Strange fish
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Your support makes all the difference.If you thought the only reasons for visiting Croydon were IKEA and all-star wrestling, then think again. From next Thursday, the pulling power of the town will increase significantly. "Of Monsters and Miracles: The World's First Exhibition of Strange Phenomena" is the culmination of a two-year quest by the editors of the Fortean Times to find the most unusual treasures from the world's museum collections. And what a feast of bizarre objects they've whipped up. Among the tamer exhibits are: Uri Geller's cadillac, with more than 5,000 pieces of bent cutlery attached; tools used to make crop circles; and apports (items which appear in mid- air during seances and poltergeist incidents). Those with a higher bafflement threshold should turn their attention to the backbone of the 55ft-long Stronsay sea monster and a fish that "fell to earth in East Ham in 1984". As well as static displays, the exhibition also boasts a touch-screen interactive programme of Forteana together with related events, including a ghost tour of central Croydon (commuters who died waiting for a train to Brighton?), and a lecture on table tilting and pendulum dowsing by Alan Cleaver, from the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena. If all this is not sufficiently gobsmacking, you can always head across town to Fairfield Hall and wonder at the enduring appeal of Jimmy Tarbuck. Spooky.
SIOBHAN DOLAN
Croydon Clocktower, Katharine St, Croydon (0181-253 1030) 7 Sept-19 Nov
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