The Cornish Pasty |
The Cornish Pasty already has a Giant pasties page, but there is a famous custom in Cornish Rugby of parading a really giant pasty at important matches. This goes back over a hundred years, to 1908. The photos on this page are from more recent times .....
Photo by Phil Westren
Giant pasty with Cornish Pirates
rugby team members
French No. 8 Bertrand Bedes (left) and Cornishman Adryan Winnan
holding a giant pasty made by WC Rowe's, Cornish Bakers, for the
Giant Pasty Parade at the St Piran's Festival, 8th March 2009,
in the match against Bedford, culminating in passing the pasty
over the posts at 2.55 pm, five minutes before the kick-off.
The honour was done by the Falmouth Marine Band.
(the new web site no longer links the parade news item)
Twickenham 1991
Picture by Phil Monckton
Twickenham 1999
Photo by John Prowse
According to the Crantock Bakery web site, the Cornish rugby pasty tradition started in 1908 when a pottery in Truro (Lakes Pottery) made three ceramic pasty mascots to mark the first appearance of a Cornish team in a rugby championship final.
Acknowledgements:
We are very grateful to:
Phil Westren for permission to use the top photograph from the Cornish Pirates web site.
Phil Monckton for permission to use the Twickenham 1991 photograph which is from his book, "Cornwall's Rugby Challenge -- The Glory Years 1987-94", published by Rowe the Printers, Hayle, Cornwall, 1994 (ISBN 0 9524988 0 4).
John Prowse for permission to use the Twickenham 1999 photograph. The 1991 and 1999 photographs also appear on Trelawney's Army - The Cornish Rugby Supporters' Club web site.
To the above, grateful thanks from The Cornish Pasty.