One of Stony Stratford’s many claims to fame is as the place of origin of the term 'Cock & Bull Story', recognised throughout the English-speaking world.
This dates back to the late 18th and Early 19th Centuries, at the height of the great coaching era, when Stony Stratford (which is located on the old Roman Road of Watling Street, latterly the A5) was an important stopping-off point for mail and passenger coaches travelling between London and the North.
Travellers on these coaches were regarded as a great source of current news from remote parts of the country - news which would be imparted in the town's two main inns, The Cock and The Bull. The two establishments rapidly developed a rivalry as to which could furnish the most outlandish and scurrilous travellers' tales. It's a fine tradition and was resurrected some years ago by the COCK & BULL STORY SOCIETY: "to pay homage to Stony Stratford's unique provenance, as the home to The Cock & Bull Story (a term familiar throughout the English-speaking world), by positioning the town as THE UK CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE for the origination, perpetration and dissemination of the totally preposterous. Above all - by the adeptest manipulation of the English language - to have fun."
The society has been re-launched recently as The Cock and Bull Society, complete with website www.cockandbull.org.uk , newsletter available by emailing clayton@cockandbull.org.uk and various events in and around the town.