The things that should not be- Shropshire’s cryptids, creatures, and other unexplained phenomena
A cryptid is a creature of possibility. It inhabits the space between fact and folklore, reality and fantasy and is often indelibly linked to a landscape or geographical location. Due to their fantastical nature, such creatures dominate the imaginations of those sharing their spaces, becoming entwined with mythology, stories, folklore, and wider unexplained phenomena. There are a wealth of such instances throughout the UK, with a motley crew of both modern and folkloric entities taking the stage, However these will not be my focus. I want to explore reports of unexplained phenomena specifically within the county of Shropshire. This is for several reasons, mainly the breadth and scope of such experiences, and also, I feel that it is underrepresented within the UK. I will be looking at a variety of experiences, including modern reports of cryptids, UFOs, and wider unexplained phenomena. I want to demonstrate the wealth of such experiences within the county and recount the findings. I will not be focusing on hauntings, or ‘ghost stories’ as I believe they are worthy of separate discussion (and will be approaching them in a separate article) I am also by no means trying to validify the existence of such beings (I will leave you to decide that one!) rather sharing for entertainment purposes. So that being said, I think it is time to dig deeper, I hope you enjoy this sojourn into the weird and wonderful creatures inhabiting Shropshire.
When you think of
Shropshire, Dinosaurs are probably the last thing to spring to mind (though
the whole area is rich with a variety of fossils) However, in 2017 in an
area called Whitchurch, two people bore witness to a real-life scene from
Jurassic park. This incident is known as ‘The Screeching serpents of
Shropshire’ and is the latest in a series of dinosaur sightings in Britain. (though
not a classical cryptid, the reason why such creatures continue to be sighted
is certainly unexplained) The witness claimed she was first alerted when
she heard a strange ‘screech’ coming from outside. Rather disconcertedly, she
noticed that not only was the screech unlike anything she’d heard before, but
the noise was getting closer. When she
looked outside, across the treeline she witnessed two ‘pterodactyls’ flying
side by side and watched in horror until they were out of view, Her house was
near a nature reserve, and she knew the local birds well, so she distinguished
that these grey, leathery winged creatures were not birds, but something else.
They appeared far bigger than anything she had seen before. The lady told her
husband, who was sceptical, but kept the sighting to herself. A few days later, her 13-year-old son had
been playing outside, when he witnessed similar phenomena, hearing screeching,
and seeing large, leathery winged creatures. Whilst trying to help her son
identify what he saw, she showed him a picture of a Pterodactyl, to which he
confirmed this was the creature. This is
certainly an impressive story, but it isn’t the only ‘pterosaur’ sighting
occurring within Shropshire. Indeed, according to the website of Jonathan
Whitcomb- Living Pterosaurs enthusiast’ a further sighting occurred in 2017 on
the Silkin way in Telford. Here a man saw a ‘large, leathery creature’, with a
wingspan of 4-6 feet glide past him whilst walking this route. Both sightings
have commonalities and point to a creature far larger than a regular bird or
bat, and both witnesses felt sufficiently concerned enough to contact Jonathan.
If dinosaurs aren’t your thing, Shropshire is
also a hotspot for ‘Big Cat Sightings’.
Indeed, a quick google search demonstrates that such animals are
cropping up all over the County, including built up areas like Telford. But why
are such animals being seen? There are
many theories as to why such creatures exist in the British Countryside (and
have been seen over 250 years), and I want to briefly go over some, before
giving you some Shropshire examples.
A plausible
argument is they are simply creatures that have been misidentified as other animals
such as foxes, dogs, and feral cats. I would suggest that this does in fact
play its part. A further theory is that these felines are those that have been released or have escaped from captivity. The Dangerous and Wild Animals Act came into fruition in
1976, and with it came stricter welfare and safety rules, greatly limiting
people’s ability to keep ‘wild animals’ such as big cats as pets. Perhaps those
who couldn’t adhere to the strict limitations and requirements of ownership
released them to fend for themselves. Furthermore, some isolated sightings have
been attributed to escapees from Zoos/Circuses. There is even some evidence to
suggest that they could be animals trafficked into the county. It is questionable as to how well such
captive creatures would survive in the wild, but it cannot be discredited and
seems a likely conclusion for some of the sightings in Britain.
Some more ‘out
there’ theories suggest that the sightings are a result of ‘Ghost Cats’ (similar
to Black Shuck of Folklore) or indeed interdimensional thought beings-
powerful entities that are inexplicably beyond our understanding. Similarly, it is argued by some enthusiasts
that many of the cases of Dead wildlife, or even sightings of Big Cats, are
actually proof of alien activity (we will be covering aliens later in this
article). A further theory suggests that these creatures are in fact
indigenous to Britain and have simply eluded capture or serious observation.
Whatever the cause, there is a wealth of examples of sightings in Shropshire and along the Welsh border. Locations for such include built-up areas like the Forge Retail Park in Telford and outside a cinema in Shrewsbury, as well as Old Potts Way in Shrewsbury, Silkin Way and Donnington Wood Way in Telford, Lydbury North and Ackleton. In 2009 in Builth Wells, reports of a panther in the area were made more significant by a lamb being found, badly injured, with its lower jaw bitten off. In December 2010 evidence was found in Knighton, including sightings of a large animal, and tracks were later found two days later. A creature far bigger than a sheep dog, was also seen in Oswestry. There is, however, a concrete example of a Shropshire ‘big cat’ from February 1989. In 1989 the body of an Asian jungle cat was found not too far from Ludlow and was taken to Ludlow museum to be identified. It proved to be the genuine article and was stuffed and kept in a glass case by Dr Karl Shuker, a zoologist from Halesowen, who is said to be internationally recognised as a world expert in Cryptozoology. He suggests in an interview that the Ludlow specimen was evidence to a new breed of dangerous cat wandering the West Midlands. He suggested that these ‘new cats’ were the offspring of escaped jungle cats that had mated with their domestic counterparts.
I want us to turn
our attention now to perhaps the best example of a Cryptid in the West
Midlands- The Man Monkey. I absolutely
love everything about this fella and would love to get a glimpse the hairy
little rogue. Anyway, the Shropshire Man Monkey, or Old Ned’s Devil is a
Cryptid zooform primate that has been sighted along the Shropshire Union Canal.
This canal was built by Thomas Telford in 1828 and covers a wider area, and
several canal systems including Shropshire, Staffordshire, Birmingham, and
parts of Cheshire. Though not a
specifically Shropshire phenomena (as he has been sighted on multiple
occasions along the canal) I have included him due to his proximity to the
area, and the fact he is just brilliant. So, let’s dig a bit deeper.
The most famous sighting occurred at 10pm on the evening of the 21st of January 1879 and was investigated by Folklorist Charlotte S. Burne. She recounted that just before the eyewitness reached the canal bridge, a strange, hairy black creature ‘with great white eyes’ sprang out of the plantation by the roadside and attached itself onto his horse’s back. In desperation he tried to push it off with his whip, but to his horror, the whip went through the creature, and he dropped it to the ground with fright. The horse then broke into a canter, and ran at full speed, with the creature still clinging to his back. The man returned to a village called Woodseaves and recounted his tale. With the listeners being so terrified that they stayed in the area rather than risking an encounter. The witness was so terrified by his encounter, that he took to his bed for several days afterwards. The canal was searched the next day, and the whip was found in the exact place he’d dropped it.
Apparently, the police visited the witness a few days later, upon reports he’d been robbed. When he explained, in horror what he’d saw, the policeman was rather disappointed, and replied ‘Oh was that it sir? I know what that was. That was the Man Monkey, sir as does come again at that bridge ever since a man was drowned in the cut’ I’m sure the witness was very disheartened to know such an experience was a regular occurrence.
aA creature akin to the Man Monkey was also reported near the end of the 19th century by a man named Ned. Whilst driving a pony and trap on Rolfe Street in Smethwick, outside Birmingham, he heard a strange noise behind him, and was leapt at by an unusual-looking animal, which he fought off and killed with his horsewhip. The animal was placed on display in a glass case in the Blue Gate pub on Rolfe Street and was dubbed "Old Ned's Devil" by the locals. Old Ned’s devil was probably a separate creature to the one experienced in January 1879, as this was a creature of flesh and blood, and killed. However, it provides further discussion in the narrative of The Ape Man. Further Monkey man sightings have been reported since this instance, all with astonishing commonalities. The most recent one I could find was one reported in 2002 to British waterways. (now the canal and river trust) The man contacted the trust and said that during a holiday on the ‘shroppie’ in the 1980’s, he passed under a bridge and upon looking up saw ‘a huge, hairy black figure’ staring back at him with large eyes. He called for his family, however the creature disappeared.
I want to briefly mention reports of UFOs within the Shropshire region, though It is important to note that such is not my specific area of knowledge. Shropshire seems to be a magnet to UFOs with sightings dating back to at least 1961. (my mum even saw one once whilst playing on her school field in the 70s) Indeed in 2008 it was named a national hotspot for UFO sightings after a sighting by Corporal Mark Proctor of the Royal Irish Regiment, who was on night patrol with two colleagues at Clive Barracks, Tern Hill. Whilst there, he spotted 13 cube shaped crafts in the sky, zigzagging from side to side.
There has even been a sighting during the Shrewsbury Folk festival, at about 1.45am on the 27th of August 2007. Giles Mockford of Gloucester was a witness to the event and said that whilst returning to his tent he saw ‘two orange/white spheres flying from north to south flying at about roughly 1,000ft and roughly 150ft apart." Whilst trying to get to his car to take another picture, two further objects appeared.
A further incident worthy of note is known as the ‘Cosford incident’ which is perhaps the most famous sighting in the West Midlands, as a UFO made a direct overflight of both RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury. The object was described as moving at a great velocity and an altitude of around 1,000 feet and consisted of two white lights and a faint red glow at the rear, with no engine noise being heard. To make things stranger dozens of triangular-shaped UFOs were reported on the night, travelling at speed across western Britain. These incidents, and many others have cemented Shropshire as being an area worthy of study for UFO enthusiasts. It is unknown if any of these craft were in the process of dropping anymore big cats across the length and breadth of the region, however.
Throughout this article I have outlined some of the unexplained
phenomena that has occurred within the Shropshire region. This is by no means
exhaustive, but I hope it has served as a means of introduction to some of the
weird and wonderful events that make Shropshire so interesting. I hope you have
enjoyed our journey through the county, and if you’re ever in the area, perhaps
you can keep your eyes peeled for any of the creature’s we’ve discussed.
Editor’s note- (Calum)
[It is fascinating to see how even with more modern experiences of
the unexplained and the mysterious that the people of Shropshire and further afield
are willing and actively creating and entwinning these tales together to create
new folkloric narratives of creatures that cannot explained in this age of easy
information, as Milhouse Van Houten rightly said; “We are through the looking
glass people.” ]
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