Cornish hurling in the context of "St. Columb Major"

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⭐ Core Definition: Cornish hurling

Hurling (Cornish: Hurlian) is an outdoor team game played only in Cornwall, England, played with a small silver ball. While the sport shares its name with the Irish game of hurling, the two sports are completely different.

Once played widely in Cornwall, the game has similarities to other traditional football or inter parish 'mob' games played in various parts of Britain, but certain attributes make hurling unique to Cornwall. It is considered by many to be Cornwall's national game along with Cornish wrestling. An old saying in the Cornish language goes "hyrlîan yw gen gwaré nyi", which means "hurling is our sport".

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👉 Cornish hurling in the context of St. Columb Major

St Columb Major (Cornish: Sen Kolom Veur) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as St Columb, it is approximately seven miles (11 km) southwest of Wadebridge and six miles (10 km) east of Newquay. The town is named after Columba of Cornwall, also known as Columb, a 6th-century saint. The designation Major distinguishes the town from St Columb Minor, a village to the west, which now forms part of Newquay. As well as the town of St Columb Major itself, the parish also includes surrounding rural areas. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 4,688 and the built up area had a population of 3,679.

Twice a year the town plays host to "hurling", a medieval game once common throughout Cornwall but now only played in St Columb and St Ives. It is played on Shrove Tuesday and again on the Saturday eleven days later. The game involves two teams of unlimited numbers (the 'townsmen' and the 'countrymen' of St Columb parish) who endeavour to carry a silver ball to goals set two miles (3 km) apart or across the parish boundary, making the parish, around 17.2 square miles (45 km) in area, the de facto largest sports ground in the world.

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