Jonty Haywood

Jonty Haywood is a University of Cambridge graduate, English teacher and hoaxster from Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom. He created the Porthemmet Beach hoax, misleading tourists into searching for a nonexistent paradise beach in Cornwall. He is also the creator of the LoseTheGame.com website, about the mind game known as The Game.__FORCETOC__

Porthemmet Beach hoax

In late August 2007, Haywood invented a fictional place in Cornwall called Porthemmet Beach, the "best beach in Cornwall", to confuse tourists and amuse locals. [ [http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/09/27/topless-beach-latest-internet Britain's "only topless beach" doesn't exist - The INQUIRER ] ] cite web|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3001638.ece|title=Wish you were here? Website lures tourists to imaginary beach|publisher=The Independent|accessdate=2007-09-27] Haywood created the hoax website porthemmet.com as well as erecting signs to the beach around the county that eventually led tourists out of Cornwall on the A30 road.

Haywood was inspired by a similar hoax about an "Ice Bar" in a Scandinavian city. The Porthemmet hoax sparked controversy over Cornwall's perceived hostility towards tourists despite their input into the Cornish economy. VisitCornwall, the Cornwall tourism board, criticised the hoax, while the chief executive of South West Tourism took the view that "any publicity is good publicity".cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article2540977.ece|title=Beach hoax sends tourists on a road to nowhere|publisher=The Times|accessdate=2007-09-27]

The website features various words related to Cornwall, such as pasty or chough, and encourages tourists to use false pronunciations, causing potential embarrassment for anyone duped by the hoax. On the website, the name 'Porthemmet' is claimed to have been derived from the name "Port of Emmet", where Emmet is a Cornish saint, brother of the patron saint of Cornwall, Saint Piran. Emmet is in fact a Cornish dialect word for ant, and has come to be used in Cornwall as a derisory nickname for tourists, or for people who live in, but are not from, Cornwall.

Various media journalists and news programs, including "BBC Spotlight", attempted to contact Haywoodcite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7010000/newsid_7017200/7017259.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&bbcws=1|title=BBC Spotlight News Video|publisher=BBC Spotlight|accessdate=2007-09-27] cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7015882.stm|title=Shock for visitors to fake beach|publisher=BBC|accessdate=2007-09-27] , who was teaching English in Thailand at the time.

In July 2008, a second set of signs appeared. News sources turned to Haywood, who jokingly attempted to blame Osama bin Laden for their appearance, before revealing his involvement by offering a prize to the first to discover all seven signs.cite web|url=http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/westbriton/Tourist-trap-sign-times/article-218733-detail/article.html|title=Tourist tr
publisher=Cornish Guardian|accessdate=2008-07-22]

LoseTheGame.com

In 2005 Haywood created LoseTheGame.com, the biggest website about the mind game known as The Game. He first heard about The Game in 2001. Haywood claims the site had attracted 300,000 visitors by January 2008, rising to 500,000 in June 2008.

Haywood has investigated the origins of The Game and has been interviewed by the Canadian Press and Wikinews about its rules, common strategies, and its origins.citeweb|url=http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_interviews_manager_of_site_%27Lose_The_Game%27|title=Wikinews interviews manager of site 'Lose The Game'|publisher=Wikinews|accessdate=2008-06-07] cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080117/thegame_youlose_080117|title=Teens around the world are playing 'the game'|publisher=The Canadian Press|accessdate=2008-07-22]

ee also

* List of hoaxes

References