why are people from hartlypool...........

[Garry Spice]

could monkey hangers??? someone said you lot hanged a french monkey? right or wrong?:eh?:

[Gemma]

could monkey hangers??? someone said you lot hanged a french monkey? right or wrong?:eh?:

Right lol:thumbsup:

[Chequered Flag Racing]

Hartlepool not Hartlypool ;)

History lesson here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_hanger)

[Garry Spice]

soz about the spelling.....so wats the legend then???

[Gemma]

Monkey Hanger is the affectionate term by which Hartlepudlians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartlepool) are often known by other residents of Great Britain.
According to local folklore, during the Napoleonic wars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_wars), a French ship of the type chasse marée (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasse_mar%C3%A9e) (literally, tide-chaser) was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool. The only survivor was a monkey, wearing a French uniform (presumably to provide amusement for those onboard the ship). On finding the monkey, some locals decided to hold an impromptu trial on the beach; since the monkey was unable to answer their questions, and many locals were unaware of what a Frenchman may look like, they concluded that the monkey was in fact a French spy. Just to make sure, the animal was thus sentenced to death and hanged from the mast of a fishing boat on the Headland. Nowadays, many Hartlepudlians have positively embraced the term, and only a small minority still consider the term 'Monkey Hanger' offensive. It is often used to refer to supporters of Hartlepool United Football Club (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartlepool_United_F.C.) by supporters of their arch rivals Darlington (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlington_F.C.).
In 2002, Stuart Drummond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Drummond) campaigned for the office of Mayor of Hartlepool in the costume of the local football team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartlepool_United_F.C.)'s mascot, 'H'Angus the Monkey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%27Angus_the_Monkey)'. He narrowly won. His election slogan had been "free bananas for schoolchildren", a promise he was unable to keep. Despite this, he stood again three years later and won with a landslide victory.

[Garry Spice]

ha ha, thats wicked...funny but wrong!

[Gemma]

ha ha, thats wicked...funny but wrong!

If you ever have the "experience" of driving through Hartlepool, there is actually stuffed Monkeys hung in Windows etc!

[Lee]

Some people dont like the phrase though as i found out a couple of years ago :D

[Gemma]

Some people dont like the phrase though as i found out a couple of years ago :D

haha Nah I wouldnt recommend calling them Monkey hangers!! :woot:

What happened Lee? Do tell?? :lol:

[Spoolio]

I've driven through Hartlepool. The sea crashing up at the Headland was impressive. God knows what they do of an evening though, there was bogger all there.