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Wrestling in a pit of gravy, they fight it out for the world championship

Wrestling in a pit of gravy, they fight it out for the world championship

By :  DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-09-01 05:28 GMT
Competitors line up before the start of the event. Despite a Lancastrian love of gravy stretching back centuries, the World Gravy Wrestling Championships are in only their eighth year, having begun as a publicity wheeze for the short-lived Pennine
Competitors get airbourne during their bout.
Crowds watch a bout in the gravy pit.
Gravy is added to the pit as competitors wrestle in the slippery conditions. As the organisers found that the meat smell of the gravy attracted wasps they now make it with cornflour and caramel.
Competitors writhe in the gravy as they battle to win their bout. Gravy wrestling does have one dirty secret, however: they don’t wrestle in real gravy any more.
One competitor holds another down during their bout. Gravy wrestling is not without its risks. But only once have contestants ended up in a minor mishap.
Competitors battle during the eighth annual World Gravy Wrestling Championships. The ladies’ title was taken by 20-year-old stablehand Nicole “Mad Cow” Taylor-Lyons, who beat a woman dressed as a pregnant nun.
A competitor is thrown during a bout. The bouts are fought in a specially constructed pool regularly topped up with 1,500 litres of gloopy brown liquid made in a nearby black pudding factory.
Joel Hicks celebrates winning the men's title. Prizes are awarded for the best costume, and wrestling talent is less important than a willingness to get stuck in.
No one goes home dirty - a competitor is hosed down by the fire brigade. The organisers always struggle to fill the female category.
The rules are simple - you must participate in fancy dress and wrestle in a pool of Lancashire Gravy for two minutes whilst being scored for a variety of wrestling moves.
Competitors gather at the Rose n Bowl Pub in Bacup, north-west England, for the eighth annual World Gravy Wrestling Championships.
Still-clean competitors get ready for their first bout. The festival is long gone but the wrestling is more popular than ever, attracting competitors from as far away as Austria and Australia.
Wrestling in a pit of gravy, they fight it out for the world championship

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