What is the most exciting thing that has ever happened in your village or small town?

[Puffinshop]

Obviously when you live in a big city, newsworthy stuff is happening all the time. If you've lived in small towns you know that it's often slim pickings for the local papers and it can be quite exciting when something happens close to you. What's the biggest local news story you remember from your town?

The most dramatic thing that ever happened where I live now (in my memory) is the body of a whale washed up on the beach. Sadly it was already dead so there was no rescue possible but so many people went to see it - quite a grisly and depressing sight but also impressive to see an animal of that size I suppose. I didn't go, partly because I had the kids with me and I didn't think a dead animal was something they'd enjoy (or me tbh) but loads of people took their kids It was certainly quite an event and everyone was talking about it.

In my childhood village there was once a man running round at night dressed in a gimp suit and frightening the villagers.

I used to live in a small village and remember two thatched cottages and a farmers barn catching fire (separate evenings).

The embarrassing thing is, everyone used to pop their coats on and wander up the road to have a gander - no idea how word got round as it was pre internet. It was all very communal and the most exciting thing that would have happened that year.

2 stand out. Kilos of drugs washed up on one of the beaches. An oscar-nominated film was shot there.

We had a Rolling Stone living here for many years, really nice guy who was very generous in the local pub. Had no airs and graces considering his net worth.
I had no idea who he was until Dad pointed him out on Top of the Pops one day.

There's a farm dog that's currently prone to a good old wander round the village (and likes to shit on the lawns on the new housing estate) and this causes a reliable kick off on the FB page. The admin lady has had to keep turning comments off this weekend. Dog poo is a very well discussed subject on there.

A farmer trained a racehorse that won the Cheltenham Gold Cup
2 coach loads of locals travelled up and came back in the money ££ 🏇🏇

Ooh, toss-up between Michael Portillo coming, or someone in care leavers' house throwing a television, followed by the rest of the furniture, from a first floor window. It's very quiet usually.

Nice things....King Charles attended a wedding many years ago, and they once filmed a section for Countryfile here. It was a bit surreal bumping into John Craven in the post office!

Not so nice....there was a fight in the pub and someone was killed (one punch type death). It was absolutely shocking as he was a father of three and totally blameless.
There was also a very exciting incident when a woman came home and found her husband with one of her friends doing the deed. She dragged her naked into the street and there was a full on fight between them.
It's not as fighty in our village as these stories make it sound!

The great milk money theft. Someone stole the money everyone left out on Friday night for weekly milk bill. Poor milkman was very confused by the 3rd house who ‘forgot’ to pay him. That was in about 1982 and I swear everyone is still talking about it.

TW

My area is rife with unnecessary and preventable deaths, particularly amongst younger people. A neighbouring town became "famous" for a set of suicide deaths, again it was predominantly young people. The high levels of poverty have played a huge role tbh.

My town won Village of the Year recently and had a visit from a certain sausage fingered landowner.

Forgot local pub landlady found in bed with the barmaid by the landlord. Like The Archers in many ways.

@BusyBees1234

Nothing says 'we're on holiday' like putting your bins out early or drawing your curtains half way !

In the very small town I grew up in, the local launderette and dry cleaners exploded once. That made "Midlands Today" which made us feel very cosmopolitan, especially after the dry cleaners was later re-opened as a sweet shop.

@muddyford you don’t live somewhere beginning with H, do you?

Thinking about it, it's probably more exciting that Henry VIII is supposed to have wooed Anne Boleyn under the Ankerwyke Yew which is very close.

Two female thatchers were being interviewed on Women's Hour a few weeks ago, so painting and decorating ladies are tame by comparison.

We've been through two large earthquakes, and a man entered a workplace with a gun and killed two people and injured a third. None of these were exciting of course, and my town is not small, but it's far from being a city. Also a Mum and her three children died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

My home town is much smaller and when I was at school there was a bank robbery!

A group of thieves stole a cash point straight out of the wall of a local supermarket by ripping it out with a forklift.

@Goneback2school

Northamptonshire?

Double murder, suicide.

He violently murdered his ex(39) in the car park outside her work, then while police were trying to find him, it was all over social media in the town, he found and violently murdered his step daughter(24) in the street outside her workplace. Then he went off somewhere and was eventually found dead, cowardly ran his car into a tree. Ds was at school with one of their 3 surviving younger daughters. It was just horrific and so unbeliveable, even more so watching it progress on social media knowing it was happening literally just a couple of miles down the road.

No, but I am sure human nature doesn't change much around the country.

Village I lived in about 45 years ago the local GP was struck off for allegedly sexually assaulting patients 🤢Not sure if there were criminal proceedings though.

I'll stick to what has actually happened in 'town' rather than the various road accidents etc in the surrounding area.

A police raid on the Chinese takeaway about 10/12 years ago. Never did find out what it was all about.
Police arresting what looked like County Lines lads behind the pub. I was held up in the queue of traffic (queue = about 4 cars and a van) so wound my window down to listen. A copper frisked a lad and found the car key that he denied he had...
We almost never see police so any sighting is worthy of comment.

The biggest recent excitement was a huge field fire a few years back, which ripped through three and a half fields, three hedges and a shelter belt. Had the wind not changed, a cottage would have gone up in smoke.

When anything big happens, you fully expect to know someone who was in some way involved.

Same 🤫🙉

Mrs Roger should I say

Over 20 years ago now, and nearly two decades after I'd left, but a teacher at my old school beat his wife to death with an iron bar. I've just looked it up and he only got 6 years. Unbelievable.

Same. I'm guessing you live In the muff?

The landlord of the local pub had been uploading porn videos of the landlady...without her knowledge. He managed to convince her his computer had been hacked.

The videos were shared all over town within minutes of the first person spotting her. To be fair she totally fronted it out but god knows why she stayed married to him, he's a prick at the best of times.