel check?

[loCAtek]

You have something against sombreros? Don't be hatin' the hat, you hat-ist!

...and yes, my Great-Gran'po's eye-patch was quite debonair.

[Gob]

You see all kinds of grisly, hairy characters on the Tube but few commuters would’ve expected to see a pack of pandas on the platform.

A party of 108 pandas – performers dressed in costumes – descended on London streets today to promote the plight of the cuddly black and white endangered species.

The pandas did some tai-chi in Trafalgar Square before kicking on at a panda party in Convent Garden as part of the first ever Panda Awareness Week.

[BoSoxGal]

Pandas on Parade!

Very cool.

[loCAtek]

[Gob]

Published on Monday 23 July 2012 09:45

HASTINGS has snatched the crown back as the town with the most pirates in one place.

Sea dogs, buccaneers and Jack Sparrow wannabees descended on Pelham beach yesterday (Sunday) as part of a world record attempt, smashing the record held by Penzance.

A total of 14,231 pirates gathered on the beach, drawfing the Cornish town’s previous figure of 8,734, allowing Hastings to reclaim the title it previously held in August 2010.



The town hall was also host to a true pirate wedding.

Not only were the bride, Emma Drury and groom Jim Ward dressed as pirates, so were Kate Dyer, the deputy superintendent registrar and Linda Miller, the deputy registrar.

They were joined by town hall staff Lisa Greathead, Sarah Crosby and Kevin Brookshaw who also dressed as pirates, and, to add a final flourish, the town hall flagpole flew the skull and crossbones.

At the end of the festivities yesterday, scores of people gathered to watch a display by the Red Arrows from 5.30pm.

Council leader Jeremy Birch said: “This was another great Hastings day, with the town claiming the first gold of the summer as the pirate record returned home, and a real pirate wedding taking place here too.

“It was great that the town, and the town hall, were able to enter into the spirit of the occasion. I would like to wish Emma and Jim all the very best for the future. We were all pleased that they were able to get spliced here on Pirate Day.”

[loCAtek]

Wait... that ones not a pirate, but a common landlubber!

[Gob]

A new world record for the most people dressed as witches in one place has been set on the 400th anniversary of the Pendle witch trials in Lancashire.

Four hundred and eighty-two people set the new record, which has never been previously attempted.

More than 1,000 people joined the Pendle Witch Walk to raise money for the Pendleside Hospice, Burnley.

To qualify for the record all witches had to be wearing a black pointed hat, black cloak and have a broom.

Guinness World Records said there was currently no similar record in place. The attempt was made under Guinness stipulations.

Lancaster witch trials

Held at Lancaster Castle in August 1612
Eleven Pendle people charged with murder by witchcraft
Additional alleged Pendle witch tried at York Castle
Ten found guilty and hanged, one died while awaiting trial, one found not guilty
Trials made famous by publication of The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster (by clerk of the court Thomas Potts)

[The Hen]

Pictures or it didn't happen!

[Lord Jim]

To qualify for the record all witches had to be wearing a black pointed hat, black cloak and have a broom.

Stand by for the complaints from the Wiccans about "stereotyping".....

[Gob]

The story of the Pendle witch trials helps bring in over £85m to the local economy each year, according to council figures.

The town is littered with references to the 1612 trials which resulted in 10 people being hanged for witchcraft.




They have spawned many commercial spin offs today - including the name of an express bus service to Manchester and a brand of beer.

But not everyone wants to bask in the area's association with the trials. The Bishop of Burnley campaigned against a giant artwork installation on Pendle Hill to mark the anniversary of the trials.

But there are some who make a living from the town's notorious history.


Maureen Stopforth - Witch Memorabilia

Maureen Stopforth, 72, runs the Witches Galore shop Newchurch-in-Pendle.

She said: "Every day is different. I get people coming in from all over the world - I've had people from Russia to Australia visit and even a Canadian couple on their honeymoon."

She said Americans in particular are fascinated by the area's heritage.

"I think they're intrigued because they haven't got our history and when they come here they love it because the countryside is so stunning and unspoilt.

"They say it is like stepping back in time."

The shop and tearoom sells witch memorabilia ranging from crystals to cards and handmade models of witches. Mrs Stopforth added: "A lot of customers collect them - one woman has a collection of over 300."

Her best seller is Robert Neill's book Mist Over Pendle. "I can't be without that book; it flies off the shelf.".


Neil McDonald - Tour Guide

Neil McDonald, 50, has been running tours for nine years with his 15-seater minibus.

Even now he said the hairs on the back of his neck stand up when he traces the gruelling journey the witches made from Pendle to their trial at Lancaster Castle in 1612.

"I still get an eerie feeling when I take people on the journey over the tops," he said.

"They (the witches) will have been exhausted, hungry and frightened. They probably knew they were being dragged to their death.

"I love anything to do with cults or anything that is hidden.

"And the people who come on the tour are the same. They love the story but then it has all ingredients of a blockbuster novel."

He said his favourite part of his 10-hour tour is at St Mary the Virgin Church in Gisburn, where a cast iron unmarked grave is rumoured to be Jennet Preston's.


Joseph Delaney - Writer

Author of Wardstone Chronicles Joseph Delaney, from Preston, was so fascinated by the Pendle witches he devoted two of his best-selling books to them.

The Spooks series are all set in a mythical Lancashire, which he calls County, and he decided "to confront the Pendle Witches" in the fourth book, the Spook's Battle.

He invented his own version of Pendle witches because "otherwise I would have been a prisoner of the historical events".

"The trials really stimulated my imagination," he said, "and [Pendle Hill] too casts a spell over me with its brooding presence."

He said the Spook's Battle is his favourite book from the series.

"I discover my plots and often they need a lot of re-drafting to achieve a sound structure but that was the exception.

"It flowed from my imagination as if it already existed."

Mr Delaney often does talks in Lancashire schools and said children are "fascinated by the fact that the events happened so close to home"

[loCAtek]

To qualify for the record all witches had to be wearing a black pointed hat, black cloak and have a broom.

Stand by for the complaints from the Wiccans about "stereotyping".....

Right. Where are the warlocks, how are they dressed?