Swansea's Pluckness Monster 🐊

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Good morning, Swansea!

In April 2008, Pluck Lake in Morfa briefly made Swansea the monster capital of the UK when Port Talbot local, Steve Jenkins, spotted what he thought was a log floating near a submerged white van - until it revealed legs, a tail, and eyes watching him back.

Within hours, his sighting of a metre-long crocodile had sparked police investigations, RSPCA searches, and dreams of Swansea's own Loch Ness moment…

But was all as it seems?

Catch you on Sunday!

Andrew.

"I Know What I Saw"

Jenkins was adamant about what he'd witnessed that Sunday morning. "I was walking my dog and me being a fisherman and being nosy near water - I was having a look and I could see something moving," he told the BBC.

Spotting the creature under five metres from the bank, Jenkins was convinced this was no ordinary lake dweller. "I could see the legs and the nose and the tail and everything. It just swam down into the deep end, its eyes were just on top of the water as it was moving." 

The sighting quickly attracted attention from police and RSPCA officers, though neither found any evidence of a crocodile. But Jenkins wasn't backing down, even as friends began ribbing him mercilessly. "People whistle the tune of Crocodile Shoes when they see me," he admitted. "But I don't care what people think, I know what I saw."

A South Wales Police spokesman said at the time: “If it is a crocodile, it is a freshwater one and it is only the saltwater ones that are a threat, the big massive ones. We went down and had a look. It is cold, and if it was a genuine call it could be an escaped pet - it’s not beyond the bounds of imagination.”

Tourism chiefs were already counting potential profits. Geoff Haden from Tourism Swansea saw pound signs, noting that the Loch Ness Monster brought Scotland around £20 million annually. "If we have the Loch Pluck Monster in our midst then it could be the start of a massive influx of tourists," he declared.

The Video "Evidence"

Seven years later, Kyle Chapple thought he'd captured the breakthrough everyone had been waiting for. The 27-year-old from Hafod was fishing at the lake when he spotted something unusual lurking beneath the surface. This time, he had his camera ready.

The footage he captured showed a bird swooping down for what it thought was an easy meal, only to nearly become dinner itself. "It just leaped out of the water and tried to grab the bird," Chapple said, shocked by what he'd witnessed.

"I just couldn't believe my eyes. There was a head, and then about a metre and a half away - a tail. It wasn't moving like a fish. It was just staying in one place." Unlike Jenkins' fleeting glimpse, Chapple returned the next morning and found the creature still there, "just plodding around."

His theory differed from the crocodile claims. "I really think it is a snake someone has set free there. I keep reptiles myself and it looked like it could be a snake to me."

But experts (and keen fishermen in Facebook comments) poured cold water on both Chapple and Jenkins’ claims. Dr. Jon Downes, director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, examined Chapple's video footage and delivered his verdict: "I think it is a pike. Considering they do have long noses and armoured backs, they can look like crocodiles."

From Slag Heaps to Nature Haven

Once part of the old Hafod copperworks, Pluck Lake dates back to the 1840s and likely supplied water to the surrounding metalworks. Local folklore claims it's so deep it connects to the River Tawe beneath, adding a bit of mystery to its industrial roots. As for the lake’s strange name? No one really seems to know of its origin.

Today, what was once a landscape of slag heaps and barren waste has undergone a huge transformation. As well as a popular fishing spot, Pluck Lake recently became part of Kilvey Community Woodland - home to blue-tailed damselflies, emperor dragonflies, and, reportedly, some very large, very theatrical pike.

Catch you on Sunday!

Andrew

Sources

• Swansea History Society: The Pluck Lake 1976 vs now

• Lore Enforcement: The Pluck Lake

• BBC News - Crocodile sighting in city lake

• South Wales Evening Post: 'Crocodile' filmed in Swansea lake but 'Pluck-ness monster' might really be a pike

• WalesOnline: The story of Swansea's wild 'crocodile' sightings that remain an unsolved mystery