Gurning

Tommy Mattinson - current World Gurning Champion (male)

Every September, a peculiar event takes place at the Egremont Crab Fair. Egremont is a small town in the county of Cumberland in north-western England. The event I am thinking of involves contestants putting their heads through a horse collar and pulling the most ugly faces they can muster without using their hands or any other aids. There are events for both men and women which in fact form The World Gurning Championships. "Gurning" is simply the art of pulling a very ugly face.

The Crab Fair was established in 1267 but I am not sure when the gurning competition element began - it certainly happened in 1852 and for many years before that. By the way, the celebration of gurning is not unique to Egremont.

Have you ever gurned yourself? Most people would understandably feel quite shy about gurning in public but all of us can gurn confidently  in the privacy of our own homes. Why not try it? Next time you are alone in your bathroom - just look into the mirror and make the most horrible face you can muster. You may need to practise every day for a week or two until you come up with your most hideous pulled face.

I think that gurning could easily take off as a form of facial exercise, toning up facial muscles and aiding blood flow which in turn would benefit people's complexions. Why buy expensive potions and lotions for your face when you can simply gurn for a few minutes every day?

Sadly, I have never been to The Egremont Crab Fair but if I went I suspect that I would be in with a shout of the gurning gold medal because in private I am capable of producing some truly horrible faces - especially when certain politicians and so-called celebrities appear on our television screen.

Claire Lister - current World Gurning Champion (female)

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/R04bolV