Whilst waiting for a lift the other day caught a documentary on BBC2 : Hercules the Bear - A Love Story.
What a lovely story, the bizarre thing is I don't remember a thing about it from the 70s/80s which was exactly the era I would've remembered somthing like this. Maybe it was a major story in Scotland, not England? I do vaguely remember the Kleenex advert!
Managed to watch the end of the prog on NYE and what a great story. Someone said 'wasn't that the one that mauled its owner?' and I thought no way! They were in love!
A recommended watch on iPlayer 😀
sorry about the spoiler if it's still there! Bizarre tags and I've removed it yet it still shows on my post?! ugh
? weird damn forum
Quite famous locally as he lived in the pub about 2 miles away for many years.
Yep, growing up nearby I remember going to see him at his home in Sherrifmuir when I was a wee boy, and all the hullabaloo when he went walk about.
I remember Hercules the bear having grown up in Scotland.
Will check out the iPlayer doc!
Weirdly, I was telling my daughter and her friend all about Hercules as I dropped them off at the local pub a couple of days before Christmas.
They wouldn’t believe me that the lounge bar was opened by a bear who sat behind the bar drinking pints.
all the hullabaloo when he went walk about.
Yeah, that was amazing, up in the Hebrides. His owner wandering round shirtless up there was pretty bonkers too 😆
Did he do the adverts for Hofmeister lager?
It’s a nuts story, was on the outer Hebrides last summer for a week with my lad. Did the Hercules walking trail one morning when it was a bit windy for the beach.
It’s a lovely story, bonkers but lovely.
A local celeb in Forth Valley...they'd tour the schools and have a wrestling match in the playground.
When I did target shooting we used to go to the pub to fly the flag to let folk know there was shooting happening nearby.
It is funny though as despite being so well known very few seem to remember him now in Stirling...a shame really. Admittedly a famous bear probably isn't the kind of celeb most think of these days!
I was a kid from Manchester and remember him on the news, although I also loved "the life and times of Grizzly Adams" on tv at the time and dreamed of living in the American wilderness with a grizzly bear as a friend (not as a simpsonesque forest bride I hasten to add)..
I like bears and I've never heard of him, amazing. Shall look him up
I quite enjoyed the wjotek bear story and his amazing bronze statue in princes street gardens. Well worth a look too
I like bears and I've never heard of him, amazing. Shall look him up
I quite enjoyed the wjotek bear story and his amazing bronze statue in princes street gardens. Well worth a look too
I remember the bear going missing and it being on the TV or in the papers. This was in the north East, so it may have been Look North at the time. It may not have made London-centric news.
Thanks for the reminder, I'll add it to the watch list.
Such a great story. I'd never heard of Hercules till my wife brought up childhood memories of seeing them wrestling. We were catching up near a neighbours farm and realised he was storing the lorry with the wrestling cage and the speedboat. The new house they bought after Sherrifmuir with the swimming pool is just up the road. I was looking across at it when out with my daughter walking the dog the other day. I mentioned Hercules and the whole background. She looked at me like I was totally mental pointing out where Hercules lived and his diet of Steaks and Pints 😀 Stopped by the memorial when cycle touring in North Uist was a nice connection to home as well.
We used to see them a couple of times a year, when on holiday in fife, every year without fail at Letham Glen.
I remember one year Hercules just flat refused to come out of the bus and it was actually really nice, everyone sort of went "Well he's got rights after all", there was hardly any sense of "we came all this way to see a bear now we demand a bear".