The Cottingley Fairies ... Truth or Hoax?

I have always loved the story of The Cottingley Fairies and the famous hoax pulled by two cousins that started with a photograph in 1917.

For those that are not aware the story began when young Francis arrived in Cottingley from South Africa to stay with her cousin, Elsie whilst her father was at war.

They borrowed a camera from Elsie's father and went to nearby Cottingley beck, returning some hours later claiming that they had photographed something special.

That photograph turned out to be the famous first picture that featured fairies. At first no one thought much of it until Elsie's mother took it along to a local society meeting in Bradford several years later, where she met a Mr Gardner, who believed the photo to be real. So much so that he contacted the famous author and believer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame.

Mr Doyle arranged for cameras to be sent to the cousins in order to take more pictures, which they did.

In total, five pictures were taken and Arthur Conan Doyle, after allowing the Kodak camera company to examine the pictures (they claimed that no tampering of the plates had taken place)published the work in the 1921 Christmas edition of the Strand magazine.

No money was ever exchanged between the cousins or the parents, and for now the world believed. Well, some of it anyway.

More scientists arrived and scoured the area without success but the girls maintained their story until the 1980's when it finally came out, after much communication, with the writer, Joe Cooper, who was a believer and was helping the cousins with their story.

In truth the fairies had been placed using hatpins and wire and drawn, taking inspiration from a famous book called, The Princess Mary Gift Book.

The cousins always claimed that the final photograph taken, titled 'The Sunbath', was real and not faked. 

Some people say it is a double exposure, but who knows ... it's nice to think that it's real.