World Championship Gurning Festival, Cumbria, UK

Posted by Jill Bowen on Thu 12th July 2007 at 03:18 AM, Filed in September

Pulling your leg; pulling the other one; pulling a crowd; pulling a fast one; pulling birds. All strange English expressions - I’m not aware that any of these have a day devoted to them.

However, in the small Cumbria town of Egremont every September (this year Saturday 15th) one form of ‘pulling’ is worthy of having a day devoted to it! The World Championship Gurning Festival is part of Egremont Crab Apple fair. What is gurning? It’s the ‘art’ of contorting the face into weird, grotesque shapes with your head stuck through a horse’s braffin or collar! Don’t even think about entering if you’ve had a face-lift or botox - you need supple skin. Don’t delude yourself if you believe you are naturally ugly that this will give you an advantage - contestants are judged on their before and after transformations! Actually, the better looking you are the more chance you have of winning. Amateurs rarely make it to the final round – a lot of practising in front of a mirror is needed!

The Crab Fair starts on the Friday evening when fancy dress wheelbarrow races are held on the main street. To add to the fun those in the adult race are required to drink half a pint of beer at every public house along the route. The children’s race follows the same route…. but they only get fruit cordial!

The actual Crab Fair events start at 8.am on the Saturday when the ‘greasy pole’ is erected.  Competitors have to scale ‘said pole’ and the first to the top claims the prize attached to the top (a prime leg of lamb!).  For the very young competitors a number of ribbons are attached lower down the pole that can be exchanged for gifts in the town.

Later in the morning a large group of horseback riders parade around the streets of the town in a tradition known as ‘Riding the Fair’. This always attracts large crowds since it was re-introduced a few years ago.

A large exhibition of classic motor vehicles is held on the main street including, motorcycles, tractors, buses and steamrollers. A shopkeepers market is set up in the market square, with local traders dressed in Victorian period costume adding to the atmosphere.

Other sporting events include a Fell race attracting both serious and fun runners. Further races are held on the sports field along with traditional Cumberland and Westmoreland wrestling, dog and ferret show, poultry and pigeon shows. There is also a gymkhana, a fly-casting competition and plenty of sideshows to while away the time. The traditional Cumberland sport of hound trailing – hounds follow a trail of aniseed across the fields can also be seen. Early in the afternoon the Parade of the apple cart is held. Large crowds gather to watch the distribution of the apples – and perhaps catch a few them selves.

The evening festivities commence with a concert by the town band, followed by the junior talent competition and the traditional pipe-smoking contest. Displays of horn blowing and local hunting songs can be heard.

Now for the main event; the gurning starts with the junior championship, followed by a ladies gurning display. Then finally the official World Gurning Championship. The word ‘gurn’ is probably taken from the Scottish ‘girn’, this is defined in the dictionary as ‘snarl’ or ‘growl. The person receiving the largest applause from the audience wins the competition. This is always the final event of the fair, and causes masses of excitement and sometimes controversy!  The competition is covered by TV crews from all over the world, and attracts masses of spectators from far and wide to witness these strange age-old customs.

How and when did this event start?

The fair was first held in 1267, when King Henry III granted a Royal charter to Thomas de Multon, Lord of the Baron of Egremont, for a weekly market on Wednesdays and an annual fair to be held on the 7th, 8th and 9th of September. You can see the original Charter in the British Museum of London. As time progressed the fair was reduced to a one-day event held on the 19th September. In 1889 the date of the fair was changed again to September 18th. According to a local newspaper report of the time the change was due to the organisers wanting to hold the fair on the same day as the local cattle market. Nowadays, with so many people working a five-day week, and the weekend being their time of leisure, the fair is held on a Saturday. The tradition is now to hold the fair on the third Saturday of each September.

Little is know about the earlier years. However we know that cock fighting and bull baiting were popular attractions in medieval times, and they were both popular attractions at local fairs. Both these ‘sports’ continued until 1835 when they were prohibited by law.

The pole was originally thirty foot tall and greased with lard, the objective was to reach the top and retrieve a top hat. The winner was usually a young man, who would parade around the town wearing his prize. In 1852 the prize became a side of mutton. If it wasn’t won it was cut up and divided amongst the poor. The scattering of apples (now the Parade of the Apple cart) took place prior to the sporting events, with youngsters scrambling for the apples. Crab apples were originally used, but are too sour for modern taste, so sweet apples are now used.

If you are visiting beautiful Cumbria in late September, do make this unique day part of your visit.

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