Gurning Contest

Ever heard a comment and wondered about where it came from and who made it, never mind why it was said?

We all make a face or see someone else make a face that is or seems to be one of the strangest things we have seen in a long while.

Apparently if you get real good at this, you can enter your “Ugly Face” in a competition and actually get a trophy for it, providing you win.

The contest if for Gurning, a word for pulling a face and this competition started in 1297 – yes that far back in of all places the Egremont Crab Fair in the United Kingdom when King Henry 111 granted the fair a Royal Charter, so we can blame his for this “sport”.

The origins of the gurning competition are unclear and although it was described as an ancient tradition by local newspaper the Cumberland Paquet in 1852.

Peter Jackman (so we are told) eventually became the best-known Gurner in England winning the world championship four (4) times, starting in 1998 with a face called the “Bela Lugosi.”

Who knows where he came up with this name, but regardless he made several appearances on TV or In England they call it the “telly”, including an appearance on the BBC programme They Think It’s All Over.

To make matters worse or maybe better for him he had his teeth removed in 2000 to make his features easier to manoeuvre.

It is reported that the only male “Gurner” to win the world title 15 times is Tommy Mattinson also from the UK who managed to take the top prize at the annual Gurning World Championship at Egremont Crab Fair, Cumbria, UK, in 1986–87 and then 10 times between 1999 and 2010.

So smile might not be the face of the day – but if you can’t smile show them your pretty face and see what happens?