The tale of the Crocadillo is a Longridge myth that has been told along the Thames as long as any of us at Longridge can remember. Our Centre Manager was taught to swim in the Thames just down from Bourne End marina, and was always told by her Grandfather that a certain rock formation there was actually a hungry Crocadillo camouflaging itself and waiting for a sweet tasting child who ate too many biscuits and not enough vegetables!

Here are just some of our favourite versions of the Crocadillo, if you’ve got your own version, please send it in! We love hearing and seeing all the different versions that have evolved through the years.

  The Tale of the Crocadillo

             There was once an old frail scientist who lived in the castle called Cardboard because it looks like it’s built from soggy cardboard on the edge of the river Thames. He was too old to be conscripted but his son was twenty and so taken to be a soldier in World War two. Under attack, his son sent an urgent letter by carrier pigeon begging for help and evacuation, but it never made it to his commander. Mad with grief from the death of his peculiar son, the increasingly unhinged scientist went to the zoo and stole the two fastest crocodiles and two strongest armadillos to begin his breeding program to create a new letter carrier so that no one else would lose their son because of a pigeon like he did.

               He began breeding immediately to get the best possible parts of the crocodiles and armadillos. The crocodiles and armadillos needed to create his new animal (the crocadillo) were carefully chosen and selectively bred. The mad scientist was incredibly picky with the specimens he settled on. Crocodiles with powerful jaws were chosen to snap or move logs. He selected armadillos with the hardest shells to keep them safe if they were to come under fire. He bred them to keep the short legs with webbed toes of the crocodile - to help them swim fast and quietly through the river ways, and the long nose from the armadillo so they could smell smoke and forage out food on the go.

               He had a lunatic lab inside of the hill behind his castle and bred all the crocadillos in there but stored them in the old rotted out boathouse called the hovel. Crocadillos were better than pigeons because they are camouflaged to look like logs, rocks, and rope. In the war the troops were more worried about the skies and so left rivers unobserved. So the crocadillos would just float along the rivers undetected. They were very friendly as they were held as puplings and so domesticated and trained – so not at all scary to the untrained eye and happy for soldiers to pick them up to attach and remove letters. However they are not pets as they are only used as C.S’s (Crocadillo spies) and are highly stealthy.

               After many years of delivering letters, the war finally ended. The mad scientist was nice and released all of the crocadillos out into the river Thames to live out their happy long living days. They travelled all the way along the river but a large number made their home on Taylor Island by Longridge Activity Centre as they could live off the scraps left behind by campers and Scouts! This means that you can find a crocadillo anywhere on the Thames but are much more likely to see one close to Longridge. So if you are out on the river in Marlow and you think you see a log, or a bit of rope – look closer. Can you see a beady eye? It could be a crocadillo. Did that rock just move? It’s a baby pupling!

By Rupert Masters, 2023