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British Village Attacked By Wikipedia Vandals

by Blake Besharian on April 17, 2008 at 09:12 PM




The Wikipedia entry on the tiny town of Denshaw says that it's a small village in the northwestern corner of England consisting of a few farmhouses, an inn, six pubs, and a two-classroom schoolhouse. Until recently though, Wikipedia also said it was home to a population infested with tapeworms and an inn filled with prostitutes. Sounds like an exciting place -- well, it would be, if any of that were true.

Recently, Denshaw has been the subject of some nasty Wikipedia hoaxes. Anonymous users have posted that the village consists of four obese and malnourished residents, who suffer because the hills block out all but a few hours of sunlight daily. Other attacks have included a post that "none of the girls there are fit" and that the local brass band competition is celebrated by "cow shooting, rock rolling, and sheep hurling".

The residents of Denshaw have a surprisingly lighthearted take on the whole thing. "I think it's absolutely hilarious," says local parish councillor Ken Hulme, who originally discovered the Wikipedia spoofs. "The BBC could do with finding out who's responsible and giving them a job as a scriptwriter."

Looks like John Siegenthaler could take a page from their book. [Source: The Daily Mail]


Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, expire-images2008-5-17, online hoaxes, OnlineHoaxes, wikipedia

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