British Bigfoot: Film 2

And here's part-2 of my "British Bigfoot" lecture at the October 2008 Boston-based Mass Monster Mash gig:

British Bigfoot: Film 1

Back in October, I gave a lecture at the annual Boston-based Mass Monster Mash gig on the controversy surrounding reports of Bigfoot in Britain, with an emphasis on one particularly notorious British Bigfoot known as the Man-Monkey (which is also the subject of one of my books titled - unsurprisingly! - Man-Monkey!). Well, the conference was videoed, and has now been posted to You Tube. Here's the first part:

Werewolf UK

Well, I mentioned here some time ago that although this blog is chiefly related to revealing all the latest data on the British Bigfoot, from time to time I would delve into the strange world of other British man-beasts, including werewolves.

And, I'm pleased to say, there's something to report on this matter: the new issue of Britain's Paranormal magazine includes an article from me on the history of werewolves and lycanthropy. It describes several sightings of werewolf-style beasts in Britain: one seen in Scotland in 1952; another encountered in Scotland in 1967; and an English account from the late 1940s.

Whether physical, paranormal, or something else, the British werewolf is most definitely here to stay. And, for more information on the issue of Paranormal in question, click right here.

Strange Frequencies

I recorded an episode of Strange Frequencies Radio on Sunday night, and which has just been posted online right here.

We discussed a whole variety of cryptozoological issues, including (A) how I got interested in crypto; (B) the issue of "flesh-and-blood vs. the paranormal" when it comes to Bigfoot in general, and the British Bigfoot in particular; (C) my expeditions to Puerto Rico in search of the Chupacabras; (D) the essential requirements needed on a creature-hunt; and much more. And before I forget, there's a competition, too. Listen in, and if you can correctly name my favorite Ramones song, you can win a prize! Only large amounts of money and beer will entice me into revealing the answer...maybe...

The Worldwide Bigfoot

Micah Hanks delves into reports of hairy man-like beasts around the world, including Britain.

Cabinet of Wonders

Over at Cabinet of Wonders, the Emperor comments on my interview with Neil Arnold on the British Bigfoot, zoo-forms, and much more. Cabinet of Wonders is always full of insightful material, and most definitely essential reading.

Bigfoot Opinions

Over at Mania.com (where I have a regular weekly column titled Lair of the Beasts), friend, author and researcher Neil Arnold gives his opinions on the British Bigfoot.

As Neil says:

"I have ten or eleven amazing reports from here in [the British county of] Kent alone, which I couldn't believe. One was from a woman I used to work with who had seen one in the woods about one hundred yards from my house - which was very, very strange - and the woman hadn't told anybody about it for thirty years. In these British Bigfoot reports, the witnesses are all seeing things with red, glowing eyes, and these reports are hard to categorize. Although people are seeing big hulking things that are covered in hair, I don’t actually think they are the same things that people are seeing in America; because I personally think that the American Bigfoot is actually flesh-and-blood. But the things in the UK, I don’t think are flesh and blood: these are more like classic Zoo-forms."

Here's the link to the complete article.

The Hill of Horrors

The new issue of Britain's Paranormal magazine includes a very interesting article from Neil Arnold (author of the excellent book, Monster!) which delves deep into the mysteries of an old village near Maidstone, Kent, England called Blue Bell Hill.

As Neil reveals in the article (titled Hill of Horrors), the area has been the site of several Bigfoot-type encounters, including one from 1974 that involved a "hairy, hulking creature around seven-feet tall;" a 1991 event that was focused upon a glowing-eyed man-beast seen in the woods of the village; and the 1997 sighting of a "creature resembling a gorilla."

To find out more about Paranormal magazine, click here.

An Invisible British Bigfoot?

One of the most perplexing aspects of the British Bigfoot is its apparent ability to (quite literally) appear and disappear at will into nothing less than complete thin air.

The affairs of the Man-Monkey of Ranton; the Bolam Beast; and the hairy man-beast of Dundonald Castle are all evidence that whatever the British Bigfoot is or isn't, it possesses skills, talents and extraordinary attributes that far outweigh those of the human species.

So why am I mentioning this right now?

Here's why: a new article over at Cryptomundo on Bigfoot and invisibility.

Over the years, I have been on the receiving end of many comments from numerous researchers who outright dismiss and ridicule stories suggesting that Bigfoot is anything more than merely an undiscovered, unclassified or presumed extinct creature of purely flesh-and-blood and down-to-earth origins (such as Gigantopithecus).

But what if it's not?

What if invisibility really does play a role in the Bigfoot controversy in general, and in the British Bigfoot puzzle in particular?

Before we outright dismiss accounts of the "Vanishing Bigfoot," we would do well to remember that none of us have any real understanding of - or know the true nature, origin or abilities of - the beast; and until we do, we should keep all the options available to us firmly OPEN.

Going Offline

I'll be offline for a while from today, as I'll be driving to San Antonio,TX to speak for the city's MUFON group tomorrow night on the subject of my expeditions to Puerto Rico in search of the Chupacabras. Then, I'll be out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday; so it's likely to be next weekend (or maybe even a week from today) before I'll be back online. If you're in the US, have a good Thanksgiving! And I'll catch up with all the latest news (and I'm sure there will be a lot with being offline for a week) on my return.

Bigfoot Comments

Over at Cabinet of Wonders, the Emperor offers his views on my comments pertaining to the Cannock Chase Bigfoot.

Wanstead Woods Part-3

Neil Arnold on the weird thing of Wanstead Woods...

Wanstead Woods Part-2

As a follow-up to the story I posted a couple of days ago, there has been another sighting of a strange creature seen near England's Wanstead Woods. Oddly, despite the fact that the focus is again upon Bigfoot, the descriptions of the beast reported in both this story and in the initial one, don't really sound anything like Bigfoot - that is, aside from the large feet!

The Cannock Bigfoot & The Media

Last week, I was interviewed by the British Sunday Mercury newspaper about the many and varied stories pertaining to (and sightings of) Bigfoot-like creatures in the woods of the Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, England.

Having grown up there, I can say for certain that the whole area is rich in Bigfoot reports. But, I'm convinced the creature is not all it seems to be - or maybe it's more than it seems to be!

As I told the media:

"I think the Cannock Chase Bigfoot has paranormal origins and is linked with the large amount of paranormal activity in the area. If this creature was flesh-and-blood, there would have to be more than one to ensure reproduction. If there was a colony of them on the Chase, we would be seeing massive evidence of them feeding on the local animal population. But the amount of deer kills that have taken place are not anywhere near enough to feed a colony of these creatures."

And that's the problem with not just the Cannock Chase Bigfoot, but the larger issue of Bigfoot in Britain in general. There are numerous reports; but a distinct lack of the type evidence for their existence that typifies (for example) the eating-habits, reproduction, habitat etc. of the Mountain Gorilla.

The British Bigfoot looks like a large ape; but has a far more phantom-like nature to it.

Here's the link to the full article.

A Wanstead Woods Man-Beast?

This new news story refers to the sighting of an unidentified creature seen in England's Wanstead Woods in a Bigfoot context. Upon reading it, however, it really sounds like something else. Exactly what, I'm not quite sure! But it may, at least, be worth following and keeping an eye on to see if more develops in the coming days and weeks.

"Paranormal" & The British Bigfoot

The new issue of Britain's Paranormal magazine includes a lengthy article from me (titled Our Own Creation?) on why I believe that at least some of the strange creatures (including the British Bigfoot) in our midst may very well be Tulpas, rather than flesh-and-blood animals.

Interestingly, the letters-section of the magazine includes several stories of large and hairy, British Bigfoot-type beasts seen in Northumberland.

Also in the same issue, you'll find a good review of Jon Downes' Island of Paradise book; which tells the story of the expedition that me and Jon went on to Puerto Rico in 2004, in search of the Chupacabras.

Paranormal is an excellent magazine that - with editor Richard Holland - is going from strength to strength. Give them your support: you won't be disappointed!

A Scottish Yeti?

A ghosthunter rescued from Scotland’s second highest peak was claimed he was attacked by a mysterious yeti. Tom Robertson, 68, was led to safety by mountain rescuers after a ten-hour ordeal on Ben MacDhui in the Cairngorms.

He and a pal had been hunting for the legendary Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui – Mountain of the Black Pig in Gaelic.

But yesterday he insisted a 12ft high yeti-type creature attacked the tent he was sleeping in near the 4,296ft summit.He maintains he may have strong evidence of its existence – a series of pots showed 2ft long footprints in gravel at their camp site.

Mr Robertson said; "At about 1am after we climbed in to our sleeping bags we heard the footsteps of something coming to the tent and heard mumbling noises outside.”

Moments later the side of the two-man tent, perched 4,000ft up the peak, caved in.

“I looked up through the air vent in the roof and saw a large arm crashing down.

“The figure of what seemed like a yeti was standing over the tent, then all hell broke lose and it was trying to get on at us.

“I remember something landed on my foot. My toes are black, kind of bruised.

“I have never been so scared in all the 60 years I have been interested in such things.

“I don’t know what it is but it wasn’t human. I reckon it could be the Grey Man or something from outer space.”

The pair were soaking wet after heavy rain poured into the damaged tent overnight.

At 4am they set off down the hill but almost two miles on Tom was too exhausted and fell ill half-way down. He was wrapped up in sleeping bags and left to rest.

Pal Derek Blake, 32, battled on and raised the alarm three miles away at the Cairngorm Ski centre.

Source: Daily Star, 28 July 2004. (Thanks to Mark Fraser of www.bigcatsinbritain.org for bringing this to my attention)

The Bryn-Boncath Beast

You will undoubtedly have seen at this blog the excellent illustration of a glowing-eyed British Bigfoot as drawn by a friend of mine in Wales named Simon Wyatt.

Well, the good news is that Simon - a highly-skilled artist - has just struck a deal to have his graphic-novel, titled Unbelievable, published.

And as the publisher (Insomnia Publications) says about the book:

"Unbelievable is a dark masterpiece that weaves strands of Welsh legend, modern murder, mystery and horror with a dash of cryptozoology that wonders: What if seeing isn’t always believing, but believing will allow you to see?"

Here's the link for more details; and I'll keep you informed of all the developments on what looks to be a great project.

The "Prestwick Baboon"

Here's a story that is interesting, odd, and possibly relevant to the whole British Bigfoot controversy. It was brought to my attention last week by big-cat authority Mark Fraser and appeared in the Ayrshire Post newspaper on January 17, 1999.

Almost 10 years have passed since the episode occurred. Can anyone fill in the gaps or provide an update?

Here's the text of the article:


Baboon sighted near Prestwick Airport

A motorist spotted what he believed was a "Baboon-like creature" on the Shaw Farm Road in Prestwick, not far from the airport. Police rushed to the scene, and as the officers got to within 30 yards of the animal it disappeared into the undergrowth.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday: “We received a call from a local man who said he’d narrowly avoided hitting a baboon-like creature on Shaw Farm Road, Prestwick. A patrol car was sent out and after a search of the area the officers reported seeing an animal of some sort, although they couldn’t be sure what it was.”

Checks were also made at the airport which had received a cargo of livestock, but there were no reports of escaped baboons. One senior policeman said: “The officers were very careful how they phrased the sighting over the radio. The mickey taking could have been merciless and they didn’t want to make monkeys of themselves.”

No Scottish zoo’s keep baboons, but experts admitted that some one may have had one as a pet.

OFFLINE FOR A FEW DAYS

I'll be offline from now until next Monday, as I'll be flying to the Boston-based Mass Monster Mash (see this link for details), where I'll be speaking about (a) the controversy surrounding British Bigfoot reports; and (b) my books There's Something in the Woods and Man-Monkey: In Search of the British Bigfoot. If you're gonna be there, say hello!

"Woods" in "Fate": A Review

Anomalist Books highlights a new review of my latest book, There's Something in the Woods that appears in the new issue of Fate magazine, written by Jerome Clark. The book, as many of you will be aware, focuses deeply on the mystery of the British Bigfoot.

As Anomalist Books say:

There is probably no more thoughtful commentator on all matters fortean these days than Jerome Clark. Yes, he has some nice things to say in the latest issue of Fate magazine about Nick Redfern’s latest book, There’s Something in the Woods.

“Part of Something’s appeal is its can-you-top-this quality,” writes Clark, who finds more genuine curious the reports Redfern collects “from persons who, to all appearances of sound mind and unforked tongue, speak of encounters with a range of incredibly peculiar creatures…everything from phantom peacocks to giant snakes with feet to flying humanoids to living pteranodons… Something certainly makes for entertaining reading, while occasioning at times some deeper reflections on the reader’s part.”

Including some from Jerome Clark, who ends the review with these insightful words: “I doubt firmly that the sorts of esoteric beasts Redfern’s witnesses describe exist as hidden, uncatalogued wildlife alongside us in consensus reality, but they are present in some shadowy approximation, to be encountered in profoundly anomalous states of consciousness. In frustrating truth, the answers that we who are open to such things seek are well beyond current knowledge. In the meantime, ridicule is a very poor substitute for understanding.”

Bigfoot Radio

I'll be on the Richard Syrett Radio Show tonight - at 10.30pm Central Time - talking about my book, There's Something in the Woods and the British Bigfoot. Here's the link for details.

Blogging the Chase

As you'll know from this blog, I am always keen to highlight the many and varied sightings of the British Bigfoot in the vicinity of the Cannock Chase - that large area of woodland in Staffordshire, England, and only a stone's throw from where I grew up.

Well, the good news is that the Chase Post newspaper has just set up a new blog - in the capable hands of Post journalist Matt Lloyd - to chronicle all the weird goings-on in those mysterious woods.

And here's the link.

Given the sheer scale and nature of the strangeness that dominates the area, this is a blog to definitely keep a close eye on for all future developments!

Monsters in UFO

The new issue of UFO Magazine includes an interview with me about my latest book, There's Something in the Woods, much of which delves into the controversial world of the British Bigfoot - and particularly so in Britain's Cannock Chase woods.

As I say in the interview:

"Previously, my UFO books have been strictly on UFOs; and my crypto-zoology books have been strictly on unknown animals. But the new book is slightly different. Basically, it chronicles my investigations into a whole range of weird phenomena that I dug into over the course of the last two years – both in the United States and in my home-country of England – and some of them were focused on UFO-related phenomena, and others were on strange creatures. And there were more than a few cases that crossed over into both camps.

"I need to qualify that with a statement first. When I first got involved with both the UFO issue and with crypto-zoology, I took pretty much a black-and-white approach: Bigfoot was a giant ape, and UFOs were nuts-and-bolts spacecraft. And, in some cases, that may be so. But, as witnesses, researchers and investigators of both areas will be fully aware, there are those incidents that are far less easy to reconcile in literal terms of this or that. I’m talking about where you seem to find evidence of both UFO and crypto data in one particular incident: a so-called cross-over case, as I like to call them.

"I’ll be the first to admit that many researchers are very against the idea that it’s anything other than all black-and-white. But there’s clear evidence, time and again, that in places where there is one paranormal mystery present, there is often another, too. And very often, this occurs in areas of dense woods and forests – hence the title of the new book, and the fact that it covers various subjects and things that have manifested in the woods of both America and Britain."

Lecture News

Well, I just got back from giving an illustrated lecture at Baylor University, Waco, Texas on the subject of cryptozoology.

I dug deep into some of the data in my new book, There's Something in the Woods, including (a) information on the British Bigfoot; (b) stories of unusual creatures seen in the vicinity of crop circles; and (c) the crypto mysteries of Texas's Big Thicket.

I also delved into such matters as Mokele mbembe; werewolves; lake-monsters; accounts of still-living pterosaurs; the Chupacabras; and much more of a monstrous nature.

Normally, I lecture to audiences who are already deeply acquainted with the subject matter in hand; however, this was a slight departure, in the sense that those in attendance - approximately 130 in number - were students at the university, many of who had little previous exposure to the world of crypto.

And the result?

I'm pleased to say that it was very positive, with a good variation of questions asked both during the lecture and in the immediate aftermath.

I also detected more than a passing interest in some of the stranger, paranormal-style aspects of cryptozoology - such as those exhibited by the British Bigfoot - which I thought was intriguing.

The British Bigfoot at Waco

Tomorrow I'll be driving to Waco to give a lecture at Baylor University on the British Bigfoot, cryptozoology in general, and my book There's Something in the Woods. I'm looking forward to seeing what the response will be from the students. Doubtless there will be a high degree of controversy and debate - which is always good, however, when it comes to lecturing! On Friday, I'll post my report on how the day went.

The British Bigfoot and the Paranormal

Neil Arnold writes:

"The October 2008 issue (28) of Paranormal Magazine features an excellent set of articles pertaining to bizarre creatures which have been mentioned in Monster! The A-Z Of Zooform Phenomena. The best of these is Nick Redfern's superb article on the possibility of a British Bigfoot, and there's also articles by Janet Bord on paranormal manimals, Editor Richard Holland goes in search of phantom black dogs, and also writes about other animal spirits."

Check it out! You'll find much on the Man-Monkey of Ranton; the Wild-Man of Orford; the man-beasts of England's Cannock Chase woods; the hairy creature of Castle Ring; the Bigfoot of Southern England; and much more...

A New British Bigfoot Report

Once again, Britain's Cannock Chase woods are a veritable hotbed of weirdness.

Yep, after a bit of a lull, here's a newly reported sighting (although the event is said to have occurred last year) of an alleged Bigfoot-like creature in the area.

I've said it before and I will say it again: if these reports aren't hoaxes (and I'm convinced most of them aren't), then the Cannock Chase Bigfoot has to have paranormal origins.

Indeed, having grown up only a couple of miles from the woods, I know the exact area that the witness is talking about very well.

And, there is no way that a 7-to-8-foot tall man-beast can exist on the Cannock Chase (yes, it's of an impressive size and very dense in places, but it's not that big and it's surrounded by towns and villages), avoid detection and also leave behind no evidence of its "den" (or wherever it lives) or its eating habits - which would have to be huge, given the sheer size of the creatures reportedly seen in the woods of the Chase.

Literal ape-men? No. Some sort of phantom of the night? Yes.

British Bigfoot & The Paranormal

The third and final part of the interview that the Blogsquatcher recently did with me on the issue of Bigfoot and the paranormal has just been posted online and can be found here.

We cover a lot of ground relative to the British Bigfoot, too.

And as I say in the interview with respect to the controversy surrounding the question of whether or not Bigfoot has paranormal origins:

"I never judge people on their beliefs, because I don't -- none of us has the answers. But I would say that, regardless of whether or not bigfoot researchers agree with me or not, I think the one thing they most would agree with me about, is that at some point, pretty much every bigfoot researcher has come across at least one case of the type that I'm talking about. I would defy you to find a bigfoot researcher who has never found a case that has even the smallest aspect of weirdness to it. I think in everybody's files you're going to find one like that. Either it was seen near a Native American burial ground, or it had glowing eyes, or something weird happened."

Jones Reviews "Woods"

Author Marie Jones has written an excellent review of my new British Bigfoot-driven book, There's Something in the Woods, which can be found in PDF format at the following link (it's the second link down on the page):

http://paraexplorers.com/index.php?page=book-reviews

Me and the British Bigfoot

A few days ago, I was interviewed by The Blogsquatcher on the controversial issue of Bigfoot and the paranormal, a subject that features heavily in my new book There's Something in the Woods (Anomalist Books). We delved deeply into the issue of strange phenomena associated with Bigfoot; as well as the surprisingly large number of reports of the so-called "British Bigfoot." The Blogsquatcher has just posted the first-part of the interview on-line, and which can be found at this link.

Uncanny Radio

Tonight, I'll be on Uncanny Radio with hosts Linda Godfrey & Steve Sullivan. The show will air at 8 pm Central, streaming live from www.wbsdfm.com or on webcast at uncannyradio.com and uncannyworld.com (where people can leave blog comments). I'll be discussing my new British Bigfoot-themed book, There's Something in the Woods.

The British Bigfoot at Blogsquatcher

Yesterday, I was interviewed extensively by the Blogsquatcher on the subject of Bigfoot and the paranormal. Much of the discussion was focused upon the British Bigfoot. He has already posted a pre-publication piece on the interview - which can be found here - and you can expect to see the whole interview (possibly spread over several days) posted at his blog soon.

Monsters Reviewed

Linda Godfrey (author of The Beast of Bray Road and Hunting the American Werewolf) reviews my new book, There's Something in the Woods, which contains much on the British man-beast

Uncanny Radio

This coming Wednesday night, I'll be recording an episode of Uncanny Radio with hosts Linda Godfrey & Steve Sullivan. The show will air and be available the following Wednesday, August 20, at 8 pm Central, streaming live from www.wbsdfm.com or on webcast at uncannyradio.com and uncannyworld.com (where people can leave blog comments). I'll be discussing my new book, There's Something in the Woods, which includes a wealth of data on the British Bigfoot.

The Hairy Hands: A British Bigfoot?

The new issue of Taps Paramagazine includes an article from me on a British mystery of truly weird and disturbing proportions: that of the so-called "Hairy Hands."

As I say in the article:

"From the windswept moorlands of Devonshire, England (where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s epic Sherlock Holmes novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles was set) comes a truly chilling story of a strange and deadly phenomenon that gripped the area in the early years of the 20th Century and that became known to one and all as the Hairy-Hands. And as will later become acutely apparent, it may be a phenomenon that has made a recent return to the area.

"It was around 1910 that the weird saga began – on what is today known as the B3212 road, and which can be found in the vicinity of the Dartmoor locales of Postbridge and Two Bridges. Somewhat disturbingly, a hairy, monstrous and unknown force would time and again violently lash out at unwary passing drivers, and which, in one case, reportedly even resulted in a tragic death for an unfortunate road-user.

"In most of the cases, the victims of the diabolical phenomenon reported large, hairy, 'disembodied hands' manifesting out of thin air, firmly grabbing the steering wheel of their vehicles – or the handle-bars of their bikes – and unsurprisingly striking complete terror into their hearts; something which invariably resulted in them being violently forced off the country road."

Whether the Hairy Hands are somehow linked to spectral British Bigfoot or werewolf-like entities, or if they are a completely different phenomenon, is a matter of ongoing debate. As I note in the article, however, encounters with the Hairy Hands are still on-going - even as late as January of this year.

The diabolical mystery is still among us...

Reviewing the British Bigfoot

Kithra has just written a review of my new book, There's Something in the Woods (which contains a wealth of new material on the British Bigfoot), and which can be found both here and here.

Bigfoot: Going Underground

Over at The Londonist, Neil Arnold highlights an intriguing story I delved into a few years ago on tales of Bigfoot-type creatures roaming the depths of the London Underground...

The British Bigfoot on Coast to Coast

For those who may be interested, I'll be on Coast to Coast on Sunday night through the early hours of Monday morning talking about my new book, There's Something in the Woods.

The times are 11PM to 2AM West Coast Time; 1AM to 4AM Central Time; and 2AM to 5AM East Coast Time. The information on the show at the Coast to Coast website can be found here and here.

Expect much discussion about Bigfoot (both in the UK and the United States); the werewolves of Britain and Texas; lake-monsters; giant winged-things such as Mothman and the Thunderbirds; strange creatures seen in the vicinity of crop circles; ghostly black dogs; big-cats on the loose; and much more.

The Other Beast of Bodmin

Any mention of the infamous Beast of Bodmin Moor inevitably conjures up imagery of large black cats roaming the British countryside. But not always. A couple of days ago I received an email from a man who had an intriguing, but unfortunately, very brief story to relate.

The details, from Keith Fletcher of Derby, concern a story told to him back in the mid-1980s (by a work colleague who hailed from Cornwall) of a "giant monkey" roaming Bodmin Moor 6 or 7 years prior to when Keith heard the story - which would have placed the events somewhere in the latter part of the 1970s.

Keith is currently trying to track down his source; and so hopefully we may learn more in due course.

In the meantime, it's intriguing to note that others seem to have data on what may be the same story.

In his book Big Cats Loose in Britain, author Marcus Matthews says: "On 2nd January 1985, an article appeared in Exeter's Express and Echo about the 'Beast of Bodmin.' I have learned from a relation that in the 1970s and 1980s there were always rumours of an escaped orang-utan ape in the area. Farmers coming home from the public houses were used to seeing a strange pair of eyes looking at them, and a hairy human-like figure disappearing quickly."

Expect more data if and when I get it...

Investigating the Owlman

I mentioned a month or so ago that from time time I would make mention here of other British man-beasts, beyond those of the classic "British Bigfoot" type.

Werewolves fall squarely into the category; and in addition to the posts I've already made on that topic, I'll be posting others here on the subject in the near future.

And there's another type of British man-beast, too: the "Winged Thing." And without doubt, the most famous is the so-called Owlman of Cornwall, whose exploits were so famously chronicled within the pages of The Owlman and Others, written by my good friend Jon Downes.


And for those that may not be acquainted with the facts, check out this link to an article written by Jon on the whole, weird saga.

Ancient Monuments & Sacred Landscapes

As many of you will be aware, I have made mention here of the fact that on numerous occasions the British Bigfoot has been seen in the vicinity of ancient and sacred sites.

Indeed, such stories are a central part of my new book, There's Something in the Woods.

And with that in mind, I'm very pleased to be able to present a guest-blog from Brian Haughton - author of the new book Haunted Spaces, Sacred Places: A Field Guide to Stone Circles, Crop Circles, Ancient Tombs, and Supernatural Landscapes - who touches upon the issue of unusual entities seen in such places in the following paper:

Ancient Monuments, Sacred Landscapes
By
Brian Haughton

By exploring the ancient monuments and sacred landscapes of the world using a combination of archaeology, legend, and folklore, it is possible to obtain a unique insight into the hidden world of our ancestors. But what marked out a place as “sacred” or “special” in the mind of ancient man? There may have been a number of factors, varying from culture to culture and over different time periods.

One characteristic which must always have been of prime concern when constructing these ancient monuments or ritual complexes was the dividing up of the landscape, the separation of the sacred from the profane. Of course the place may have already possessed natural characteristics that made it unique. Recent research into geological anomalies and acoustics at ancient monuments is coming up with some interesting results. However, it seems more likely that it was something much less tangible, more “in the mind” of the inhabitants that made the place “special.”

Designing and building structures such as the ritual complex of monuments at Avebury in the UK, the Bighorn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, USA, and the standing stones at Carnac in northern France may have been a way of “monumentalizing” or enhancing this aura of sanctity, but it was the place itself that possessed the sacredness. The buildings acted as an expression of this sacredness. Often, nothing at all was constructed at a sacred site, its own personal myth-history being enough for it to be venerated (Ayers Rock in Australia is a good example of this).

In any attempt at understanding sacred places, perhaps a good way to begin is by examining some of the legends and lore that have become attached to the sites over time. However, the legends and even the archaeology of ancient sacred places are not sufficient in themselves for an understanding of how our ancestors viewed their sacred landscapes. In the words of American geographer Donald William Meinig “any landscape is composed not only of what lies before our eyes but what lies within our heads.”

To gain even the slightest insight into what was going through the minds of ancient peoples when they designed or visited monuments like the prehistoric temples of Malta or the vast Ohio Serpent Mound, we not only have to reunite ourselves with ancient values and traditions, but also attempt to cut ourselves off from our increasingly materialistic technology-based 21st century worldview.

The stories connected with ancient sites can take many forms, from legends at least a thousand years old, such as that of the wizard Merlin transporting the blue stones to Stonehenge, to modern accounts of UFOs and Bigfoot at, for example, Mount Shasta in California. There is a plethora of folklore connected with ancient sacred sites, especially the megalithic monuments of north Western Europe, a number of which are included in my new book, Haunted Spaces, Sacred Spaces.

The folklore of ancient places has become fairly standardized over the years: they are inhabited by fairies, built by giants or the Devil, haunted by ghosts, guarded by dragons, visited by spectral black dogs or cursed by witches. Stones are said to conceal buried treasure, dance at midday, walk down to a stream at midnight to drink, cause people to lose all sense of time and resist all attempts to move or to count them. The parallels between such folklore motifs and modern “paranormal” accounts reported at ancient monuments are obvious.

Indeed, whilst there is a significant record of folklore directly associated with ancient sacred places, the evidence for the occurrence of paranormal phenomena at these sites, reported in many books, Internet sites and magazine articles, is largely unconvincing. Additionally, much of the research into such phenomena is remarkably uncritical, and the conclusions premature to say the least. A good deal of the evidence for supposed “window areas,” places that apparently attract or produce strange phenomena, is either media generated or consists of exaggerations of local folk tales and legends, as is the case, for example, with a large part of the material related to the San Luis Valley, Colorado, Mount Shasta, California and to a certain extent Mount Penteli, just outside Athens in Greece.

However, in all of these areas there are some genuinely baffling elements to a few of the accounts collected, and this criticism does not mean to suggest that unexplained phenomena are never reported at ancient sites. But if the reports of strange lights, crop circles and bizarre creatures at ancient sacred places are indicative of anything, it is that these places are still regarded as significant enough to attract and generate myth and legend thousands of years after their construction. The important question is, whether these myths, ancient and modern, can tell us anything about the beliefs, ideas and motivation of our ancient ancestors. It is in this sense that ancient sacred sites may be viewed as windows into the past.

But just how reliable is folklore and myth as a guide to prehistory and history? Can legends shed any light on the construction and purpose of ancient sacred landscapes, such as at that around Stonehenge, and the ritual complex centered on Newgrange in Ireland? The majority of scholars of folklore and myth remain unconvinced that such tales can give us any genuine insights into the mind of ancient man. On many occasions the traditional tales surrounding prehistoric archaeological sites are “modern” (post 18th century), as with the tale of the Witch at the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire, UK. If this is the case then it is obvious that although the lore may reflect contemporary ideas about the monuments, which is in itself important, it can tell us nothing relating to the purpose of the site it is connected with.

Nevertheless, if research is undertaken combining folklore and legend with archaeology, as it was at Troy by Heinrich Schliemann in the late 19th century, and is currently being done with the archaeology of Stonehenge and the story of Merlin and the blue stones, then perhaps we can begin to create a richer ancient past, one inhabited by people rather than merely their artifacts and buildings.

The British Bigfoot: Going Underground

The new issue of Fate magazine includes an article from me on mysteries of the London Underground. For years, rumors have been quietly told of encounters with strange beasts seen deep in the tunnels below Britain's capital - including the British Bigfoot. If you're interested in cryptozoological stories of the underground kind and their links with the British Bigfoot, check it out!

The British Bigfoot at The Daily Grail

A new interview with me has been posted to The Daily Grail today. During the course of the interview, we discussed the British Bigfoot, and here's what I had to say:

"In Britain we get a lot of Bigfoot-type reports. In fact, there are dozens on file that span centuries. These reports, and the witnesses, are as credible as any that have come out of the United States.

"And I’ve spoken to many such witnesses in England, and I’m absolutely convinced of the honesty of these people when they say they saw this huge, hairy thing. But there is not a single chance in hell that a tribe or race of giant ape-men is hiding out in the woods and forests of the British Isles – that’s completely ludicrous!

"The size of the country, the nature of the land, and the human population size and range would ensure they would be caught in no time at all. And where is the evidence of the huge amounts of food that creatures of this size would have to ingest every day just to stay alive? Where are all the stripped trees? Where is the evidence? I’ll tell you: there is no evidence!

"Plus, in the UK, many such sightings have been made near old stone circles, archaeological sites, and more. So, yes, people are seeing something – but what, precisely, is a matter of debate. But a large, literal, flesh and blood ape-man: no."

You can check out the rest of the interview right here.

The British Bigfoot: New Info

As I mentioned yesterday, my new book, There's Something in the Woods, contains substantial new data on the British Bigfoot. And to give you an indication, that includes a wealth of new material on the Cannock Chase man-beast; the Man-Monkey of the Shropshire Union Canal; and a host of British werewolf encounters.

MY NEW BOOK: THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WOODS

Well, we ended up getting home a bit early from the July 4th weekend; and as this is the same weekend that my new book - There's Something in the Woods: A Transatlantic Hunt for Monsters and the Mysterious - is published, I figured I might as well go ahead and tell you about it now.

Published by Anomalist Books, it covers my cryptozoological investigations and monster hunts that took place over the course of the last two years.

In early 2006, my wife, Dana, and I moved back to jolly old England to live, and remained there until August of that year - after which we returned to sun-drenched Dallas.

So, basically, the book - as its sub-title demonstrates - is a personalized account of the many and varied crypto-driven exploits and adventures that I embarked on in that same period - on both sides of the Atlantic, and sometimes with a bemused and amused Dana along for the ride.

And what, you may ask, does the book contain?

Well, for Anglophiles - and for those of you that regularly check out this blog - you get much on the British Bigfoot; the Werewolf of England's Cannock Chase woods; strange creatures summoned up within the confines of Crop Circles via ancient rite and ritual; the Devil-Dogs of centuries-past; big-cats; giant snakes; and a dizzying array of other beasts.

And States-side, you will will find a wealth of new material on the Thunderbird and other mysterious winged-things; the American Werewolf; Sasquatch; the Texas Goat-Man; monstrous insects; and much, much more.

Expect much more here on the book - and on the data contained in the book on the British Bigfoot, too - over the course of the next few weeks.

The Dartmoor "Something"

I mentioned last week that I would be posting a hitherto-unpublished story brought to my attention recently by a chap named Bob Shenton, who saw "something bloody odd" on the wilds of Dartmoor back in the winter of 1967.

Bob was driving across the moors late one night (at the time he worked as a plumber and was heading to a house to deal with a case of a burst water-pipe) and - while near the village of Postbridge - came across something decidedly strange.

According to Bob, for the very briefest of moments, and as he approached Postbridge, he caught sight of what looked very much like a large ape-like figure crossing the road in front of him and vanishing into the shadows at the edge of the road.

Interestingly, Bob described the creature as "like a shadow" in the sense that it seemed one-dimensional in nature - which closely echoes the description of the similar beast seen at Bolam Woods by Jon Downes in 2002.

Not only that, Postbridge has been the site for many years of a phenomenon that may very well be related: namely, that of the infamous hairy-hands, which I have discussed at this blog previously.

I am contacting local newspapers in the area to see if anyone else can shed further light on this mysterious encounter. I'll keep you posted.

The Big Gray Man In Print

Over the last few months, the Devon-based Center for Fortean Zoology has been republishing all of its old (and until now), long out-of-print Yearbooks. Well, the good news is that, finally, they are all back in print - professionally bound at very reasonable prices (see this link).

The particularly good (and highly relevant) news is that you can now get your hands on the 1997 Yearbook, which includes an excellent paper from Dr. Karl Shuker on the Big Gray Man of Ben Macdhui (a mountain in Scotland's Cairngorms range).

The Big Gray Man is a strange character indeed. For some (albeit, granted, not many) it's a real, flesh and blood Scottish equivalent of Bigfoot. For most, however, it's a critter that's far more paranormal than it is "real."

Nevertheless, the stories of large footprints, shambling and swaggering figures on the mountain, and the distinct sounds of heavy, crunching footsteps have led to a suggestion that there may be a tie-in with the larger Bigfoot mystery.

And, I'm pleased to say, in his article, Karl does a truly excellent job in relating the history, the sightings, the witness testimony, and the many and varied theories that may explain the puzzle of Ben Macdhui's Big Gray Man.

The whole book is a treat in itself; but for devotees of the British Bigfoot, Karl's chapter alone makes the CFZ 1997 Yearbook well worth buying.

The British Bigfoot in Fiction

Little Mike brings the British Bigfoot to life - in fiction.

The Bolam Bigfoot In A Major New Book

I received in the mail yesterday a copy of the Center for Fortean Zoology's newest book: Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Northumberland and Tyneside by Mike Hallowell.

Basically, this is the first in an ambitious series of books. The idea is that there will be as many books in the series as there are counties in the British Isles - and all of which will focus upon the many and varied reports of weird creatures that have surfaced in the relevant counties - and in some cases for centuries.

Future titles in the series include The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent by Neil Arnold; The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Dorset by Jonathan McGowan; The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Staffordshire by me; The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Co Durham and Humberside by Mike Hallowell; The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Greater London by Neil Arnold; and The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Devon and Cornwall by Jon Downes.

I haven't read all of Mike's book yet; however, I did spend last night reading the chapter titled The Beast of Bolam Lake. As I have noted at Man-Beast UK previously, the story of the Bolam Beast is truly one of the strangest "British Bigfoot" cases to have occurred in the last few years, and is one that culminated in a bizarre encounter for CFZ Director, Jon Downes.

Over the last few years, various people have written online and in-print articles on the Beast of Bolam, but now, thanks to Mike Hallowell, you get the definitive story - in a 39-page chapter, no less.

Comprehensive, packed with data, case reports, eye-witness testimony, and much more, this chapter alone makes the book well worth buying - and for anyone and everyone with an interest in accounts of the British Bigfoot it's essential reading.

As soon as I've finished reading the whole book, I'll be reviewing it over at my There's Something in the Woods and Reviews of the Fortean Kind blogs.

The Other British Man-Beasts: Part 1

I mentioned recently that in addition to reporting on the many and varied cases of so-called Bigfoot-like entities in Britain, I was also going to post the data I have in-hand on other British man-beasts - including werewolves.

Here's two cases from my files:

The first concerns a woman who claims to have seen “a hairy man with a wolf’s head,” roaming around near Loch Morar (a Scottish loch that, notably, also has a longstanding lake monster legend attached to it), and that was further described as “walking on two feet but running on all-fours.”

The witness, now in her seventies, described seeing the creature at a distance of about 70 feet, and said that it “stared at me in a horrible way,” before bounding away.

The second case involves a similar man-wolf seen, somewhat bizarrely, in the early hours of a winter morning on a stretch of road outside of the Scottish town of Oban. In this case, the witness was a mailman on his way to work, who described seeing the creature racing along the road at a very high speed in the opposite direction to that which he was traveling in.

The beast totally ignored the shocked driver, who continued on his journey in a highly agitated state, not quite believing what it was that he had just seen. But he was sure on the facts: that at around 3.00 a.m., and for a few brief seconds, he had encountered a tall, man-like figure with wolf-like features hurtling along the road at breakneck speed.

Part 2 of this series will appear here next week.

Coming Next Week: The Dartmoor Creature

Earlier today, I conducted a fascinating interview with a guy who claims to have seen a large and hairy man-beast on the wilds of Dartmoor in 1967. I'll be posting the information here on Tuesday of next week. Like so many of the other cases I've uncovered, there are distinct paranormal overtones to this particular story.

The Scottish Beast

This is an interesting article on the phenomenon known as the Big Gray Man of Ben Macdhui - and has some equally interesting links at the foot of the page.

Monster!

For those of you wanting to learn more about British Bigfoot accounts, I definitely recommend you obtain a copy of Monster! by Neil Arnold. An excellent A-Z style book, it details the sightings of a number of encounters with strange creatures that can be said to fall into the British Bigfoot category.

For example, Neil writes about the "Bilington Beast": a hairy, man-like creature seen in fields and woodlands in the English county of Kent in 1961. Neil also discusses the "Big Gray Man of Ben Macdhui"; the "Brecon Beast"; the "Brenin Llwyd"; and the Dundonald Creature, which Neil describes thus:

"This intriguing monster was said to haunt Dundonald Hill, in Kilmarnock, Scotland, for many centuries and possibly to the present day. The dogs of the local castle were often unsettled by an unseen presence in the grounds; a shadowy figure known to haunt the trees and the shadows."

Delays of the Bigfoot Kind!

I've been tied up with various work things over the last few days, but the good news is that I have some excellent new leads on British Bigfoot encounters I'm following up on; and some notable reports that I'll be posting here later this week.

And, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm gonna start posting soon some of the other British Man-Beast reports I have that fall into other categories: such as sightings of werewolves and Owlman-type creatures.

The British Bigfoot at YouTube Debate Reaches the Media

The controversy surrounding the YouTube footage said to show a Bigfoot-style beast in Britain's Peak District has now reached the eyes and ears of the nation's media - albeit very briefly! Here's the link.

The British Bigfoot on Film: The Controversy Continues

Well, in the wake of my earlier post about alleged footage of a British Bigfoot posted at YouTube, I've been contacted by five people who claim to have in their possession either (a) footage or (b) photographs of such similar beasts. Time will tell if anything ever comes of these claims. If the evidence surfaces, or even if the tales simply evaporate into nothingness, I'll keep you posted.

Offline

I'll be offline from now until Tuesday.

A British Bigfoot at YouTube? A Hoax? You Decide...

I was alerted earlier today to this piece of footage that was posted at YouTube, and that was supposedly taken in Britain's Peak District. From the accents of the people present, it sounds like they are from the Stoke-on-Trent/Rugeley/Stafford areas of Staffordshire. The film briefly shows something man-like in the woods.

Of course, You-Tube is full of films like this...

The Man-Monkey: A New Encounter

Hopefully, in a week or so, I'll have the complete details of a new sighting of the infamous Man-Monkey of the Shropshire Union Canal's Bridge 39. This encounter reportedly occurred at in the summer of 2007. More details soon as I have them all.

My New Book And The British Bigfoot

As you'll see from this link, Anomalist Books have published online-details of my forthcoming new book: There's Something in the Woods. Those of you interested in the British Bigfoot will find lots of material in its pages to keep you occupied. I'll keep you posted as soon as I have the exact publication date.

Man-Beast Mysteries

A story that surfaced to me in 2000 and that most definitely deserves a mention here came from a man who declined a personal meeting with me and even declined to reveal his name; but who, in a lunchtime telephone-call, briefly told me how he had personally heard of an encounter with a strange creature at the height of the Second World War.

According to the tale, the man was a twelve-year-old in 1943 when a young evacuee – a boy of about nine or ten who hailed from somewhere in London - came to stay with his immediate neighbors: in Woodseaves, a village in Staffordshire that has been the scene of more than a few man-beast-type encounters since the 1800s.

The pair would regularly play in the woods and fields around Woodseaves during the summer of that year; however, a degree of dark melancholy overcame the young Londoner when he confided in my caller that he had overheard the husband and wife he was staying with quietly discussing one night a strange event that had occurred several days earlier: namely the sighting by the husband of a large, hair-covered thing "like an upright bear" that had been seen walking menacingly through Woodseaves shortly after midnight.

The witness had apparently been deeply disturbed by the encounter and swore his wife to complete and utter secrecy. My source knew no more than that and had not spoken to the boy from London for more than half a century; however, for what it was worth he said that he wanted to relate the details to me, as he thought I would find them interesting. I most certainly did! I thanked the man and he quickly hung up the telephone; never to call again.

On the Road

As I'm kind of racing around, getting ready for a weekend of lectures, I'll be offline from now. But I'll be back on Monday with a regular and varied supply of info on the British Bigfoot. Have a good weekend!

Coming Soon...

In just a short time from now (I'll keep you posted when I have the exact date myself), I will have a new book out that details my cryptozoological investigations undertaken over the course of the last two years. The book contains a wealth of new material on the British Bigfoot; and as soon as I'm able to, I'll summarize the data here. Suffice it to say for now, however: the number of incidents that have occurred in the British Isles is reaching truly dazzling levels...

Ben Macdhui: The Film

Here's something definitely worth checking out: a film and blog dedicated to the Big Grey Man of Ben Macdhui. There's some great stuff here, including good background on the legend, the film, sightings, and much more.

The British Bigfoot: On-Line Links

The Chase Post newspaper (which covers the English town of Cannock) has a number of articles posted on-line that deal with the British-Bigfoot controversy that dominated the area - and specifically the Cannock Chase woods - in 2006. Here's the link.

The British Bigfoot and the Problem of Food

In his classic book The Goblin Universe, F.W. "Ted" Holiday discusses various reports of the so-called British Bigfoot, including the famous Big Gray Man of Ben MacDhui.

Holiday also discusses the report of one James Alan Rennie, who, in December of 1952 "...came across some strange tracks about a mile from Cromdale in Lower Speyside and took pictures of them. They ran across a stretch of snow-covered moorland. Each print was 19 inches long, and about 14 inches wide with about 7 feet between steps...He followed the tracks for about half a mile until they terminated at the foot of a pine. About 20 yards further on they resumed again on a piece of arable land which they traversed, then went down a hill to the river and finally terminated, spookily enough, opposite the village churchyard."

Holiday reveals that in Rennie's opinion the tracks were the result of "warm air coming into contact with cold air and producing blobs of water. The meteorologists, however, have never heard of such a phenomenon and have no idea how it might work."

Holiday also made an excellent point. Although his following words are directed at Bigfoot, they could easily apply to its British cousin (and perhaps more so, too, given the nature of the British Isles, its landscape and potential food supplies in the wild): "Real animals stay alive by eating. Giant primates, such as the gorilla, feed almost continuously during daylight, and in no dainty fashion...Bigfoot of the North American west coast, however, allegedly lives in coastal evergreen forests which produce low-energy food of the poorest quality. It is impossible to imagine this miserable fare could sustain a race of eight-foot-high anthropoids..."

Holiday's words are highly problematic for those who see the British Bigfoot as a flesh-and-blood animal. Where is the evidence of its massive feeding activities? The answer is simple: nowhere.

Online Interview

Earlier this week, I was interviewed by Ghost-Mysteries.com about my research into cryptozoology. The interview has now been posted online and can be found here. We discuss a variety of crypto-related issues, including the British Bigfoot and paranormal aspects of the subject.

Man-Beast Secrets

Jon Downes' excellent autobiography, Monster Hunter, includes a fascinating "British Bigfoot"-type story, the roots of which can be traced back to the height of the Second World War. It's an account full of high-level conspiracy, dark-goings on at a Devonshire hospital, strange medical files, disturbing family secrets, and the presence of a hairy man-beast that was rumored to be either a genuine wild-man, or possibly an unfortunate individual afflicted with hypertrichosis. Whatever the truth of the affair, it's a story that is as intriguing as it is significant. If you're interested in tales of hairy man-beasts on the loose in the British Isles, this one from Jon is a valuable addition to the data in-hand.

The Wild-Man of the Beach

One of the strangest stories I ever heard - and that can be said to fall firmly into the realm of the British "Wild-Man" - came from a man named Morris Allen, who told me how, early one morning in 1968, he had been walking with his dog along the coast near the town of Orford (which also happened to be the site of another man-beast encounter centuries ago), when in the distance he saw someone squatting on the sand and leaning over something.

As he got closer, Allen said, he could see that the man was dressed in what appeared to be animal-skins, and was tearing into the flesh of a dead rabbit. The man was dirt-encrusted, with long, tangled hair and had wild, staring eyes.

Allen held his dog tightly, and could only watch with a mixture of fascination and horror. Suddenly the man held his head aloft and quickly looked in Allen's direction, as if he had picked up a scent.

The man quickly scooped up the remains of the rabbit, bounded off into the grass and was lost to sight. He was never seen again. We'll probably never know if this was some sort of true Wild-Man, or an eccentric soul who had taken to living in the woods of England's east-coast.

The Chatham Thing

Many thanks to Neil Arnold (author of Monster! - an excellent book that everyone with an interest in cryptozoology should own) for the following report.

As Neil says:

"August (day unknown) 1975 WALDERSLADE, CHATHAM.

"A female witness named Maureen, who was eighteen at the time, was with her boyfriend, late at night, in local woods near Sherwood Avenue. They were chatting and her boyfriend decided to bend down and light a fire. As he was doing so, Maureen saw two glowing points of light just a few feet away that she took to be eyes. They belonged to a hulking, hairy creature that she could just pick out in the darkness, and it stood a couple of feet above her, making this creature around six to seven-feet in height.

"Maureen watched the figure, but was too transfixed to alert her companion, and then, the eyes seemed to lower and the form disappeared behind the undergrowth, but she sensed it was still there, so, without trying to worry her partner, she simply asked to leave.

"She never spoke of the encounter for some thirty years often asking herself afterwards if she’d seen the Devil! Skepticism may arise over such matters but across the UK there are legends of such 'wildmen', and as you will read in other cases from Kent, such glimpses of red eyes and hulking humanoids, albeit scarce, do occur."

Click here for more of Neil's work.

Monster Artwork!

This great piece of artwork of a glowing-red-eyed British Bigfoot was recently done for me by a very skilled artist named Simon Wyatt. Si will be following up with his own unique renditions of other mysterious beasts, including the Owlman and the Goatman.
Check out his work at http://www.comicspace.com/simonwyatt/; at http://simonwyatt.blogspot.com/; and at http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/simon_wyatts_portfolio/default.aspx

On the Road

I'm on the road again from now until late Sunday, but will be back with more British man-beast news on Monday of next week.

A Close Encounter of the Hairy Kind...

In January 2003, the Midlands-based newspaper, the Express and Star, published an article titled Night Terror With a British Bigfoot that described a very close encounter with a mysterious beast near Staffordshire's Cannock Chase woods - a location notorious for its assocation with unusual and unidentified creatures.

The newspaper reported that the witness had described seeing a "huge, ape-like creature at the side of the road on Levedale Lane between Stafford and Penkridge." He told the newspaper that:

"I was driving my [Ford] Fiesta [car] down the road towards Penkridge and as we approached a house, the security light came on. I saw something in the corner of my eye. It was coming towards the car, running very fast. It wasn’t a dog or a deer. It was running like a human would run, but it was really hairy and dark. It came level and jumped at the car but just missed. My friend turned round and said it was huge and had run through the hedge and across the field. I turned the car around but there was no sign of it."

There are countess such reports from the Chase, and over the next few weeks I'll be posting all my archived reports here.

Defining a Man-Beast

Although this blog is chiefly designed to alert you, the reader, to accounts, theories, ideas and more that are all relative to the so-called "British Bigfoot," there is another British man-beast that may play a role in some of these cases: the werewolf. I have in my files numerous reports of werewolf-like entities seen all across the British Isles, and for centuries - some of which have been seen in precisely the same locations as the giant, hairy men. And as with many of the Bigfoot reports, the British werewolf encounters also have more than an air of the paranormal about them. So, with that in mind, over the next few weeks and months I intend posting all of my werewolf-related data here too. It may just shed some light on the British Bigfoot reports - and vice versa, of course.

The Crowlas Whistler

Well, having (just about!) survived the desert heat at the Retro UFO gig in California, I'm back to blogging on the British Bigfoot.

The details of the following story are very brief (and were provided to me in 2001); but if anyone can fill in the blanks, or add more details, let me know. According to the source, the legend dated from the late 1700s and was cited within the pages of an old document found in the belongings of a noted family of landowners in Cornwall.

So, the story went, it was 1789 and, on at least three occasions late at night, an immense monkey-like creature was seen prowling around in the vicinity of Crowlas, Cornwall. The beast was described as being around eight feet in height and would make a strange whistling noise that was interpreted as a call.

Most notable of all: when the creature was last seen, it literally vanished in an almighty flash of light during a thunderstorm - something which, in some ways at least, closely echoes the story of the so-called Beast of Bungay...

Going Off-Line

I'll be offline from now until next Tuesday, as I'm lecturing at the Retro UFO conference in California. But as soon as I get back, there will be much more on the British Man-Beast!

The Hairy Monster of Childs Ercall

Approximately eight years ago, I interviewed a woman named Eileen Gallagher, who related to me how a friend of hers – named Janice - had undergone some sort of very traumatic encounter late at night with a man-beast in the village of Childs Ercall – which can be found in the English county of Shropshire.

Gallagher had lost touch with Janice in the late 1970s; however, she still well-recalled the salient facts. So the story went, it was back in 1971 and Janice was fifteen at the time and living in a nearby village. After an evening spent with her then-boyfriend at the home of his parents in Childs Ercall, Janice was happily riding her pedal-bike back home when she was shocked to see a large, hairy animal dash across the road directly in front of her, while simultaneously glaring at her in a menacing fashion as it did so.

Eileen Gallagher recalled that Janice had told her that the animal was human-like in shape, was covered in long flowing dark hair, possessed a pair of bright yellow eyes that "twinkled," and had a black-skinned and "shiny" face.

Interestingly, the Bigfoot-style entity seen by Janice in Childs Ercall was not the only weird creature said to inhabit this otherwise utterly normal and pleasant little English village. Indeed, legend has it that centuries ago a deadly mermaid was said to lurk in a pool there. In 1893 (in his book The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England, Including Rivers, Lakes, Fountains and Springs), the writer Robert Charles Hope described the story as follows:

"…there was a mermaid seen there once. It was a good while ago, before my time. I dare say it might be a hundred years ago. There were two men going to work early one morning, and they had got as far as the side of the pond in [a] field, and they saw something on the top of the water which scared them not a little.

"They thought it was going to take them straight off to the Old Lad himself! I can’t say exactly what it was like, I wasn’t there, you know; but it was a mermaid, the same as you read of in the papers. The fellows had almost run away at first, they were so frightened, but as soon as the mermaid had spoken to them, they thought no more of that. Her voice was so sweet and pleasant, that they fell in love with her there and then, both of them.

"Well, she told them there was a treasure hidden at the bottom of the pond - lumps of gold, and no one knows what. And she would give them as much as ever they liked if they would come to her in the water and take it out of her hands. So they went in, though it was almost up to their chins, and she dived into the water and brought up a lump of gold almost as big as a man s head.

"And the men were just going to take it, when one of them said: 'Eh!' (and swore, you know), 'if this isn't a bit of luck!' And, my word, if the mermaid didn’t take it away from them again, and gave a scream, and dived down into the pond, and they saw no more of her, and got none of her gold. And nobody has ever seen her since then. No doubt the story once ran that the oath which scared the uncanny creature involved the mention of the Holy Name."

The Green-Faced Monkey of Churston Woods

Back in the summer of 1996 - and over the course of approximately six weeks - various reports surfaced from within Churston Woods, Devon, of sightings of a monkey-like animal with a green face. Whatever it was, it doesn't appear to have been merely an escaped little pet. Rather, it's height was said to be in the region of 5-feet, and it was seen swinging through the trees with tremendous agility.

It wasn't a local, in other words!

Here's a great link that reveals more, and which includes some excellent photographs demonstrating the general weirdness that envelopes the area.

The "Giant, Great, Growling Hairy Thing"

In a new article, Neil Arnold (pictured), author of the cryptozoological A-Z guide titled Monster!, reveals how, back in late December 1981, "a giant, great, growling hairy thing" was seen in London's Hackney marshes by four boys playing in the thick snow.

Precisely what the beast was still remains a mystery to this day. However, the police took the case very seriously: fifty personnel - including armed officers - descended on the scene as they sought to determine the nature of the creature.

Rumors that the beast was a bear gained weight when a number of bear-like tracks were found; there were stories of people running around in ape-suits; and much more of a distinctly weird nature flooded the area - including the revelation that in the previous year, two decapitated bear corpses had been found in the River Lee.

Notably, a mysterious "upright bear" was reported on a number of occasions in 1993 and 1994 in Oxfordshire's ancient Wychwood Forest (for more details, see the article titled If You Go Down To The Woods Today, written by Jan Williams, and published in the July 1994 issue of the Center for Fortean Zoology's magazine, Animals & Men).

The Somerset Bigfoot

Once again, from that fountain of knowledge on the British Bigfoot, Jon Downes, come several stories of encounters with hairy man-beasts - this time in the picturesque county of Somerset.

As he says: "Somerset, has been the scene of several sightings. One occurred in a quarry and another on the barrows where what was described as a large, crouching manlike form, covered in dark, matted hair and with pale, flat eyes, was seen."

Jon continues:

"And the area around Smitham Hill in Somerset has also been the site of a number of such encounters. For example, many years ago the area around what is now an abandoned mine was linked to tales of strange beasts seen watching the miners. Sometimes, on returning to work in the morning, the men would find that carts and equipment had been pushed over and thrown around during the night.

"But these things, whatever they were, are still seen in that area today - or at least as late as November 1993. This is an exact quote from a witness whose case is in my files: 'I was on a walk through the woods, when I heard a twig snap. I thought nothing of it and continued on. Suddenly the dogs became very agitated and ran off home. At this point I became aware of a foul smell like a wet dog, and a soft breathing sound. I started to run, but after only a few feet, I tripped and fell. I decided to turn and meet my pursuer only to see a large, about seven feet tall, dark brown, hairy, apelike man. It just stood, about ten feet away, staring at me. It had intelligent-looking eyes and occasionally tilted its head as if to find out what I was. After about twenty seconds it moved off into the forest.'"

The Beast of Brassknocker Hill

It was midway through 1979 when the woods of Brassknocker Hill, near the English city of Bath, became a beacon for high-strangeness. In July of that year, Ron and Betty Harper discovered that something powerful and unknown had torn the bark off their old oak tree; the local animal population - including squirrels and birds - seemed to have curiously fled the area; and sightings began to surface of something prowling the area by both day and night.

Whatever the creature was, it was variously described as resembling a large chimpanzee, a gibbon, a baboon, a large spider-monkey, a lemur and even a bear. Eighty-one-year-old Brassknocker Hill resident Frank Green took up a shotgun vigil and said: "I am very fond of some animals, but I reckon this creature could be dangerous and I am taking no chances."

By the following summer, the mystery seemed to have been solved: a policeman caught sight of what was said to be a "large chimpanzee" in the woods. "We were sure this mystery creature would turn out to be a monkey of some sort," said Inspector Mike Price. "After all, men from Mars aren't hairy, are they?"

But rumors of strange activities at Brassknocker Hill persisted.

And although five years later, another weird animal was seen in the area (it turned out to be a pet llama that had escaped from a local paddock) the mystery of the "large chimpanzee" seen back in 1979 was never resolved.

Sources: Bath Chronicle, September 9, 2002; and data supplied by Jon Downes.