When it comes to creepy urban legends from around the world, Great Britain is a leading contender for the eeriest and most unsettling secrets behind some of its hauntingly beautiful destinations. It’s safe to say that the United Kingdom is definitely the kind of place where you might stumble upon a monster or two. Check out these British urban legends!
The Beast Of Bodmin Moor
The legend of the Loch Ness Monster carries a lot of unsettling secrets that most people don’t know, but Nessie is far from the only beast that is said to live in Britain. In Cornwall of Southwest-England, the moorlands known as Bodmin Moor are believed to be the home of a wild creature that has been sighted up to 60 times.
The Beast of Bodmin Moor is most commonly described as panther-like in appearance, but naturally, England generally doesn’t provide the kind of landscape for big cats to exist in the wild. This has led locals to believe that the beast is something else—either an escaped animal or a supernatural creature.
A leopard-like skull was even found in the area, further fueling rumors that there’s more than just cattle roaming the lands.
The Curse Of Cadair Idris
Scotland’s Haunted A75 Highway
The haunting of the A75 Highway is one of Scotland’s most unsettling urban legends that you need to know. Every country has its own cursed stretch of highway, but the section of the A75 that travels through Dumfries and Galloway is especially notorious.
For more than half a century, people have reported witnessing ghostly apparitions and even UFOs on the highway. In 1962, two truck drivers claimed to have seen a van swerving along the road, attracting wild animals that were leaping towards its windshield. And then, all of a sudden, the van and the animals disappeared.
As you might imagine, many Scottish truck drivers purposely avoid this section of the road, choosing alternate routes that aren’t so infamous.
The Dire Wolves Of Northern Ireland
Anybody who’s seen the HBO series Game of Thrones will know that dire wolves exist in Westeros but did you know that they’re also reported to secretly lurk in Northern Ireland (where much of the series was filmed, coincidentally)?
This species of humongous and intelligent wolf really did exist around 12,000 years ago, weighing anywhere from 150 to 250 pounds. Although it is generally accepted that the animals are extinct today, there have been sightings in Northern Ireland’s County Fermanagh.
In 2012, a group of hikers claimed to have witnessed a pack of dire wolves on the hunt. Naturally, local residents still hope that the testimonies were part of an elaborate hoax.