Did you hear the one about...?
IN a city as historic as London it’s no surprise that there are quite a lot of myths about it - from the quite believable to the obviously fake.
There are some stories that some Londoners believe whole-heartedly to be true, such as the American who accidentally bought London Bridge, to those that are just so impossible that they are obviously complete fiction.
Still, we like to tell them to children and visitors to the city, because nothing makes a place as cool as myths and legend.
Here are 11 of our favourite urban myths about London.
The ‘HP’ in HP Sauce stands for Houses of Parliament, and there’s even a picture of Big Ben alongside the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Bridge on the front of the bottle - but it’s quite a misleading label.
The condiment was actually invented by a grocer from Nottingham called Frederick Gibson Garton.
He invented the original sauce and then registered the name H.P. Sauce in 1895, all because he’d heard a rumour that a restaurant in the Houses of Parliament had started serving it, and that’s when the decision was made to include a picture of the Houses of Parliament.
The theory is that after the film The African Queen, shot in Ealing in 1951, wrapped the birds were realised into the wild.
The presence of the exotic birds is also sometimes said to be due to Jimi Hendrix setting a pair free in Carnaby Street in the 1960s.
Another theory suggests the winged-creatures kept at Syon Park, in Hounslow, escaped in the 1970s when a plane crashed through the aviary roof, while another blames damage to aviaries during the Great Storm of 1987.
The true reason isn’t as glamorous as all that - researchers think it’s likely a consequence of repeated releases and introductions over decades.
It seems Balham has been an appealing place to live for many decades - and was a prime spot earmarked for the Nazi dictator to have his London HQ.
A huge block of flats called Du
Cane Court was apparently chosen by Hitler because he liked the design - but there is no actual evidence that this is at all true.
There’s also a rumour that Senate House was going to be used for the Führer’s HQ, which is why during the Blitz it was left unscathed.
London might be known for Jack the Ripper, but there was said to be another infamous Jack who came before.
Spring Heeled Jack was said to breath flames, have claws and wear a cape which fluttered in the wind after he fled the scene of his crimes, including attacking women, causing carriage crashes, and pretending to be a fire-breathing policeman.
After he terrorised his victims it was said that he jumped over buildings and other high walls and fences, hence the name.
Dating back to the 1830s, the latest reported sighting of Spring Heeled Jack was as recent as 2012 (perhaps trying the long-jump in the London Olympics).
One of London’s most famous myths is that if Big Ben was ever to strike 13 the four lion statues in Trafalgar Square would come to life - whether to protect the city or hunt for victims remains a puzzle.
We’re not worried though, this one is definitely a myth.
The story goes that the phrase ‘barking mad’ comes from a medieval insane asylum in found in Barking in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, the dates don’t quite corroborate as barking mad is a 20th century invention.
This is another famous one, but despite it being complete fiction it’s taken quite seriously.
We apparently need to always have six ravens in the Tower of London, else both the Tower and monarchy will fall - something that Charles II (understandably) took especially seriously.
Today there are still six ravens (and one spare) in the Tower, just in case.
This one you can probably guess is a myth, created in fact by the 18th century romantic poets.
There are a number of stories surrounding the stone – now in the British Museum – such as that it was a Druidic sacrificial stone, a roman mile stone and that it’s old as the dionsaurs.
The truth is historians do not know much about this famous London Stone, including when it dates back to or its purpose.
People seem to think that London is full of rats, with the saying being that you’re never more than six foot away from a rat in the capital.
Statistically this just doesn’t work – think of all the huge green spaces where you don’t see the vermin. We think it’s much more likely to apply to pigeons.
The Americans do often seem to think that Tower Bridge is called London Bridge, but our favourite little tale that a US Tycoons bought it by accident totally untrue.
Robert P McCullock claims to have bought London Bridge entirely on purpose in 1968, knowing full well he was going to own the concrete eyesore rather than the impressive Tower Bridge.
Anyway, he had it shipped off to Arizona and is actually the second most popular attraction in the state.
This is obviously untrue, but is based on something that is actually in a by-law.
Pregnant women are to be shown leniency if caught peeing in public if a toilet isn’t available, but somehow this became peeing into a police officer’s hat. Not sure why. LONDON IS FULL OF URBAN MYTHS. HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVOURITES