One face you won’t forget...
A LOCAL historian has paid tribute to one of the most colourful characters to come from the Cynon Valley – master gurner Dai Llewellyn.
THERE’S a certain expression used by parents and teachers to threaten children who pull faces: “If the wind changes, you’ll stay like that!”
Luckily that never happened to Dai Llewellyn.
One of the most colourful characters to come from the Cynon Valley, Mr Llewellyn was a runner-up in the World Gurning Championships.
Born and bred in Mountain Ash, he was described as “the master of make-believe” by local historian Bernard Baldwin in his book Mountain Ash Remembered.
He was famous for his rubber-faced features and, although he never did become world gurning champion, he was runner-up twice at Egremont, Cumberland (now Cumbria), and once at Blackburn in Lancashire.
“He figured prominently in every carnival ever held in the town and year after year appeared in some costume that was original – and often unique,” said Mr Baldwin.
“On one occasion he appeared as the Lord Mayor of Mountain Ash, fresh from the soup kitchen.
“He appeared in a tattered suit, a battered top hat and wearing a chain of office.
“On another occasion he appeared as Popeye – and nobody looked more like the famous sailor!”
Among his other achievements, Mr Llewellyn also won the Ugly Duckling competition on the television show The Golden Shot, hosted by Bob Monkhouse.
He was also the man responsible for bringing the famous English singer and actress Gracie Fields to Mountain Ash on two occasions – first in 1924 when she performed at the Empire Cinema and again at Mountain Ash Pavilion in 1938.
He first met Gracie backstage at the Hammersmith Palais in London, where the pair appeared on the same bill.
Mr Llewellyn died in 1983, aged 87 – but his gurning legacy lives on.
He is still to this day known as one of Wales’ greatest gurners.
His face has even been used on greeting cards.
Gurning is the act of creating a distorted facial expression, where participants often project their lower jaw as far forward and up as possible, covering the upper lip with the lower lip.
Every year the World Gurning Championships are held at the Egremont Crab Fair in the Lake District.
Egremont Crab Fair was established in 1267, which makes it one of the oldest fairs in the world.
A number of different events take place during the fair, including Cumberland wrestling, wheelbarrow racing, pipe smoking and climbing the greasy pole.
But gurning is one of the most popular events.
There is a men’s and a women’s event, and the top three gurners receive a prize.
Contestants put their heads through a horse collar, and “snarl like a dog, look savage, and distort their faces”.
Another legend of gurning is a man called Tommy Mattinson, who has won the world championship 16 times.
Last year the event was won by Adrian Zivelonghi, from Coventry, while Clare Spedding came first in the women’s section for the third year in a row.