Flixton Werewolf

 

 

 Flixton is a village about 5 miles south of Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast. It would have been quite isolated many years ago and it is still a quiet place .Tales of a werewolf in the area go back centuries.

In 940 AD a hostel was built there  for the protection of travellers. The werewolf had reportedly attacked  sheep and local people as well as travellers. Even freshly buried corpses were dug up and partially eaten, and anyone out alone risked being attacked.

Reports stopped until 1150 when a shepherd and a girl and some farm animals were reportedly attacked and even eaten.The werewolf was reported as having a bad smell and walking on its hind legs and having a very long tail..

It went quiet again until 1800 then a carriage travelling to York was attacked just outside Flixton by a large wolf like creature .The driver was attacked and one of the travellers shot at the creature. However it survived and ran off. 
A Ghost Hunter's Road Book, by John Harries published in 1968 described a creature in the area , “A fearsome beast, equipped with abnormally large eyes and exuding a terrible stench, the animal is supposed to fell nocturnal wayfarers with its tail, which is almost as long as its body. The eyes are crimson and dart fire”.

In the early 70's more sightings were reported in the Flixton area. Locals said a truck was attacked when a huge wolf like creature jumped on the front and tried to bash its way through the windscreen.

A sighting of something strange   was reported  in 1985, by local youngster  Richard Perkins. He describes how he was out playing with friends  when they saw what they  thought was a dog in the field above. One boy went to fetch some binoculars. He was a long time  but they  kept watching the beast until he got back. They described it as big dog-like thing but it didn't look like a dog, it looked like a cat, a 'dog cat' they  thought. Richard Perkins had asked his father about what they had seen and his father told him that when keeping  exotic pets became illegal, people chucked them out into the wild. We thought this is what it could be, a 'chucked-out big cat'! . Locals said it was the werewolf.
In 2016, a story was widely reported in the media about a creature which was seen near the market town of Beverley, about 25 miles south of Flixton. There were at least seven sightings reported of a creature described as 'half man, half dog' which stood upright on its hind legs, then dropped down and ran on all fours before jumping 30 feet ( 10 metres)over the Barmston Drain drainage canal. It was reported to be at least 8 feet tall (2. 7 metres ) and covered in shaggy hair. Locals had a hunt for it but it was not found.

So is Flixton the home of a family of werewolves? There would have to be a gene passed on each generation for it to be around this long, at least 1000 years .John Harries book also mentions a magician, a shape shifter in the area.There would have been wolves in the area centuries ago but wolves have not been around in modern times except at the zoo. There is a zoo near Scarborough that has been there about 60 years in some form or another . ( I visited it as a child and I am in my 60s)Could some of the sightings be an escaped wolf or big cat? Either way an interesting history of events. If you go that way keep a sharp eye open !