‘What’s some UK lore that sounds too unbelievable to be true?’ – 19 utterly bizarre stories that prove Britain is the weirdest place in the world

The United Kingdom is a place of contradictions. On the one hand we’re all stiff-upper-lipped, well-to-do politeness and properness. And on the other, we are the nation that invented things like cheese rolling and bog snorkelling.

They’ve been chatting about the stranger, and often incredibly local, elements of the country on the AskUK subreddit after SubstantialRope8628 posted this:

And plenty of people were happy to oblige, like these…

1.

‘People have been known to have sex on the Cerne Abbas Giant’s penis before dawn on May Day to increase their fertility.’

2.

‘Used to live quite close to the Leopard man – he’d has his body tattooed all over to look like a leopard and had withdrawn from society to live as a hermit. Ex-military man.’
–Timely_Egg_6827

3.

‘This might be quite local but the South Coast is covered in smuggler’s tunnels that during WW2 were largely converted to bomb shelters in the South East. My Granny walked from Broadstairs High Street to Ramsgate Harbour for work completely underground, about 4 miles.’
–farlos75

4.

‘A lot of people in Scotland to this day refuse to cut down a rowan tree. They are believed to have strong links to the Fae realm and it is a serious taboo to take a blade to one. They are often considered protective trees and are planted in homesteads, but to cut one down would invite a curse.

‘My in-laws moved to Scotland a decade ago and we’re very shocked when the man they hired to help them get their new place in order told them there was no price they could name that would convince him to cut down a rowan.’
–alicatpow

5.

‘Also a good indicator for winter weather – lots of berries means winter is going to be harsh. We had that growing up, plus make sure your egg shells have a hole in them so witches can’t use them to sink fishing boats.’
–Timely_Egg_6827

6.

‘We had Trolley Ted. Nothing particularly unusual about him really, except he would look somewhat unkempt. He would walk around the town, collecting trolleys and returning them to their respective stores. Did it unpaid, even turning down the offer of a salary because he said he didn’t do it for the money. Died some years ago, but he was quite the legend. Nice guy too apparently.’
–haushinkadaz

7.

‘Walthamstow Bunny Man also known as the Hackney Bunny Man. A man with two large rabbits he took about on a shopping trolley. Any and everyone could have a pet of them. Chilled out guy.’
–gogoluke

8.

‘The Naked Rambler used to be a weird one. Bloke went through a string of being released from custody and immediately arrested for public indecency or contempt of court as he refused to wear clothes.’
–brightdionysianeyes

9.

‘The Chalvey (Slough) Stab Monkey. The story I knew growing up was that there was a monkey that used to go round stabbing people. Turns out it was a real thing, but it was an organ grinders Monkey that got stabbed. And the locals paid for a funeral and replacement monkey.’
–AdministrativeShip2

10.

‘From Norwich and this always makes me chuckle.

“In 1274, Norwich became the first and only complete city in England to be excommunicated by the Pope. The drastic penalty was issued by Pope Gregory X following a period of intense and violent clashes between the city’s residents and the monks who ran Norwich Cathedral.”‘
–MisterD90x

11.

‘Every town has a guy who wears a brown robe and sandals. Usually named “Jesus man”.’
–cactusdotpizza

12.

‘It is generally accepted that wolves disappeared from England by the early 15th century. According to Cumbrian folklore, the last English wolf was hunted and killed at Humphrey Head, near Grange-over-Sands, around 1390.’
–pablo_blue