This was the moment a jogger was seen ‘flopping about all over the place’ as he ran through a North Staffordshire beauty spot with nothing but his shoes and bum bag.
It wasn’t exactly what a visiting wildlife photographer was expecting to capture as he snapped the sunset in the Roaches, near Leek last week.
Having just woken from a nap, the 46-year-old shutterbug turned his lens on the man to prove to himself he wasn’t ‘seeing things’.
The runner’s bare bottom is on full show as he passes along a path past two sheep chewing grass. Other pictures were unprintable.
It is thought that same man has been going for runs in his birthday suit along the Manifold Trail near Waterhouses, Three Shires Head near Flash and in the Goyt Valley in Buxton.
The unnamed photographer, from Leek, said: ‘I’m usually up there a few times a week. I was sat taking a photo of the sunset, minding my own business. I then nodded off but then could hear someone coming.
‘I looked around and couldn’t believe it. I thought I was dreaming. I nearly slapped myself to wake up. He was wearing a bum bag but nothing else. He ran past two men.
‘He then hid behind a wall when he saw a Asda delivery van come down a farm drive. I’m told he’s been seen in other areas. He’s been seen at the Manifold and a friend of mine saw a naked man bathing at Three Shires.
‘It’s wrong because a child might see him. He seemed to be pretty proud of it. He was flopping about all over the place. It’s got so busy since lockdown, with more people getting out walking, so anybody could see him.’
The Roaches – managed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust – is famed for once
being home to wallabies after five of them were released into the wild in the late 1930s.
Many of the marsupials, native to Australia and New Zealand, died during a particularly harsh winter in 1963.
The last verified sighting of one of the creatures was in 2009 and
they now are believed to be extinct in the area. The photographer added: ‘I’ve not seen any wallabies, just willies.’
After posting about the incident on social media, other walkers shared their encounters with the naked jogger.
One said: ‘I saw him a few weeks back when I was out for a run. Odd bugger
to say the least.
Another said: ‘He has been running up and down the Manifold track. I
didn’t know where to look and my seven-year-old twin grandsons thought it
was hilarious.’
A Staffordshire Wildlife Trust spokesman said: ‘Behaviour of this type is
disorderly and anyone who sees it happening should contact the police. We don’t condone behaviour like this on any of our sites.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.