A new book has retold the dramatic tale of the Allendale wolf.

The wolf, which had been working its way through the sheep on the moors above Hexham in the winter of 1904, was believed to be an escapee from the private zoo of Captain Bain in County Durham.

The news of the wolf spread quickly, and with forty sheep devoured, an MP offered a reward of £5 for the wolf's skin, and the Hexham Wolf Committee was formed to coordinate the hunt.

The hunt attracted an interesting cast of characters, including a self-proclaimed 'Hungarian wolf hunter' and a 'big game hunter from India'.

Sightings of the wolf suggested that it was moving westwards, but the drama came to an unexpected end when the wolf was accidentally cut in half by a Midland Railway express near Cumwhinton station on the Settle-Carlisle railway.

The body of the wolf was too badly mutilated to be preserved, so it was beheaded and sent to the Midland Railway's headquarters at Derby.

For a week, the head of the Allendale wolf was displayed in the window of a taxidermist's shop in Derby before being mounted outside the Midland Railway's boardroom.

In 1936 the head of the wolf was still there, but it has now vanished, and subsequent searches for it, including one by author David Pendleton, have been unsuccessful.

David launched a new hunt for the beast, but like the big game hunters over a century ago in the hills above Hexham, the trail has gone cold.

Even in death, the wolf has once again eluded its hunter.

The story of the wolf is retold in his newly published book, On the Tracks of the Thames-Clyde Express.

The author, David Pendleton, was a signalman at several locations on the route of the express, including the lonely Yorkshire Dales outpost of Hellifield.

The book, a rich mix of anecdotes and history, is published by Great Northern Books, and is available now, £19.99 from gnbooks.co.uk.