Do you like to gurn?
By Adrenochrome
@Adrenochrome (1653)
May 8, 2007 4:22pm CST
When I was a young lad, I lived in the scenic English county of Cumbria. Alongside the beautiful Lake District, stone circles, ancient churches, nuclear power station, and nuclear submarine building base, there are many villages with a great cultural heritage. Appleby-in-Westmoreland has horse fairs, where horses are jogged up and down the high street, and sales are sealed with a spit and a handshake. Cartmel has an 11th century church, one that Henry VIII didn't burn down.
Most of all, though, is Egremont, where the annual gurning championships take place. For the uninitiated, gurning requires the participant (men and women) to place their head through a shirehorses collar, and pull as characterful a face as poxxible. This especially includes covering large parts of your face with your lower lip, puffing out ones cheeks, and aquinting.
Go on give it a try. If you feel you've really mastered the art, why not put a photo of your gurn on your profile. Perhaps, giventhe right training regimen, you might wish to enter this battle of the giants.
Entrance papers can be obtained form Egremont Castle, Egremont, Cumbria.
2 people like this
4 responses
@DarlingGirl (745)
• United States
8 May 07
This is a habit that is local to your country - you rarely see Americans gurning! Last time I saw anyone do it for a camera was my Hubby- and my little Brother Matthew. The trouble is, those pictures end up on someone's refrigerator (like mine) or in a family photo album where they will be met with sour looks from all the matrons for time eternal. "Why did he make that stuuupid face?!"
*chuckle*
@Adrenochrome (1653)
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8 May 07
This is the kind of activity that we describe as English culture - and might I add, we have many such strange activities as this. If you enjoyed the gurning championship, you must learn about cheese rolling (in Somerset), bog snorkelling (Wales), welly wanging (Lancashire) and Morris Dancing (strange people!). The diversity of culture is immense, yet people from abroad think we're all about Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy. We happily export this false intellectual image of ourselves, to hide our childish eccentricities,
Really, it can be very strange, and great fun being English!
I think we should all be permitted to view the evidence of your hubbies attempt. In the day of the internet, the whole world could be your fridge door! He might enjoy the attention. LOL!
Thanks for the response, and keep gurning, it's good for the face muscles (mostly of the people who see you doing it!).
2 people like this
@Darkwing (21583)
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9 May 07
Wonderful post, my friend! I've seen gurning competitions on the television. It's better done by elderly, rubber faced guys with no teeth! ha ha ha.
Really, it's amazing the faces they manage to pull.
I've never managed to get to Cumbria. I'm going to have to venture there one day because it sounds even more interesting than I had imagined... leaving out the power station and nuclear submarine building base, of course. lol. Don't Appleby-in-Westmoreland still have Maypole Dancing, on May Day? That place name seems to ring a bell.
Thank you for this discussion... I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was amusing, as usual and very interesting. Brightest Blessings my friend.... and noooooooo, the pic is NOT me, it's Michaela Strachan. How could I compete with that! ha ha
@Darkwing (21583)
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9 May 07
Thank you for the information, Adren. I'll certainly consider visiting some of the Lake District and the villages in Cumbria.
Lol... a World Gurning Olympics? That's not fair, because some countries have more rubbery faced people than others, none of which I will mention here, for fear of retribution! ha ha ha
As for the welly-wanging... it's a great pastime, but my wellies always seem to arc round like boomerangs and I'm sure I'm going to get "one in the eye" sooner or later. ha ha ha.
You've brightened my day again, Adren. Thank you and Brightest Blessings for a great afternoon and evening.
1 person likes this
@Adrenochrome (1653)
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9 May 07
My mothers side of the family are from Barrow (home to the submarine builders), so I've spent quite a bit of my time in Cumbria. Appleby is a beautiful village, and still enjoys celebrating all the old fashioned fun and heritage. The county iswellworth a visit, especially in Summer, when the Lakes can be enjoyed to the full.
Glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for the additional pictures, there magnificent. (Poor Michaela, whatever did happen to her, after the 'Hitman & Her'?)
If I can get some more global interest in gurning, and the like, I'm thinking of taking a touring 'alternative Olympics' around the world! We never win medals for proper sports, so Gurning & welly-wanging could be the future.
Another wonderful response, great big thanks, and best wishes.
2 people like this
@angelicEmu (1311)
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9 May 07
Gurning is a very important piece of cultural heritage for us Brits, and a very serious matter :-) I feel that there needs to be a revival of gurning so that this highly skilled craft doesn't die out altogether (having said that, my mother alone could make up for the lack of gurners in the UK, without even knowing it!). Better dental care probably accounts for part of the dearth in this practice, as those who are dentally challenged have a natural advantage. However, New Labour are sensitive to this issue, and are(it must be said) doing their bit for the revival of gurning, by killing off NHS dental care for adults bit by bit. How very culturally supportive of them - LOL!
1 person likes this
@angelicEmu (1311)
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10 May 07
LOL!! You're spot on there - New Labour just don't understand or value the rich cultural heritage of this country, and instead just pile money into establishments which already make far too much money by charging prohibitive amounts to the public, and into one-off wastes of tax-payers' money (domes, wobbly bridges and crap metal statues). Gurning, cheese-rolling and the wanging of wellies are for everyone, regardless of age, gender and wealth. Perhaps the Lottery Commission (rather than the government) ought to build a "centre of excellence" as you suggest, for the passing down the generations of these dying arts. If it became really popular, there could be a Royal Society for the Promotion of Traditional Arts (or RSPTA), and it might then branch out and sweep the whole world, uniting them in silliness and fun!
1 person likes this
@Adrenochrome (1653)
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9 May 07
I feel the relevant authorities have failed gurning, in favour of silly things like the National Theatre, Sadlers Wells Ballet, etc. The cost of the Millenium Dome alone, could have paid for a 1,000 gurning centres of excellence, 4million wellies, and artificial cheese-rolling mounds across the country.
I'm sure the Tories would do better, as Ann Widdicombe appears to be a champion gurner, without knowing it.
'Gurning For All'!
1 person likes this
@urbangirl (1456)
• Australia
7 Jul 07
Oh you English are indeed an eccentric lot. It would be fitting if the winner of the gurning contest actually didn't have to pull a face to win it. How insulting would that be too. What i really want to know is about some of the Englishman's hobbies. Adrenochrome - perhaps you could initiate a post about trainspotting or planespotting and explain what the English find so fascinating about these hobbies...I remember there was an incident in Greece years ago about plane spotters who were thrown in jail because they were accused of spying, as no Greek could believe it was actually a hobby.
