14 DAY TRIAL // A young man from England plans to lick all Anglican cathedrals he could find in the UK. 27-year-old Lawrence Edmonds worked as an English Heritage worker, until friends bet him he couldn't achieve licking all of them.
Edmonds set up to prove them wrong, as his punishment would be streaking through the church in his hometown of York Minster, Daily Mail reports.
A time limit applies to the bet, as all licking must be completed by December 16. He not knowingly took on the bet on a cold January night.
“It was originally a bet my friend Adam made with another friend of ours, Dan. It was a cold January evening in 2011. There wasn't much going on.”
“We were talking about bets and I asked how Dan was getting on and Adam said he had only done one, so I rather foolishly took it on.”
He soon found out there were more Anglican cathedrals in Great Britain than he thought there were, so his trip took him across England, Wales, Northen Ireland and he has headed for Scotland.
“I thought Anglican cathedrals were only in England and Wales, but it turns out there are another eight in Northern Ireland and eight in Scotland,” Edmonds explained.
By June, he had completed his holy licking tour of England and Wales, and believed he was off the hook.
Christian chat forums have picked up his story and, much to our surprise, they are supporting him. His bet gave him the opportunity to visit a lot of holy spots, after all.
“Everyone from the church has been really supportive and I've been in the Church Times,” he says.
In order to validate his passing through the church, he has to document the licking photographically.
“It has to be a recognizable feature of the building or have a sign in the background which sometimes can be quite difficult,” Edmonds said, describing the rules of the game.
When he reaches Scotland, he will be visiting Aberdeen Cathedral, Dundee Cathedral, Edinburgh Cathedral, Glasgow Cathedral, Inverness Cathedral, Millport Cathedral, Oban Cathedral and Perth Cathedral.