Dinner

"Cock and Bull Story" - A far fetched and fanciful tale or tale of highly dubious validity (Wiktionary)

I had lunch* with an old friend in the Cock Hotel in Stony Stratford today. Stony Stratford is situated on what once was an old Roman road, Watling Street, and was an important stopping off place for mail and passenger coaches travelling between London and the North.The two main coaching inns on the town's main street were The Cock and The Bull.

Travellers on the coaches were regarded as a great source of current news from remote parts of the country. This news would be imparted in either the Cock or the Bull. The two establishments developed a rivalry as to which could supply the most outlandish tales. Hence the term 'Cock and Bull Story'.

This image is of the High Street in Stony Stratford and with a little help from Photoshop you can see the positions of the two hostelries.

*I know the challenge topic for today was dinner but as a person brought up in the North of England I reserve the right to call my midday meal 'dinner' just as I did throughout my childhood.