TV celebrity visits Knaresborough visitor attraction and donates a personal item to famous spot

A TV, radio and stage celebrity has donated a personal possession to Mother Shipton’s Cave during a family visit to Knaresborough's most famous visitor attraction.
Famous comedian Stewart Lee pictured recently during a visit to Mother Shipton’s Cave in Knaresborough.Famous comedian Stewart Lee pictured recently during a visit to Mother Shipton’s Cave in Knaresborough.
Famous comedian Stewart Lee pictured recently during a visit to Mother Shipton’s Cave in Knaresborough.

Top stand-up comic Stewart Lee, best known for BAFTA-winning series Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle on BBC 2, was visiting the town for a post-lockdown family trip when he popped into historic Mother Shipton’s Cave.

This historic but bizarre attraction boasts an impressive Petrifying Well, which turns items to stone as if by magic, due to the unusually high mineral content in the water.

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A team member recognised the talented stand-up comedian and asked if he had anything to petrify.

What better item to commemorate his socially-distanced adventure than a bottle of hand sanitiser gel, the famous comedian, who co-wrote and co-directed the West End hit musical Jerry Springer: The Opera, quickly replied.

But the star, who first made his name in the 1990s as half of the popualar comedy partnership Lee and Herring alongside Richard Herring, is not the first famous visitor to donate a personal possession to Knaresborough's oldest tourist spot.

The museum at Mother Shipton’s already contains a selection of petrified items from celebrities, including Dame Agatha Christie’s handbag, John Wayne’s hat and Bobby Davro’s sock.

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The gel will be strung under the Petrifying Well to slowly turn to stone.

Unlike the porous teddy bears that petrify very quickly, this small plastic bottle may be hanging for quite some time – even up to two years - before it forms a crust!

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