Ancient dungeon’s latest jailbird helped to take flight
A GULL that imprisoned itself in an ancient dungeon in a haunted castle has made an escape – with a bit of help from a local wildlife charity.
Blyth Wildlife Rescue was called out to aid a herring gull that had become trapped in the infamous ‘Heron Pit’ at the Black Gate in Newcastle city centre.
The poor gull found itself in the oubliette-style prison that dates back to the 13th Century and is named after the former sheriff of Newcastle William Heron, known as the Hammer of the Poor.
Back then, the pit would house up to 40 prisoners at a time, despite being only three metres deep. But this jailbird had it all to itself, save for a few pieces of litter.
Callum Brown was the Blyth Wildlife Rescue volunteer on call when the phone rang.
He said: “To be honest I thought it was a joke at first when he said it was a gull stuck in a dungeon. But we went, and there it was.”
Callum had to descend into the pit on a ladder and after wrapping the confused bird in a towel, he climbed back up onehandedly.
He continued: “The ladder was a bit wobbly so it was a wee bit scary. The gull was giving me evil looks all the way up.”
And Callum was careful not to stress the gull, saying: “I’ve been bitten by a gull once or twice on previous rescues and it really hurts!”
Gulls get into predicaments similar to this more than we might think, according to Callum. He said: “Gulls get trapped in all sorts of funny positions. We have had them trapped in netting on buildings.
“This one will have gone into the pit because there might have been food. They need a bit of space to take off and because of how deep it had gone in, there wasn’t the space to get the lift for take off.”
Thankfully, the gull was not injured and after a quick health check, it was released immediately into the Newcastle night.
Callum’s partner Kyle Brewis, who is also a volunteer for Blyth Wildlife Rescue, videoed the rescue, and it got a favourable reaction on social media.
Callum said: “We’re all volunteers and it’s nice to know the work we’re doing is being appreciated.”