More than 70 pumpkins take to the skies at Ellesmere event

More than 200 people gathered in Ellesmere to watch a spectacular pumpkin-launching event as a community arts group brought out its medieval-style siege engine.

Fizzgigs invited visitors to the recreation field on Birch Road on Sunday to watch pumpkins being hurled through the air by its trebuchet, a reproduction medieval machine.

Built by Fizzgigs member Peter Cartlidge, the machine was making its eighth appearance and launched a record 70-plus pumpkins in front of a crowd of families from Ellesmere and further afield, including Wrexham, Llanfyllin and Oswestry.

This year's targets were brightly painted wheelbarrows, with visitors invited to guess how far their pumpkins would travel. Those hitting the targets were promised a prize.

The only successful hit came from 10-year-old Seth, from Oswestry, whose pumpkin, named Inosuke after a character in the game Demon Slayer, struck its target.

Seth said he was surprised and delighted with both the hit and his prize. The wheelbarrow survived, although it was dented.

Eight-year-old Sam Connolley, from Wrexham, also received a prize after his pumpkin, Tiddlesworth, travelled the furthest, covering more than 75 metres.

His father said: “This is the first time we’ve attended the event. It’s fabulous. We will be back next year. And I’ll be weighing up each pumpkin in the shop to assess suitability. There’s a record to be broken!”

The lifetime distance record remains an impressive 100 metres.

Fizzgigs chairman Ian Andrew hosted the afternoon, explaining how the trebuchet worked. Its counterweight bucket contained more than 500kg of ballast, while volunteers used sledgehammers to secure retaining stakes beneath the machine's wheels.

Ian said: “It’s just something else to make the town we live in a bit more interesting.”

More information about Fizzgigs and its activities can be found at on its website.