Malmesbury Town Guide - Tamworth Two

Everyone has heard of the two pigs destined to become sausages, but saw a chance of escape, managed to flee the abattoir gates and hide in the woods for a week while police, vets and the worldwide media tried to sniff them out. It was all over the news in 1998, the BBC made a drama about it in 2004, and now script-writers in California are planning to tell the tale of Malmesbury's Tamworth Two.

BUTCH & SUNDANCE: TAMWORTH TWO

And please note: There's not a single 'Saving their bacon' pun in this entire story!

It was a normal, wintry January afternoon in the picturesque town of Malmesbury on the north borders of Wiltshire.

On the edge of town, as was normal back in 1998, a lorry full to the brim with farm animals rolled into town. It was heading for the Newman Abattoir on Park Road where it's livestock contents would soon meet their fate.

On this particular day, the menu was to be sausages and bacon all round, but a certain three members of the unfortunate party had other ideas.

The trio of Tamworth's somehow managed to free themselves from the rest of their family and outfoxed the people who were working on the site by running around the compound, darting through people's legs, and eventually finding their way to the back door. It wasn't long before they were outside of the abattoir grounds and were about to embark on the most legendary story in all pig-kind.

The story starts with the sad news that one of the threesome was quickly spotted, surrounded, caught and was then thrown back into the pen with the rest of that day's shipment... the un-named swine didn't escape again.

But the other two pigs, who later went on to be named by the global media as Butch and Sundance, managed to outrun their predators as they scampered around their newly found fields which had the Park Road abattoir to one side, and the River Avon to the other.

The names Butch and Sundance originate from a 1969 western movie starring Robert Redford called Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These two characters were constantly on the run and could avoid even the most precise capture plan.

Now, pigs aren't known for their swimming ability; they normally settle for a mud bath and go no further. But Butch and Sundance seemed to realise that their lives depended on taking on the River Avon. This particular stretch of water was a good twenty feet across and ten feet deep at the time. Because of the season there'd been a lot of rain and the current was moving quickly.

Staff at the meat-house looked on in shock as the duo gingerly got into the freezing cold water and swam across to the other side. It had to be made official now; there were two pigs on the loose in Malmesbury.

The grass must have looked greener on the other side for Butch and Sundance. On the original side there was a slaughterhouse, on the other there were acres of land complete with hedges and woodland. I know which one I'd prefer.

Day one was turning into night and the slaughterhouse staff had to admit that this problem was well out of their hands now. They called in the town's police force who came along in the morning to help comb the area where the pigs had last been spotted. Their original search left them with nothing so they brought in some extra help; people trained at tracking down and capturing wild animals so they could retrieve Butch and Sundance without alarming the public.

Although there was plenty of ground for the pigs to run around in, the majority of it was flat field with a few trees running up the side of Tetbury Hill, just past the town's primary school and tennis club. The pigs were either in this frostbitten maze of trees or they were making their way to the next village along, Brokenborough.

By the end of day two there was still nothing. The local media got wind of the tall tail of two runaway pigs and were keen to be kept up to date from Wiltshire Constabulary about the pair of vanishing omnivores.

What started in the morning as a solitary man with a notebook, had by evening turned into half a dozen local newspaper and radio reporters, all eager to get the first photo of one of the runaway pigs.

It wasn't until Day Three that pig-spotters reported a positive sighting. A specialist brought in to track down the pigs had seen one of them running through the woodland on the edge of Tetbury Hill. Within half an hour a swarm of journalists had made their way up the hillside and were now busy clogging up the road with their vans and OB units. Somehow these creatures had created an international following simply by evading certain death for seventy-two hours and counting.

But despite journalists from Malmesbury, Wiltshire, the West, London, Europe and the States (I kid yee not!), the county's police force, scores of locals and a couple of specialists, the pigs couldn't be cornered.

Malmesbury and its residents are no strangers when it comes to publicity. It's the oldest borough in the whole of England and is regularly featured on the box. But to have all this attention just for two runaway pigs was unheard of.

The landlord of the Suffolk Arms loved every minute of this hype... the paparazzi circus was being held right outside the entrance to his pub, which used to overlook the woodland where the pigs were thought to be hiding out. The local butcher was joining in the merriment too, 'Special Offer on Tamworth Sausages, Get Them Now Before They Run Out!' read the blackboard outside his town centre shop.

Late on the fourth day one reporter was creeping through the undergrowth with his camera crew when he spotted one of the pigs hurtling towards him. The camera crew went flying as the startled animal realised his mistake and ran back to the safety of his makeshift nest, but Butch was caught soon after.

The morning after police had tracked down the nook in which they'd been hiding and Sundance was ousted in full view of the eagerly waiting broadcasters.

Butch and Sundance were taken away by the police, but because of their new found stardom it didn't seem right to throw them back into the abattoir.

There would have been a global outcry if it became apparent that the two Tamworth's, which had stolen everybodys' hearts with their own version of The Great Escape, were to be returned to the meat-house. So it was decided to take them an undisclosed farm on the outskirts of Chippenham, just five miles south of Malmesbury.

It was then that the Daily Mail offered to buy Butch and Sundance, and to pay for them to live happily ever after.

Seven years down the line and everybody still remembers the antics of the lucky pairing, who are now living on a farm in Kent maintained by the Cantebury Oast Charity. It certainly stuck in the back of a BBC television executive's mind as he decided it was high time to mark their incredible feat with a TV show.

The corporation recorded a one off drama, 'The Legend of the Tamworth Two', loosely based around the exploits of Butch and Sundance, using similar computer generated effects to that seen in movies like 'Babe'. This is available to buy onilne.

And now, in 2005, movie scriptwriters from California are turning their attentions to Malmesbury's most famous four-legged characters.

Byron Rourkacha is putting together a trilogy of films about a calf and a piglet who escape an abattoir and make their way home... meeting Butch and Sundance (who are now publicans) who help them on their journey home.

We're keeping in constant touch with the Operation Piggy Rescue crew about this project and are posting regular updates on the Piggy section of this website.

One thing's for certain, Malmesbury's about to see an influx in visitor numbers NOT for the history OR for the world famous gardens but to be disappointed as they follow the footsteps of Butch and Sundance.

Why disappointed? Well the Park Road abattoir was knocked down in 2000 and replaced with some rather plush housing. The woodland, which backs onto Tetbury Hill, was destroyed in the same year, for the same reason. Even the Suffolk Arms pub no longer stands; it was demolished in 2004 with a new housing estate on the way.

One of Malmesbury's many splendid riverside views

The Park Road junction where the abbatior used to stand

There is only one road into Malmesbury without crossing the Avon

Area of detail: North West Malmesbury

From the abbatior, the pigs crossed the river and spent five days in the forest and grassland to the west of Tetbury Hill before being caught close to the Suffolk Arms pub.

Abattoir

Forest

Pub

The Suffolk Arms, weeks before demolition

In 1998 this was woodland. At the time of building these houses, some considered it right to name the cul-de-sac after Butch and Sundance. The majority of councillors disagreed.

The Legend Of The Tamworth Two. BBC 2004

Sadly, Malmesbury's Tourist Information centre no longer has leaflets and guides for people who want to follow the Tamworth Two story... that doesn't mean the tale of Butch and Sundance is going to die out. Thanks to the BBC's drama and GBG's upcoming movie, the story of two escaping pigs is going to stay with storytellers, across the globe, forever. Just don't forget where it originated from!