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Have you ever wondered how Guinness World Records came to be? On our 70th birthday, our editor-in-chief, Craig Glenday revisited Castlebridge, the spiritiual birthplace of Guinness World Records to tell you it's facinating origin story.
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0:00
This year, Guinness World Records
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celebrates its 70th anniversary. And to
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mark the occasion, I've made the
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pilgrimage here to Castle Bridge in
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County Wexwood Island, the spiritual
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birthplace of Guinness World Records.
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Let's find out how it all began. The
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history of Guinness World Records can be
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traced back right here to the North Slob
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in Wexford. It was here in 1951 that Sir
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Hugh Beaver was invited to a hunting
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party and got into an argument. What is
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the fastest game bird? Is it the grouse,
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the plver, the tail, the woodcock? No
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one knew the answer. So, here we are on
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the north slob. Slob is the Irish word
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for mud. And these are giant mud flats
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where every November people come and
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shoot game. At least they did back in
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the 1950s. So, this is where the
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argument actually happened. This is like
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hallowed ground. Today, this is now a
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wild fowl reserved funded partly by
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Guinness.
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[Music]
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Later that evening, Sir Hugh found
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himself at dinner here at Castlebridge
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House, the lovely property you can see
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behind me, owned by Joshua Nun and his
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family. There after dinner, the debate
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once again arose, which is the fastest
1:15
game bird in Europe. So Hugh must have
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been really irked by missing whatever he
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was shooting at. And despite the library
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being very vast and full of what Sir
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Hugh described as very expensive books,
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no one could find a solution to the
1:28
question. So Hugh then had his moment of
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clarity and thought up and down the
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country there'll be people arguing in
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pubs and bars and what we need is some
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kind of reference book that you keep
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behind the bar that will solve the
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problem, settle the argument and turn
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that heat of argument into the light of
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knowledge. Sadly, the house has fallen
1:48
into disrepair. But I've been given
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special access to go inside and try to
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find the exact place the Guinness World
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Records book was born. Through there is
1:57
the house where it all began. So let's
2:00
find out where the Guinness World
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Records idea was born.
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So you can imagine this in all its
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grandeur busting with flowers and
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blooms, oranges, fruits and you can see
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the structures. So it would have been
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covered cloch closure style horses would
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have come in here. You could get off
2:31
your horse and go into the house without
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getting wet. Probably at the pinnacle of
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this kind of iron work. I would have
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thought it's such a beautiful thing. But
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this is what we want to do. We want to
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go inside the house. We need to find the
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library where Sir Hugh had his light
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bulb moment. So, let's let's uh see if
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we can wander through.
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[Music]
3:00
I suppose if for them it's just a
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functional space, wasn't it? I just, you
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know, with a bit of tidying up, bit of
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sweeping,
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and obviously,
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yeah,
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yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? Just It's
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so weird, but it's
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You can see the light.
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Is that daylight up there then? Yeah,
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possibly.
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Yeah. So, we are here. We have I've
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finally made it. The pilgrimage to come
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to Castle Bridge House has happened and
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it's an amazing space. It's such a
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beautiful You can see the potential of
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it. Definitely. This is a really
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important part of the Guinness World
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Rebecca's history. Could this have been
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the location where Sir Hugh had his
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revelation, his
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light bulb moment of we need a book that
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can answer these questions cuz none of
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the books in this expensive space, this
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expensive house could solve the problem,
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answer the question. It might have been
4:01
here. This might have been the very
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room.
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What's amazing is that we've got this
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origin story and it's always been that.
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It's been like a myth or a legend to me
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all the years I've been in Guinness
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World Records. So, it's really special
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to be in the place where it happened. It
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is a It's a real thing. It's a real
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place, you know. Um, this is where the
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book was born, the idea was born.
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It feels like the in the in the movie
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Titanic when they they cut from that
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scene of it being underwater and it
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becomes real and filled in and and full
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of life. You can imagine it happening.
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Yeah, you could imagine the parties they
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must have had here. The whiskey and the
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Guinness flowing. I would have thought
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it does feel like it's got life somehow.
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Weirdly, has this so
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It's almost a crime really like how a
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house as grand as this has got into such
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a state cuz it's you know an important
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place historically not just for us at
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Guinness World Records but in the
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community here and to see it this sad
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state it's heartbreaking almost so much
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history and the part it's played in our
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story but also in the the area in the
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Guinness story as well. Yeah. How
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important it is to Castle Bridge in
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Wexford.
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It's quite sad really.
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So the Guinness World Records book is 70
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years now and over those years there has
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been that connection with the book and
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with the community here in Caster
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Bridge. Every year there's a huge
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festival in Ireland of traditional
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music. And we thought a couple of people
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here locally thought it'd be really good
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to connect into that festival and to see
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could we inspire local people as well to
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uh to get back playing traditional
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music. So we connected up with uh the
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organizers of the FL Wexford which is
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the big event uh who had promised in
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their bid to come to Wexford and we set
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about then uh I suppose conceiving of
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the the plan then to do uh the biggest
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tin whistle ensemble uh in the world.
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The record to beat is 1,5 people playing
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simultaneously uh same tune for 5
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minutes. We know how many are
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registered, but we don't know how many
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are going to turn up on the day. Uh, so
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we're both nervous and excited at the
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same time. I think it'd be really
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important for Caster Bridge to feel like
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almost like we have the Guinness World
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Record coming home and the Guinness Book
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of World Records that the story that
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started here 70 years ago. Uh, that that
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story is almost rekindled and everybody
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who takes part will know the story and,
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you know, be more invested in it. And
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the plan is then that people will be
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inspired by this world record attempt to
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harness that story. It is something that
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has both local, national and
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international reach. And maybe Caster
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Bridge can be that center where people
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come, you know, to celebrate their world
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records or to almost as a pilgrimage if
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you like uh to the place where the the
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idea for the whole book actually began.
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Okay, Wexra, are you ready for your
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official Guinness World Record attempt
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for the largest pin whistle?
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It begins in three, two, one, go.
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
7:35
[Applause]
7:36
[Music]
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Not again.
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[Music]
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[Applause]
7:49
[Music]
7:54
[Applause]
7:55
[Music]
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You're walking.
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[Music]
8:20
[Applause]
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Oh my god.
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[Music]
8:30
[Applause]
8:35
So that sounded pretty awesome, didn't
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it?
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I was not quite sure what to expect, but
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it sounded very good. So I would say
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that's professional standards. Yeah.
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Yeah. The stewards have given me their
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counts. There was a couple that weren't
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playing. So you've been discounted, but
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that's okay because you know the figure
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to beat was 1,05.
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Well, today Oh, and now drum roll. Drum
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roll.
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[Applause]
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You achieved 2,516.
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So congratulations.
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You are officially amazing on Rex.
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This is what you are.
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So congratulations.
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[Applause]
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This is it,
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guys.
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Yes.
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You didn't touch it.
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