THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

Pikezilla is a mythical beast said to inhabit deep the deep plunge pools at the foot of Fryup Falls.  Popular interest in the creature was aroused by a report by author Gilbert Thorsby in 1933 that claimed the disappearance of two schoolgirls during a school trip in the region had been due to them being drowned and devoured by a “fearsome, sharp-toothed colossus” lurking in its depths.   Local anglers have described incidents in which they have come close to catching the animal, dubbed Pikezilla after a 1992 Purple Wave movie based on the tale.