The Wrekin Giant, Shropshire
A very long time ago a Welsh giant by the name of Gwendol bore a grudge against the people of Shrewsbury , to such an extent that he proposed to destroy the town by dumping a spadeful of good Welsh earth in the Severn, diverting its course and flooding his enemies.
So Gwendol grabbed his spade, dug up a mighty load of earth, and set out for Shrewsbury. Not being the smartest of strongmen Gwendol lost his way, and found himself near Wellington, to the east of his hoped for destination. Here he met a cobbler, returning from Shrewsbury with a sackful of shoes to mend.
Gwendol asked the cobbler the way to Shrewsbury, describing how he intended to wipe it out. The cobbler thought fast, then tipped his sack of footwear on the ground, telling the fearsome figure he had worn all those shoes out walking from the very distant Shrewsbury.
Tired and fed up, the giant emptied his spadeful of earth on the ground, where it became Shropshire's great hill the Wrekin; then he cleaned his muddy boots with the spade, creating the smaller Ercall Hill beside it, before setting out home.
With the flooding problems in the Shrewsbury area in recent years some may wonder if Gwendol changed his mind sometime afterwards. Though he may still have done that town a favour - if we continue with summers like the last few the Wrekin is a good place to start building an ark
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