Tossing Off on Top of a Cliff is Fun

There are some strange cults in the world, with people practicing all sorts that verge from the funny to the absurd.

So take a look at “The Tossers of Bread Cove”, a group of people who come together twice a year in a secluded spot close to St.Ives in Cornwall.

For this group tossing loaves of bread into the Atlantic Ocean is as good as it gets.

For Dave Meacham, aged 48 and living on the outskirts of Truro in Cornwall, England, he is a master of his art.

“It’s simple in its method, but there is an art to tossing off a loaf”, he claims. “There is a way in which you grip the loaf – not too tight yet not too soft. Then there is the arm movement as it slides from your hand.”

Strange it may sound, but for the “Tossers of Bread Cove” it is an important meeting in which tossing bread is worshipped.

Anna Balcomb is 21 and lives 200 miles away and has Cornish parents. “I believe I carry on a tradition that has spanned at least two centuries”, she explains. “When I bear children then they too will toss off on a cliff.”

There is of course a dress-code when taking part in this unusual ceremony. The males are dressed in brown and represents the “burnt, crusted top” of a loaf of bread, whilst the females are dressed in a mixture of white and beige, representing the soft inner dough of the bread. 

A prayer to the “Loaf King of All Life” is made before the games begin. The group is separated into two teams – all mixed sexes and of varying but equal abilities. From here both teams must toss a loaf as far and high into the air as possible and reach a group of rocks thirty metres below where the Atlantic waves majestically crash against them. 

Cornwall offers some stunning scenery

Points are given for the person who manages to hit the same spot three times in one game. Other points are given for technique of the throw, pitch and distance. There is a handicap involved, similar to golf and anyone with a low handicap must toss off further inland. 

It is all unusual but fun nonetheless. The most exciting action is at sunset, with the orange glow illuminating both players and sea. 

The games last approximately two hours. In between a song and dance is performed and varying prayers to the Loaf King of All Life before the group hug and part company.

Of course, anyone wishing to join must prove they can bake a very good loaf.

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