Summer Flinging Season begins

Summer approaches and that means it's hurling season in the UK. Last year I saw Peter Vemming Hansen's trebuchet at Denmark's Middelaldercentret and yes, it's big. Now, I see that another big catapult, named "Ursa" is starting up at England's Warwick castle.

From the Coventry UK Evening Telegraph:

A man with muscles of iron and nerves of steel has been chosen to help tame one of the world's most fearsome females. She wreaked death and destruction on those unfortunate enough to stand in her way for more than 200 years, and now brave Andy Tomlin has been charged with controlling her fiery temper. The 21-year-old former fitness instructor is the new master-in-charge of Ursa - the world's largest catapult - at Warwick Castle.

Ursa's vital statistics are impressive - she stands 60ft tall, weighs 22 tonnes and is powerful enough to fling 300 lb of rocks and other nasties 330 yards. The awesome power of the siege engine, or trebuchet, is demonstrated during the castle's summer season, which begins this weekend.

So, want to build your own siege engine? Check out my building-a-catapult.com site for ideas and catapult information. Here's a picture of the catapult I built a couple of years ago. I call it Ludgar the Warwolf after the trebuchet built by the English in 1304 to take Scotland's Stirling Castle.