TALES of eccentric characters, extraordinary events and obscure customs have been gathered together in a book.

County Durham Strange but True is a collection of accounts of weird and wonderful events, people and phenomena from around the area.

Written by Robert Woodhouse, the book includes tales of mighty beasts and legendary stories of monsters at large throughout the countryside.

Illustrated throughout with vintage photographs, many from the Beamish Museum archive, the book is divided into 13 chapters, each with its own distinct theme.

Within its pages, the reader can learn of Derwent Valley hermit Thomas Thompson, known as the old man of the woods, who is best remembered for reading a Bible while sitting in a coffin.

There is the tale of Durham's musical dwarf, Count Joseph Boruwalski, a noble by birth who spent much of his life in the company of leading European aristocracy, but who settled in a cottage on the banks of the River Wear until his death in 1837.

Many of the legends are familiar, like that of the Lambton worm, or the Hartlepool monkey, but others, such as the belief that fairies lived in a castle at Bishopton, near Darlington, are less well-known.

Tales of a crock of gold guarded by the magical creatures prompted locals to go in search of the treasure. But when they thought they had struck lucky by finding a metal box, it turned out to contain nothing more than a set of rusty nails.

More recent mysteries are also mentioned, including the search for the Durham puma and the sighting last year of a large ferret-like creature on moors between Rookhope and Ireshopeburn in Weardale.

Curious buildings and follies are explored, as well as puzzling stones such as the headless statue in Wharton Park, near Durham City, which bears the inscription Albert the Good.

Newspaper reports of long-forgotten events are highlighted, and the book offers explanations for some of the county's more unusual place names such as Bearpark, Pity Me and Fatfield.

* The book is £11.99. For more details about it log on to www.suttonpublishing.co.uk