HALDON Group from the Devon Young Farmers’ Federation competed in the National Outdoor Tug of War Championships which took place at Macclesfield Rugby Club in Cheshire on June 18.

The Haldon teams included YFC members from Chagford and Bow YFC.

Tug of war teams from all over England took part in the event which was held by the Tug of War Association with Macclesfield Rugby Club, with a total of 18 clubs taking part throughout the day.

 The Haldon Ladies’ team took home bronze medals in the 500kg and 540kg weight categories — an excellent result for their national debut.

The two teams consisted of: Emma Davie (Newton St Cyres YFC), Georgia Woodman (Bow YFC), Alice Palfrey (Bow YFC), Georgina Davie (Newton St Cyres YFC), Amber Wotton (Dartmouth YFC), Kay Wotton (Dartmouth YFC), Lucy Thomas (Chagford YFC), Suze Allanson-Bailey (Bow YFC), Sophie Down (Bow YFC), Lauren Rich (Dartmouth YFC), Jess Palfrey (Bow YFC). The coach was Micheal Smerdon.

Emma Davie, captain of the team, said: ‘It was a great experience to compete in a competition at a very high level, pulling against teams who have represented England in previous years. We learnt a lot from watching other teams pull, and we hope this will help us improve our technique and skills in the future.’

Haldon Ladies also recently won the Devon Young Farmers’ county finals of Tug of War, therefore will compete in the South West Area finals on Sunday at Kingston Maurward in Dorchester.