U is for underpass ...

CharlotteJ's Alphabet Challenge.

This shot was taken in the underpass in our village and is of The Lambton Worm.

The Lambton Worm is a legend from North East England. The story takes place around the River Wear, and is one of the area's most famous pieces of folklore. The story revolves around John Lambton, an heir of the Lambton Estate, County Durham, and his battle with a giant worm (dragon) which had been terrorising the local villages. As with most myths, details of the story change with each telling.

The story states that the young John Lambton missed church one Sunday to go fishing in the River Wear. He fishes out a small eel. John declares that he has caught the devil and decides to dispose of his catch by discarding it down a nearby well. John then forgets about the creature and eventually grows up.

Eventually the worm grows extremely large and the villagers start to notice livestock going missing and discover that the fully-grown worm has emerged from the well and coiled itself around a local hill, Penshaw Hill, that on which the Penshaw Monument now stands. In most versions of the story the worm is large enough to wrap itself around the hill 7 times.

Penshaw Hill and Monument may be a future blip ...