Is this a real thing?

[flick]

I just read this re-post from Smoke. (If you didn't know: they're reposting their old magazine articles to their blog on a random and irregular schedule).

It's about semi-wild horses called London (or King's) Rounders, first recorded by Romans, which used to roam around London (two herds, one in each direction) along roughly the route of the M25.

I can't figure out if it's bollocks or not: it includes some snippets that you'd think would be found in other places online (there's a horseshoe buried under each junction of the M25, the horses belonged to the monarch, the fact that there were horses circling London!) but that I can't find any other sources for.

Anyone ever heard of them? Is it just a piece of fiction? I'm leaning to thinking it is, but I'm really bad at judging that kind of thing and it would be very cool, if sad, if it's true.

(Actually, I just can't imagine that they would be allowed to die out if it was true, so I guess it's not. Boo.)

Comments

[lil_shepherd]

First I've ever heard of it. Does it actually give a source? It's not in anything I've ever read (in translation.)

I'd vote for bollocks. In fact, I'd need a lot of references for me to be even half-way convinced.

[flick]

Boo - I thought it if was true but little known then you'd be a likely source for confirmation!

[vicarage]

I think we'd remember 7 people killed by horses on M25 in 1987!

I like the counter-rotating herds though, as it smacks of haggi trotted round their mountain with uneven legs.

[flick]

You might remember it, I wouldn't! And I have heard stories of horses causing (less serious) accidents on motorways.

[elvum.livejournal.com]

I would love to believe that it was true, but I'm inclined to agree that, sadly, it probably isn't.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you're right. Ah well!

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

Last summer I was reading a local magazine of the 'listings, local news, local advertising' sort, in a cafe in Broadstairs, and read an extraordinarily detailed article about the Broadstairs Underground Railway -- including photos, route maps, diagrams of stations showing what stands there now, tickets and so on. Long descriptions of how it was designed to save people the punishing walk from the beach to the guest houses in town (which takes perhaps ten minutes, though relatively vertical), and of the long, slow decline over years.

I eventually concluded that it was completely fabricated, though Ramsgate really did have a touristic underground railway from which the nub of the idea came. The article was simply not careful enough to indicate its spoofy nature; other people were fooled for longer and at least one has put up a web page about this completely non-existent railway.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

I remember travelling on the Ramsgate railway as a child - I have a feeling it went through to Dumpton Gap. But I spent much of my childhood with my Grandparents who lived in Pegwell Bay - before it was concreted over to become a hovercraft terminus. Poor Thanet.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it's not just me!

[pierre-fermat.livejournal.com]

I used to work with people who had designed and built the M25. They told many weird and unlikely stories but I never heard one about horses or horseshoes.

Also my limited knowledge of Roman Britain from wargaming: The Celts had lots of fine horses that they used to ride, and for meat and to pull chariots. Never heard of wild ones, and there wasn't one monarch covering the area. Nor is it mentioned on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_horse_in_Britain#Roman_Britain_to_the_Norman_Conquest

Also, South of London the M25 crosses the North Downs and what was The Great North Wood, not a natural route until we carved chunks out of it and put tarmac down.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

You're another person I thought would know if it was true of not: bah. It's a good story!

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of horses tied up around Thamesmead, many of them appear to belong to the "travelling" community that live nearby. However there are also fields of them running pretty free near the lake and there are signs up warning that free running horses may be encountered. The photo in that article is taken in Thamesmead. I recently heard that some of the last wild horses of London are in the area, although my source was a Youtube video so I'm not sure of the authenticity of the information.

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

Hmm - interesting link here:
http://www.bugnation.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=153&t=23520