'He climbed the prison roof and showered inmates with cigarettes!' Celebrating Market Drayton's prolific prankster 'Poddy' Podmore

And I pondered poacher turned 1970s prankster Derek “Poddy” Podmore.

The stunt that left the daredevil writhing in pain lured viewers with the headline “Belly-flopping on a six foot cactus #funny #experiment #fail”.

The label is incorrect. Experiments are not carried out when the outcome is an already established certainty. The individual’s wounds were a certainty.

And he did not fail. I was one of 33 million drawn to the stunt. He went through hell to attain clickbait heaven.

I listened to the individual’s haunting howls and pondered poacher turned prankster Derek 'Poddy' Podmore.

This morning, I witnessed the torment of teary-eyed “Ricky D” after he devoured the world’s hottest chilli – “Idiot eats the Carolina reaper chilli”. Ricky swore, pleaded and, while thrashing his limbs, yelped: “My whole body has gone numb”. To date, 2.4 million viewers have delighted in his self-imposed torture.

Again, I pondered Derek 'Poddy' Podmore, who is either one of the most famous or infamous individuals to emerge from Market Drayton. The jury – and Poddy met a few of those in his heyday – is still out on which adjective to use.

Today, a strange age when some are prepared to risk health and reputation for a computer kingdom, Podmore would be an internet superstar.

He may even be described as an “influencer” for those who are in a “shall I, shan’t I?” quandary over nailing their ear to a tree or dousing themselves in manure.

But would his stunts be welcomed with the warmth they received from press and public close to 50 years ago? That begs another question: will time paint him as a local hero or villain? In fairness, he was media Marmite back then, loved and loathed in equal measure.

It is time to assess Podmore’s legacy.

In the ‘70s, tabloid newspapers, particularly the News of the World, painted Poddy as a mischievous rural eccentric. A rascal. They couldn’t get enough of his antics because his deeds drove up sales, big time. They were largely written tongue-in-cheek and filed under “quirky”.

Think Greengrass, humorous ne’er-do-well of ‘80s police drama Heartbeat. Think Greengrass on steroids. Think Greengrass on steroids and amphetamines. That’s close to the newspaper depiction of Poddy.

The industry and its sense of morality has changed.

In 2024, the story of a man swallowing a live frog – as Poddy did at the Railway Hotel, Market Drayton – would not make a news bulletin’s light-hearted “finisher”. Facebook would drip fury, images of incandescent rage would flood Instagram.

In a world on constant terror alert, bomb hoaxers are despicable and cruel, no matter how transparent the hoax. Poddy sent a dummy UXB to Shrewsbury Prison’s governor in 1978, along with a card stating, “Start Christmas with a bomb”.

During the court case spawned by that glorious wheeze, the defendant was described as a “harmless, fun-loving character with a Walter Mitty mentality, regarded with affection in his locality”.

In December, 1977, Poddy pulled off his greatest prank. He scaled the same prison’s walls to shower inmates with gifts.