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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Travel
Dave Hamilton

RARE PHOTOS: Weird britain 10 glorious oddities to visit and marvel at | Rare Historical Photos

A person stands in a field looking up at a towering weathered sculpture of a human figure
Bronze colossus … the Yoxman in Suffolk is 8 metres tall and was completed in 2021. Photograph: Dom Read Jones/Wild Things Publishing

One thing unites the British more than anything else. It stands there in plain sight but is rarely spoken about. We may try to hide it; we may not admit it to ourselves; but under the surface, deep down, in the nicest possible way, we are all a little odd. Not in a sinister way, just eccentric, weird, unpredictable and downright wonderful. As a nation we have an artistic and creative zest and boffin-like inventiveness. In fields of innovation, we led the tech world with some of our brave and crazy inventions. Even our landscapes are damn weird, with some of the oldest, most mysterious and diverse geological oddities in Europe, and plentiful legends too. I spent years exploring the enchanting strangeness of Britain, discovering follies, eccentric public art, strange buildings, mysterious ruins and eerie landscapes for my Weird Guide, which features about 300 of these curiosities. Here are some of my favourites.

The Yoxman, Suffolk

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