Wikipedia talk:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/Baldock Beer Disaster

This is an archive of the discussion of Baldock Beer Disaster, a hoax article that was deleted. It has been copied here solely for the purpose of documenting hoaxes on Wikipedia, in order to improve our detection and understanding of them. If you would like to actually make a comment on this page or the discussion you see below, please go to Wikipedia talk:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia.

Deletion log • Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Baldock Beer Disaster

Delete This event did not happen and the article is a hoax. I have lived and worked in Baldock for 26 years and never heard of it. Nor has Vivian Crellin, who is cited as an authority for it. Jack1956 15:40, 21 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Crushing = dead? --Abdull 11:56, 25 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I guess so. I'm a bit sceptical about the article title, which implies that this event is important enough to have a name. While the article is interesting in some respects, I'm also not convinced it's significant - or verifiable - enough to deserve to be in Wikipedia...? 82.70.221.38 14:08, 25 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I think it is, Wikipedia creates names all of the time. The Evansville Tornado of November 2005 is a great example. In this instence crushing does equal dead Abdull I believe the context shows that "Around 300 barrels and crates of beer fell three floors through the brewery, crushing eight workers, drowning five and injuring another fifteen" Notice how it talks about the event, then the deaths then the injuries. Plus it woudln't be notable to mention 8 crushed people if they lived. So essentially 13 dead and 15 injured which is siginficant. I believe it fits Wikipedia's notability test but it is a borderline.(Especially if a Middle School meets the requirement). 12.220.47.145 16:35, 25 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Where are Julia A. Moore and William Topaz McGonagall when you need them? Smerdis of Tlön 22:58, 1 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I don't want to pour cold water on this fun article, but are there any online references to prove that this ever happened? Apart from mirrors of Wikipedia, I've not been able to find any, and I'm suspicious! -- Arwel (talk) 02:14, 9 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

As a local resident I can say that this is an entirely genuine event, its just that its been all but forgotten due to the trauma sufferred by those involved, the bad publicity for the town and the half-hearted cover-up by the brewery owners. 82.5.222.67

Well I want to pour cold water (or beer) on this article! As Arwel rightly point out, there is no evidence for this event ever occuring. Every internet reference is generated from this original wiki article. As far as I can tell the three referenced books do not exist. Vivian Crellin is a Baldock historian but seems never to have written Baldock in the Twentieth Century. I can find no trace of Gregory Westonbyre and A Pedant is surely made up! I would also point out that the anonymous comment above does not constitute verifiable evidence. A good joke - but a joke nontheless. I'll put a note on the article to this effect and if anyone can provide evidence for this event actually happening - feel free to take it off again. LordJuss 09:44, 21 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The article is almost certainly fictitious. Vivian Crellin is indeed a Baldock historian and previous headmaster of the Knights Templar School, Baldock. Not only did he never write the book cited, but the publishers do not exist either. One of the houses of the school has since been named after Crellin, and I think it is more than coincidental that Hancock and Hine are also both houses of the school.

It is true that Simspon's Brewery previously occupied the land in Simpson's Drive that the library now occupies. It was established in 1853 by Thomas George and Joseph Simpson, became a private company in 1935, was taken over by Greene King in 1963, who decided to demolish it in 1965.

This article shouldn't be left on Wikipedia as fact, but it is an entertaining read. I suppose leaving it in as a 'Wikipedia hoax' (surely there must be a category) is too tenuous... Proberts2003 00:36, 27 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Baldock Mail, a local news pamphlet, carried a fairly entertaining rebuttal of the Beer Disaster story, I believe written by a local historian and curator of the Baldock Museum. If I can find my copy, I'll add some quotes and citations, as it adds considerable weight to the "hoax" theory. Lordelph 11:19, 14 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]