The Last Wolf in England... and other local myths

[MontyVeda]

According to local legend... the last wolf in England, or maybe Britain was hunted down and finally killed on Humphrey Head, on the northern shores of Morecambe bay. I've also heard that the last wolf was hunted an killed near Helmsley in North Yorkshire... and suspect many other places also claim to be the site where the last wolf in England blah blah blah.... is there one near you?

Another daft local myth is the corner on which the worlds first road marking was painted in 1920, and from there it spread all over the world! (my arse)

Many locals would also have us believe that Lino was invented in Lancaster.... but it wasn't.

The iconic Ashton Memorial is the worlds second largest memorial, the largest being the Taj Mahal. Whilst this may have been true once upon a time, I suspect it's no longer the case... but that doesn't stop the locals from making the claim.

so.. any dubious local myths where you live?

 

[SS Retro]

I have heard the Humphrey Head story and often tell my wife when we walk the dog on there.

 

[JtB]

Basingstoke is a great place to live.

 

[PpPete]

Running for a while almost parallel to the old main road between Southampton & Winchester is a road called King's Way.
This, local legend has it, was the secret route by which the body of William II (William Rufus) was carried to Winchester after he unfortunately stopped an arrow fired by Sir Walter Tyrrell during a hunt in the (then) New Forest.

 

[rich p]

Basingstoke is a great place to live.

paging @Delftse Post

 

[MontyVeda]

I have heard the Humphrey Head story and often tell my wife when we walk the dog on there.

it does get a mention in Wikipedia so maybe there is some truth in it... maybe.


oh... just remembered Lancaster's other claim to fame.... John of Gaunt's horse threw a shoe at the corner of Penny Street and Market Street, known as Horseshoe Corner. That little nugget should bring a host of new tourists flooding in to see the legendary spot, which is no longer marked by a horseshoe in a paving slab.

 

[ArDee]

I have the first round about near me; does that count!

 

[stephec]

My wife claims to here a wolf's whistle every day, I'm not convinced.

 

[MontyVeda]

My wife claims to hear a wolf's whistle every day, I'm not convinced.

if that's her in your avatar... i reckon she might!

 

[Paulus]

One I heard many years ago was that Oakwood station between Barnet and Enfield, is so high up that looking due east, the next highest point is the Ural mountains in Russia. How would anyone know that, and how would you go about proving it? A similar story is about Barnet church. Apparently the next highest point going north is York.

 

[ASC1951]

One I heard many years ago was that Oakwood station between Barnet and Enfield, is so high up that looking due east, the next highest point is the Ural mountains in Russia. How would anyone know that, and how would you go about proving it? A similar story is about Barnet church. Apparently the next highest point going north is York.

We had the same tale about Barr Beacon in the West Midlands, a mighty 236m aod. Google Earth shows that it could well be true.

 

[Tim Hall]

I have the first round about near me; does that count!

Circa (from Latin, meaning "around, about"),

Heh.

 

[classic33]

Square Chapel – the only square Church in Britain.
Square Chapel is another unique building in Halifax, established in 1772. It is the only square church in Britain, and was built in this way to offer an uninterrupted view of the preacher as it has no internal supporting structures.

The Halifax Slasher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Slasher
Carry on Halifax!
The Slasher scare is over... The theory that a half-crazed, wild-eyed man has been wandering around, attacking helpless women in dark streets, is exploded... There never was, nor is there likely to be, any real danger to the general public. There is no doubt that following certain happenings public feeling has grown, and that many small incidents have been magnified in the public mind until a real state of alarm was caused. This assurance that there is no real cause for alarm, in short, no properly authenticated wholesale attacks by such a person as the bogy man known as the 'Slasher', should allay the public fear...
http://www.[/COLOR]halifaxslasher.com/hs/legend.html

 

[machew]

There is no higher point between Ranworth church's tower and a church tower in Siberia

 

[rb58]

Duke of Wellington's nose on Admiralty Arch. I much prefer the myth.