Blistering barnacles! Tintin-linked tomb gets historic listing

In sleepy Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, far from the snowy mountains of Tibet where the intrepid young reporter Tintin roamed, lies the tomb of Mary Haddock, mother of Admiral Richard Haddock. The admiral is believed to have inspired the character of the ill-tempered Captain Haddock in Belgium author Herge's "Adventures of Tintin". Known for his inventive expletives like "blue blistering barnacles!", the comic captain was a seafarer like Richard Haddock. Mary Haddock's tomb is "notable as a single monument...