Apple Day

The Longest Peel Competition

The Longest Peel Competition has been a favourite with Apple Day organisers and their guests, but the national competition began at the suggestion of the organisers of Damerham Apple Day in Hampshire in 2000. They asked Common Ground to compare the results from competitions around the country to find the Longest of the Longest Peels.

Participants simply peel an apple in a spiral keeping the peel in one continuous piece then measure using a piece of string. Some participants use a hand peeler or knife, others use a hand wound peeling and coring machine. The peeling machine tends to produce much longer peels so this year we have separated these into different categories.

World Record

According to Guinness World Records: “The record for the longest unbroken apple peeling is held by Kathy Walfer (USA) who peeled an apple in 11 hours 30 minutes with a peel length of 52.51m, 172ft 4in, at Long Ridge Mall, Rochester, New York on 16 October 1976”. Can you believe that?

Apple Day records

2000: 336cm 11ft 1/4 in

2002: 947cm 31ft 7/8 in

2003: 778cm 25ft 63/8 in

2004: 400cm 13ft 11/2 in

2005: 708cm 23ft 23/4 in

2006: 1066.8cm 35ft

2007: 658cm 21ft 1/2 in

2008:  531cm 17.421ft

The winners of the 2008 competition:

By hand

18 and over

Barney Hilken   Acorn Bank, Cumbria     5.31m      17.421ft

Leslie Pachebat  (f)   Ely, Cambs     5.30m    17.388ft

Under 18

Hamish Fyfe, Lacock, Wiltshire   .69cm     2.264ft

Peeling machine

Under 18
Laura Clough, Eastham Country Park, Cheshire   2.40m         7.874 ft

Overall winners

Barney Hilken and Leslie Pachebat are joint overall winners

CONGRATULATIONS! Prizes included bottles of Somerset Royal cider brandy kindly donated by the Somerset Cider Brandy Company, and Common Ground’s Apple Map and other posters.                                                 

The winners of the 2007 competition:

By hand

Over 16
658cm by Barney Hilken at Acorn Bank Apple Day in Cumbria, peeling a Crispin apple.            

16 & under
152cm by Alex Abbott at Charlton Orchards Apple Day in Somerset peeling a Cox's orange Pippin.

Peeling machine

16 & under
262cm by Rowan Williams at Wirral Wildlife Apple Day, Brimstage Hall on the Wirral.

Overall winner

Barney Hilken with a peel of 658cm is the overall winner for 2007!

CONGRATULATIONS! to all the winners this year who each recieve a box of apples from donated by Crapes Fruit Farm in Colchester, an apple tree donated Rogers Nursery in Pickering and Common Ground books and posters.