Fingernail Contest in the New Forest – Part 3

There’s also the pulling fingernail contest where people have to pull large weights along just using their fingernails. The objects used include ploughs, buses and Nell Gwynn, a local cow with a reputation for being bad-tempered. A rope is tied to the object and the contestant then digs their fingernails into the rope and pulls the objects along with their arms outstretched and their hands facing downwards, so that no muscle strength can be used.

This should be contrasted with the dangling fingernail contest, where the contestant places their arm on a table with the fingernails hanging over the edge. The judge then dangles a weight from the nail for 20 seconds; if the nail breaks the contestant is eliminated otherwise they proceed to the next round where a heavier weight will be used. The record weight is 52 pounds, dangled from the thumbnail of James ‘Gurzel’ Webster in 1812.