http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=55530 The NewsBiscuit Community en-US Thu, 20 Jun 2013 08:09:13 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/search.php http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=55530#post-160508 Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:36:03 +0000 SJM 160508@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>In a major boost to national pride, a Camber Sands man has become the first Englishman to successfully put up a deckchair in 120 years. </p> <p>Paul Toomey, 55, a self-employed brick layer, made the record breaking attempt back on August Bank Holiday Monday but had to await verification from the Guinness World Records team, and the result of a stripey canvas test by the British Deck Chair and Folding Picnic Table Association, before going public.</p> <p>‘I’m really chuffed’ said a jubilant Mr Toomey ‘I’ve been practising for years, ever since I saw my Dad catch his finger whilst struggling with his deck chair on Clacton beach in 1976. I vowed then that I would master this beast. I was even more determined to do so after that incident during our 1978 holiday to the Sunnyvale nudist colony.’</p> <p>The last time an Englishman managed to put a deckchair up without clearing the entire beach was in 1893 when Bert Flint from Canvey Island spent almost 12 minutes in a chair before it collapsed. In 1990 Hans Grimmer from Berlin became the only living deckchair-erector, although many felt his attempt was invalid because of the chair’s metal frame.</p> <p>Prime Minister David Cameron has passed on his own good wishes in a letter to Mr Toomey ‘This is a wonderful way for Britain to follow the Olympic legacy. I’m looking forward to having a bash at putting up a deckchair next time I’m in Cornwall. I’ll probably roll my trouser legs up and pop a knotted hankie on my head too. Sam likes that’.</p> <p>As for Mr Toomey, he has no immediate plans to repeat the attempt. ‘Nope, that’s it for me. To be honest I’m not as thin as I used to be so it’ll be a few weeks before I manage to get out of this one. You haven’t got a winch or something have you?’ </p>