This picture shows one of the 18 markers that are distributed along the Headland Story Trail. It was taken by Oliver Dickson and shared under a Creative Commons License on Geograph.org.uk.
Wikipedia took advantage of the licence, used it in its Monkey Hanger article and published it with the same mistake. Both sites describe it as the “Hartlepool Monkey Monument.”
All the markers along the Headland Story Trail have a small monkey on top. This, of course, pays homage to the unusual tale of the Hartlepool Monkey.
Each of the markers bears an information plate that states its number and provides a bit of local history. Sometimes the information plates are removed by vandals, as must have happened to the marker in Mr Dickson’s photograph. When this happens, it makes it easier for people to think the posts have greater importance than they do.
The Monkey Statue situated a little further down the coast, at Hartlepool Marina, could be better described as a monument. However, there is a problem with that statue as well. Although it bears a plaque that says, “Make a Wish for the Monkey”, it’s a statue of a chimpanzee.
Chimpanzees are not monkeys they are apes. Regardless of the error, the statue at the Marina is probably the one visitors will be most interested to see.