Ghosts -His Luminous Chamber.

  

The reference to a flickering light seen on a wall during the 1846 All Saints haunting is not unusual.  That great investigator of the ghostly, Elliott O’Donnell, even referred to a triangular shaped light at one haunted house.  BBC TV’s Nationwide programme in the 1970s broadcast images of a ball of light in an old squash court and voices, allegedly, of dead RAF men. 

    So there is nothing new.  However, a whole room fully illuminated?

    R. MacDonald Robertson, who was stationed at Trowbridge Artillery Cadet School during World War One, and off duty visited Taunton where he gleamed the account of a Mr. T. Westwood.  It was Westwood’s account of “The Luminous Chamber” that the writer produced in his 1962 article (1).  The account reads:-

            “In the year 1840 I was detained for several months in the sleepy

            old town of Taunton.  My chief associate during that time was a

            fox-hunting squire –a bluff, hearty, genial type of his order, with

            just sufficient intellectuality to temper his animal exuberance.  Many

            were our merry rides among the thorpes and hamlets of pleasant

            Somersetshire: and it was in one of these excursions, while the

            evening sky was like molten copper, and a fiery March wind coursed

            like a racehorse over the open downs, that he related the story of

            ‘His Luminous Chamber’.

 

            “Coming back from the hunt, after dark, he said he had frequently

            observed a central window, in an old hall not far from the roadside,

            illuminated.  All the other windows were dark, but from this one a wan,

            dreary light was visible;and as the owners had deserted the place, and

            he knew it had no occupant, the lighted window became a puzzle to

            him.

 

            “On one accasion, having a brother squire with him, and both carrying

            good store of port wine under their girdles, they declared they would solve

            the mystery of the Luminous Chamber then and there.  Before opening the

            great door, however, my squire averred he had made careful inspection of the

            front of the house from the lawn.  Sure enough,the central window WAS

            illuminated.  An eerie, forlorn-looking light made it stand out in contrast to

            the rest –a dismal light, that seemed to have nothing in common with the

            world, or the life that is.  The two squires visited all the other, leaving the

            luminous room till the last.  There was nothing noticeable in any of them, but

            on entering the luminous room a marked change was perceptible.

 

            “The light in it was not full, but sufficiently so beneath them to distinguish

            its various articles of furniture,which were common and scanty enough.  What

            struck them most was the uniform diffusion of the light;it was as strong under

            the table as on the table,so that not single object projected any shadow.  He

            told me, too, that he had not been many seconds in the room before a sick

            faintness stole over him, a feeling –such was his expression, I remember,--as if    

             his life ‘were being sucked out of him’.   His friend owned up afterwards to

            a similar sensation.

 

            “It had always been the same, the old porter grumbled; the family had never

            occupied the room, but there were no ghosts—‘the room had a light of its

            own’.

 

            “A less sceptical spirit might have opined that the room was FULL of

            ghosts –an  awful conclabe—viewless, inscrutable, but from whom emanated

            that deathly and deafly luminousness.

 

            “My squires must have gone the way of all squires ere this.  After life’s fitful

            fever, do they sleep well?  Or have they both been ‘sucked’ into the luminous

            medium, as a penalty for their intrusion?”

 

    This account is very interesting in that it does not fit into the usual pattern of hauntings.  In fact, can it be classed as a haunting or should it just be classed a mystery?  There is also an extremely interesting aspect of this account that tally with other phenomena -UFOs for one.

 

    The mention of “faintness” and the sensation of the life “being sucked out of him” is very much like the sensation reported by witnesses in some close-up sightings of globular UFOs.  It is believed that this is a side effect of some type of radiation.  If we take into account the fact that this strange light affected one room only, which was never occupied it seems even more likely that the room was a focal point for some type of electro-magnetic phenomena.

    The hall is not identified, more is the pity.  Today, if we knew the location, even if the hall has since been demolished, we might still find reports of “odd lights” seen over the area in question.

    We may never know.  “His Luminous Chamber” has kept its secret.

 

 

 

Ghost Stories…….Henacre Road Haunting, The Arnos Vale Hotel and "The Evil Dwarf Highwayman"!

 The following is taken from Some Things Strange & Sinister (see end of post)

*******************************************************

 

    The “Henacre Road Haunting” very briefly got into the Press in 1990 (1 & 2).  Apparently, Kim Jye and her children had moved into the 1960s first floor flat in Henacre Road, Bristol, sometime in 1988/1989 –the local council would not specify the exact date.  By August, 1990, a priest had been called in.

 

    Kim Jye had reported seeing the ghost of a man wearing dark trousers, white shirt and “with an old-style bobbed haircut” on at least four occasions.  But the 21 year-old was not the only witness.  Christopher, 3 years-old, had a rather bad time of things in his bedroom.  According to a statement buy his mother: “My little boy would not sleep in this particular bedroom for at least seven months –he said a man was coming to get me.”

    The newspaper account didn’t make it quite clear whether young Christopher was stating that he’d merely seen the ghostly figure and felt it was ‘after him’ or his mother.

    Whatever, Father Michael O’Regan, of Our Lady of the Rosary, was called in and he performed a blessing ceremony.  By July, however, the events at the flat had driven Kim Jye and her three children to take refuge at her mother’s home, the first blessing having failed.  Father O’Regan contacted Bristol City Council who took the alleged haunting seriously.  Mike Griffiths, a council spokesman, told a reporter:-

                 “We are taking it seriously.  We are taking it as a legitimate

                 problem, taking it on face value, bearing in mind we have a

                 letter from a man whose moral credence must be impeccable.”

    Presumably the Jye’s were moved.  The council would not discuss the matter as it concerned a tenant and they could give no information.  I have not managed to track down Kim Jye and there appears to have been no further disturbances at the flat –which I am aware of.

    The Parkside Hotel stands next door to the ITV West TV studios, Brislington,

Bristol.  In the 1970s I had visited the hotel on a number of social occasions, as I had been in the local newspapers regarding other investigations at the time I was recognized by one staff member who furtively asked me: “Are you on an investigation here?”  When I pointed out I was attending a function the person in question clammed up and left.  I later learned he was an assistant manager.

    The twenty-two room hotel itself dates back to 1760 and was at one time a convent for the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. In 1997 a Dutch TV crew stayed in the hotel to see whether they could film anything.  As far as I can find out they never did.

    But what was being seen at the hotel?  According to Chris Romer of the Cheltenham Student Parapsychological Society Research Group (CSPSRG), who had been one of the investigators to look into the goings on in 1996, quite a lot was happening. 

    There had been reports of a ghostly nun walking across the restaurant by several witnesses.  Of course, the nun ties in with the old convent which, interestingly enough, some of the witnesses had not known about.

    Then there was the bar –and any number of jokes you can make out of ghosts seen in bars.  Sounds had been heard and what was called a “poltergeist” had moved glasses in the bar.  However, as noted in the chapter on the Ghost of All Saints Church, this was not what you could categorize as a poltergeist but rather a haunting in which objects were moved.

    According to Manager Rob Green, when I talked to him in 1997; “quite a few people who work at night have seen some odd things.”  Mr. Green suggested I contact the CSPSRG as they were preparing a report.   It was now Chris Romer who told me of events at the hotel while his team was investigating.

    A camera was set up in one particular room which had a rather bad history: apparently visitors had not stayed in it very long.  A male and female investigator were left to keep the room under observation and the camera had, I was told, picked up a vertical bar of red light that appeared above the bed.  There was embarrassment over the next part of the report; apparently the two observers felt “odd” and the next thing they were engaged in frantic sexual activity!  More the embarrassing because, apparently, neither was “very keen” on the other.

    There were also other manifestations and a report/case file did exist.  However, by 1998, Mr. Romer still had not been able to find out who had this document (3-5). 

    In 2005 there was a report of another ghost sighting at the hotel by a staff member –this filtering through to me from a newspaper reporter.  The hotel has kept its mystery tenants it seems.

    But there are other little known ghosts in Bristol and some hark back to the siege of Bristol during the English Civil War.

    Having been born and raised in the St Werburgh’s area of the city, I and other kids liked visiting the old bomb sites in the early 1960s and especially the “haunted houses”.  We also trekked regularly to Eastville Park and Stapleton Woods.  Prior to his attack on Prince Rupert in the Civil War, Cromwell had mustered his New Model Army in the area of the woods.  I had heard, as a youngster, of a ghost in the woods but as none of the gang had ever seen it why worry about it?

    A Roundhead figure was once seen quite regularly; he would approach people as if to say something –but then walk right through them.  Had the Roundhead seen the modern day walkers –and if he had, did they suddenly vanish in front of him?  I can find no record of the figure being seen after the 1980s, quite odd.

    My grand dad, Bill, being “Hanham born ‘n’ bred”, told me that a serving girl whose name had been Sally, lived on a farm in the area and during the Civil War refused to tell the Roundheads where Royalists were hiding.  In an attempt to escape, Sally got to the roof –it’s uncertain whether she jumped or was thrown or was simply killed there.  Her ghost has always been seen on the roof though I have failed to discover which farm –if it still exists.

    Another spectre no longer seen, I believe since the 1970s, is “The Starving Monk”.  At a time when saying Mass was illegal, priests often visited stately homes and were  hidden in “priest hid holes” if the authorities turned up.  The ghost in question was said to haunt Oldbury Court and originated from a time when there was a stately home in the area.

    The monk was said to have been hidden, forgotten and to have starved to death –a not very likely tale.  But for a long time the monk was seen but modern changes may not conducive to ghostly wanderings?

    Another ghost that I have heard very little of in recent years was that of Jenkins Protheroe, aka: “The Evil Dwarf Highwayman”!  Protheroe would beg for money but if he didn’t get as much as he had expected he had a novel method of getting more –he held up the person in question and robbed them.  However, you can only get away with this behaviour for a certain amount of time.  Protheroe was captured and tried for his crimes.  In 1783, at the top of Pembroke Road, Clifton, Protheroe was hung and haunted the area –but no longer? 

    I’m still trying to find out whether a German Luftwaffe aircraft did crash at the old Whitchurch Airport during World War Two.  The area, now Hengrove Park, has been undergoing a great deal of development in recent years and I’ve heard of no sightings of a German pilot said to haunt the site. 

    Interestingly enough, the mid-1990s saw a rash of ghost reports.  At Mulberry headquarters, Kilver Court, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, “something” was up-setting the security guards.  Everyone was keeping tight-lipped but one security guard reported that when he switched off all the lights they were suddenly turned on again – this happened several times as well as other “strange things” happened but that was all we learned of the affair (6 & 7).

    In 1995, another couple fled their council home due to a ghost.  Michaela Barber and her partner, Shane, lived in a house in Leg Of Mutton Road, Wells, Somerset.  Things would often vanish from where they had been placed and were not seen again.  On one occasion, having left the house, the couple looked back and saw a curtain very clearly lifted.  No one living was in the house.

    One morning, at 8.00 a.m., the couple fled their home and swore never to return.  Apparently, Michaela had found her five-months-old baby under his high-sided cot. 

     A toy TV suddenly turned itself on.  Again, tenant confidentiality meant the council would not tell us where the couple were eventually moved to (8 & 9).

    But we note, again, this movement of objects –and  that includes the baby.

    The Royal Clarence Hotel, Bridgwater, Somerset, was in the news, albeit a small column (10), in 1982.  Why so little space was given to the incident in question seems odd because the ghost spoke to a member of staff.

    A woman in white had been seen many times over the years, several times outside a blocked off door which used to lead to the minstrel’s gallery.  Mrs Rita Walsh had worked in the hotel kitchens since around 1977/1978 but had seen nothing odd.  In December of 1982 this changed.

    Mrs Walsh was working alone when she saw the infamous woman in white move toward her.  Mrs Walsh told a reporter:

                  “When the woman approached, I tried to scream for the

                  night-porter, but I just couldn’t get a word out.

 

                  “The ghost told me I should not be frightened as she

                  would not hurt me.  She was so friendly that I was

                  able to ask her why she wasn’t resting, and she said

                  she just couldn’t, then she disappeared.”

    Just what do we make of this?  That a ghost actually spoke to the living without a so-called “medium”.   There are types of this phenomenon according to researchers.

    The most common form of ghost appears to be what might be called a “Crisis Apparition”.  This is usually a “vision” or disembodied voice of someone under great stress –at the point of death, for example.  This vision/voice is seen or heard by someone close the person in crisis.  As we know nothing really about the process of dying it is possible –possible—that there may be some kind of telepathic link between the dying and loved ones.  In many cases, no doubt, these may be self-induced visions of a dying loved one by a person.

    The “Collective Apparition” where more than one person sees a ghost.  This can be at a séance or some other locale.

    The “Haunting Ghost” is where a ghost walks about, plays or looks out of a window, is seen seated or going through some other mundane task.  Here you could class the Parkside Hotel nun or even the Royal Clarence Hotel woman in white.  Some parapsychologists feel a “psychic record” of a person may be “imprinted upon a place of tragic death, a beloved garden spot or room.

    Then we have the “Presence” where “something” is most definitely felt but nothing seen or heard.  These reports may indicate some form of electro magnetic or other phenomena creating a localised effect felt by person present –such as in the “Luminous Chamber” case.

    There are also the “One-Offs” –ghosts seen at a location with no spectral history known to the witness, investigators or others in the area.

    “Poltergeists” (angry/noisy spirits) have been recorded since at least the 12^th century.  Unexplained bangs, crashes, foul smells, sudden cold spells in a house or place, inexplicable voices, objects appearing and disappearing and even levitation of of victims are “symptoms”.   Here we can place the Lamb Inn, ”Coonian ghost”, the      Parkside Hotel and the Leg Of Mutton Road events.   Parapsychologists use the phrase Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK).   ‘Demons’, ’Satan’ and even elementals have been blamed in these cases –but then so have adolescent girls/boys who are seen as the “focus” in these cases.

    In the Leg Of Mutton Road affair there was no adolescent, only a baby.  We are not aware of an adolescent in the All Saints Church case either.

    But that leaves us with the woman in white at the Royal Clarence.  Here ‘she’ knew Mrs. Watts could see her and was alarmed but placated the witness by telling her no harm would befall her!  When asked why ‘she’ was not resting, the ghost responded to the question.

    How –how—can a dead person’s ghost walk around knowing his/herself to be deceased and start up a brief conversation?  The Royal Clarence case isn’t the first of this type of “conversation” either.  It infers, rather strongly, that there is life after death and in some cases, well, hundreds of cases, something has prevented the dearly deceased from “passing on” –“finding eternal rest”.

    This I simply find impossible to accept for so many reasons.  Billions of people have lived and died on this planet and “Heaven” must be suffering some severe over-crowding!  There takes place one disaster after another adding thousands upon thousands more souls to the ‘population’ –and what of dead animals - the highly intelligent dolphins?  Is it just humans who go into an “after life”?

    Scientifically, I cannot accept that.  So what is going on?  The truth is that I will keep on investigating and, one day, hopefully I can have a ‘conversation’ with something like the woman in white!

______________________________________

A4 Format

B&W

Paperback

358 pages

Heavily illustrated

£20.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/some-things-strange-sinister/paperback/product-19qknz2d.html

After more than 40 years as an investigator and more than fifty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as..  

The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn, The Ghosts Of All Saints Church, Dead Aquatic Creatures of Canvey Island, captured bigfoot like creatures in India -all exclusively presented for the first time and with new added research previously unseen.  

PLUS a vastly expanded section on Spring-heeled Jack!  Photographs, maps, line drawings and up-dated to make 358 pages looking at Things truly Strange and Sinister.  

Cryptozoologist,Ghost Hunter,Ufologist or Fortean:this book has something for everyone -including the just plain inquisitive!   

ContentsForeword by Travis L. Whitehurst
Introduction        de occultis non judicat ecclesia                                                                            
The Bristol Rocking Horse        
The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn        
The Coonian Ghost        
The Ghosts Of All Saints Church        
His Luminous Chamber        
The Late Reverend Dr. Blomberg        
And More Ghost Stories        
The Thomas B. Cumpston Case        
The Chupacabra        
The Strange Case Of The Gotherington Gargoyle        
What’s Tall,Hairy And Vanishes?        
Mystery Beasts Of Ireland        
The Creature Of The Dump        
The Strange Creature Of Repton Woods        
The Bizarre Legends,Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack        
The Black Beast Of Darmstadt        
The Nameless Thing Of Berkley Square        
The Terrifying Case Of The U.S. Naval Transport        
The Case Of The Ghost Lear Jet        
Ghost Planes,Crashes And Dead Aquatic Creatures        
The Mitchison Loch Ness Monster Video        
From The Deep Below To The Air Above –USOs        
Aerial Encounters Over Austria        
A Crashed UFO In 1790?        
Angel Hair        
Quimper-Corentin:Where “Thunder Fell”        
Strange Aliens From Space        
The Llandrillo ‘Saucer’ And Other Crash Retrievals        
Transient Lunar Phenomena,Alien Structures And Moon Vegetation        
Whiddon Down-Saint-Jean-du-Guard:Impossible Correlations?        
The Venezuelan HorrorA Final Word.

The Barking Beast of Bath: The Facts!

This was just posted on Cryptozoology Facts ('Facts') along with this illo:

"This image by Rob Morphy is said to depict the Beast of Brassknocker Hill. It is described as a bear-like animal that was seen near Bath, England. The beast began to rip bark from trees in the area, the first people to notice this were Ron and Betty Harper in July of 1979. On the 1st of August, people in the area began to notice it happen more often. Over 50 trees were stripped of their bark in that short time.

"It was originally thought to have been a big cat species but other eyewitnesses reported a creature that didn’t match that theory. One anonymous witness said that he saw the beast while driving at night. It was about 4 feet in length and had white rings around its eyes. While it is assumed to be some sort of bear, the creature remains unidentified and guesses of what it could be range from baboon to panther. Nevertheless, the mystery remains. Bears and big cats are not native to England."

There was only one investigator of the events and that was me (as fully documented in my book). The above follows years of rather fringe cryptozoologists making things up and just downright lying because none of what is posted today on the case is tyrue.

    People ask me why I feel so insulted when someone decides to call me a “Fortean” or “Cryptozoologist”.  Let me explain.

    Well, Charles Hoy Fort apparently objected most strongly to the creation of a Fortean Society.  Most Forteans, even when they get one hundred per cent incontrovertible facts, will mix in half truths or even lies to “fill in the gaps” concerning an event.  They say it is “in the spirit of Charles Fort”.  Yes, Fort liked a bit of dry wit but that was his style.  To say that, as a Fortean, you are challenging science to look at mysteries is pointless if you cannot give straight facts.  That is why Forteans are seen as a loony fringe.

    Cryptozoologists.  Well, there are those who stand out in my mind: Ivan T. Sanderson, Bernard Heuvelman, Loren Coleman and John Green.  These people put in the work and reported facts, though a small amount of speculation is needed in this subject –but based on zoological knowledge. 

    Then there we have “The Others”.  These people like to pretend to be scientific but will appear on TV, radio and in the newspapers making fools of themselves and in some cases issue the most sensationalist or downright stupid statements that they later have to retract because someone checked and pointed out they were talking rot.  These people will tell you with an inane chuckle: “No such thing as bad publicity, old chap!”  They will also plagiarise.

    If the latter type could be gotten rid of then I might not be too insulted if someone asked whether I was a cryptozoologist.

    I prefer naturalist-research investigator.

    The case of the so called “Barking beast Of Bath” is a prime example and what these Forteans, Cryptozoologists and others say thirty years on I’ll come to later. First, the case itself and I need to point out that the incidents took place in the Limpley Stoke, Monkton Combe and Claverton Woods area not in Bath itself.

    At the time of this case I was acting jointly as Director of UFO International and running a branch of the late Ivan T. Sanderson’s SITU (Society for the Investigation of The Unexplained).  Both slotted in nicely with being Regional Investigations Co-ordinator (RIC) for the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA).

    It was BUFORA that seemed to want to get me involved and the Press seemed to be desperate for any UFO group to get involved!  The BUFORA National Investigations Co-ordinator at the time,Maureen Hall,sent me three newspaper clippings and urged me to get actively investigating –I was promised that more revealing information would be forwarded soon.

    Suddenly, my phone began to ring non-stop with local and national reporters from newspapers, radio and TV asking how my investigation was progressing?  I was told several times that “BUFORAs Press Officer said you were the man to contact”.  I got the hint that more was going on than I was being told.

    The Bristol Evening Post of 12^th August, 1980, reported:

 

            “Beware of the Beast!  Anyone stalking the mystery

            beast of Brassknocker Hill, Bath, could be in for a

            nasty shock,RSPCA Inspector Peter Meyer warned

            today.  Renewed hunts are being made for

            the creature after a policeman and a taxi driver

            saw a monkey about three feet tall near the woods

            behind the hill at the weekend.  The beast first

            appeared last summer,damaging trees and

            frightening wildlife.  Efforts to track it down failed.

            Today Mr Meyer said: ’If it is a chimp or a

            Monkey and it has been living in the wild for so

            Long it could be extremely dangerous…”

    The item went on to state that Mr. Meyer’s search on the 11^th had been unsuccessful but that he planned another search that day.  Mr. Ron Harper, a retired cabinet maker, who was then living on the edge of the woods, was convinced that this “beast” was a monkey.  He told reporters:

            “It has been here in the wood all the time but it

            comes out in August when it gets warmer and the

            new shoots appear on the trees.  We think that it was

            let loose from a car, probably by a foreigner who

            didn’t want to report the loss.”

 

    Mr. Harper repeated the same theory to me.  As much as I looked I could find no UFO angle.  The Daily Mirror of 12^th August had a field day and what it was reporting was “interesting”.  It reported that a “strange furry creature” was first seen in the August of 1979 and went on to inform its readers that:

            “…shaggy shapes and glaring eyes made some of

            the locals think twice about venturing out at night.”

    When I talked and corresponded with Mr. and Mrs. Harper they made it very clear that they were in no way afraid of the creature.  Mr. Harper was not amused by the Daily Mirror report.

    John Elphinstone, a taxi driver, was driving along when the beast, according to reporters, “hailed him” from the roadside.  A strange shaggy creature in the British countryside flagging down a taxi just was not on and so a policeman was despatched to the scene was just in time to see the creature lope off.  Inspector Mike Price of Bath Police said:

            “We were sure that this mystery creature would turn

            out to be a monkey of some sort.  After all, men from

            Mars aren’t hairy are they?”

 

    I decided that I really needed to track some of these people down and see what they were really seeing and thought.  According to most of the reporters Bath’s neighbourhood was being invaded by night-crawling hairies from Pluto!

    My first port of call was the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Bath office.  I tried to telephone and make an appointment to meet Mr. Meyer.  It took several attempts but I then spoke to someone who asked me to hold on.  I waited for minutes and was then told “Mr. Meyer is not here.  Can you leave your telephone number?”  The way it was said I knew I was getting the brush off.  I pointed out that I would be in Bath the next day –perhaps if I popped in?  Silence.  Then several excuses as to why Mr. Meyer might not be in the next day. 

    I left my telephone number and asked if he could contact me urgently it would be greatly appreciated.  I was using my naturalist hat and never even once mentioned UFOs, shaggy men from Mars or anything of the kind.  By nine o’clock in the evening it was obvious Mr. Meyer was not going to return my call.

    The next day I concluded my business at the Ministry of Defence in Bath and walked around to the RSPCA office.  The person I spoke to said Mr. Meyer was not in that day but I showed my semi-official (non-UFO) credentials and the lady went through a door to reappear several minutes later with another lady.  I was told that Mr. Meyer’s would not be in and was on leave anyway.  Glancing through a window I saw a man whom I recognised from a TV news item as Mr. Meyer rush into a car and drive off.

    I actually laughed out loud.  The two ladies stared.  I handed a business card to them and pointed out that I was not a nut-case but a naturalist and I was interested in talking to Mr. Meyer -confidentially if need be- about the concerns of residents regarding the animal in the woods.

    I never did hear from Mr. Meyer or find out why he avoided me –though a few years later I did get offered one explanation and it involved the “beast”. I also found out that the people at the RSPCA knew I worked with the police.

    When I later contacted the Bristol RSPCA to explain my interest and the situation I was told, without a moment of hesitation: “You ought to try the Primate Protection League.”  So, I contacted the International Primate Protection League and explained my interest as a naturalist.  No response to my letters.  I tried telephoning but was asked to leave my number and someone would get back to me.  No one ever did and this was the Secretary of the League.

    I then tried to get a response from the League’s local representative, Mr. tony Pain.  No call back after I left a message.  No responses to letters.  I was beginning to think the shaggy men from Mars were mind-controlling people –and that’s a joke, just in case someone thinks I’m being serious!

   A reporter –a stringer for The Daily Telegraph—contacted  me and asked if I had heard about the strange lights being seen at night at the same time that the beast was seen stalking the area?  I was getting fed up and fast.  So I contacted Bath Police and a very helpful officer told me:”Oh, right. You really need to read the Daily Mirror article!” 

   The situation was becoming a farce.  It seemed half the reporters in the country were out at Brassknocker Hill.  I needed to talk to Maureen Hall at BUFORA and find out just what the additional information was that she hinted BUFORA had.  I got through to Maureen and after a few pleasantries got down to brass tacks and asked just what it was BUFORA knew because as far as I was concerned all that had been reported was an escaped primate.  I was promised “certain information” was going to be forwarded to me very soon.  Whichever way I asked I just could not get any hint of what this information was.

An area changes a great deal in thirty years-luckily I still have my old field map showing how sparsely populated the area was in 1979/1980.  H6 marks the Brassknocker Hill area.

    I’d already visited the area where, apparently, “everyone” was said to be either out searching, hunting or pursuing the beast.  I saw no one.  Locals responded to my question: “Have you seen the RSPCA man or journalists around?” with a look of surprise and, usually, the words: “Are they supposed to be around here?”  It seems that, apart from local BBC TV and ITV news types who went “a bit potty” when the story broke, that was it.

    It’s easy to suppose that the article that appeared in The Guardian on the 23^rd August, 1979, had much to do with the mystery and confusion.  However, when I contacted the reporter, Mr. Dennis Barker, he could not recall much other than that there was “something” to do with UFOs.  All his notes were gone anyway –though he did later find a couple of contact numbers that I had already told him I had.  This was very surprising since it turned out that it was Mr. Barker who tried to rope in UFO International in 1979 –a year before BUFORA had contacted me.

    Barker’s article reported that the four feet tall (1.2m) tall beast had shattered the peace of the little village “using its Draculaesque teeth”.  I ‘love’ reporters.  The beast gave the impression of wearing white (framed) spectacles.  Pigeons, magpies and jackdaws had vanished from the area and bark had been stripped off trees as far up as twenty feet (6 m).  Yes, this is why it was hailed “the barking beast of Bath”, not because of any vocalisation but because it tore bark from trees.  If it had barked I’m sure that it would have been reported as stalking the quiet village with “werewolvesque teeth”!

    The theory was put forward, though I have no idea by whom, that the beast must be able to hang upside-down and lean over to do the damage.  The beast always did its work at night it seemed.

    Bless him, but Mr. Harper then gave reporters (mainly Mr. Barker) a morsel that they could use to boost the story even more.  Mr. Harper reported that it was some kind of rodent.  And he wrote that a man from the Bath Parks Committee had paid a visit and stated:

           

                       “You know, Mr. Harper, if I was not talking silly, I

                       would say that you have a squirrel ten times

                       bigger than normal.”

 

    I’m glad he wasn’t “talking silly”; though I have mused over that line many a time.  Mr. Harper also wrote that the teeth marks found were “ten to twenty times the size of a squirrel’s”. Red Squirrels from Mars, perhaps?

    I think we need to interject a few facts into this madness.  When I spoke to the head of the Bath Parks Committee he admitted his man had made the remarks quoted by Mr. Harper.  He wishes that the man had not but he did and was not thinking anyone would publish them.

    There were no Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the woods around Monkton Combe, Limpley Stoke or any part of Bath.  So that would leave the Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), of which there was some evidence but I got the distinct impression that squirrels, like magpies and pigeons, were “fair game” to humans so the drop in numbers might not be that unusual.

    The total length of a squirrel skull is around 54 mm (just over 2 ins) and has a hind foot measurement of roughly 2.5 x 3 cms (around 1-1.25 ins) The body length is 24+ cms (roughly 9.5 ins); the tail on average is 15.24 -22.86 cms (roughly 6-9 ins).  The body weight 250-400 g.

    So, if in proportion with the teeth at 10-20 times the size of normal, you would get a squirrel with a 50.80-101.60 cms (20-40 ins) long jaw; a 25.40 -80cms (10-20 ins) hind foot not to mention a 2.29 - 4.88 m (7.5-16 ft) long body to which we can add a 1.53 - 3m (5-10 ft) long tail. More worrying, it would weigh around 2500 – 5000 g (5.5-11+ lbs) body weight -and the ability to hang upside-down while leaning over! 

    Impressive.  No wonder some foreigner passing by dumped it from his car.

    The Harpers noted that their pet goat would not go near to one tree that the beast had “attacked”.  There were some fifty other trees damaged in a similar fashion in the area. 

    At the time of the stripped bark being discovered, no one had actually seen the alleged beast or, at least, had they it was not reported.  This all changed when, at around 00:30 hours, Mr. Christopher Morris and a friend were driving through Monkton Combe.  Both saw the beast in the middle of the road, illuminated by the car headlights. “It” was 3-4 feet (90cms- 1.2m) tall and had what seemed to be bright white rings around the eyes which was interpreted as looking like spectacles.  Interestingly, Mr. Morris thought that the beast “looked like a baboon”, though his companion was quite adamant that it was a chimpanzee.

    Being young and stupid I decided to check the area out and lived rough for a week, not telling any locals who might be hoaxing or unintentionally mention the fact to hoaxers.  Each evening I climbed up into a different tree.  I covered myself in dirt and leaf sap to try to hide my smell –and not for the first time.

    In that entire week, while the RSPCA and reporters were supposedly moving around by the handful I saw no one.  No RSPCA Inspector.  No member of the International Primate Protection League.  Not a solitary reporter.  Definitely no gigantic extra-terrestrial squirrel.

   Well, I did hear someone one evening; a couple decided to go to a tree nearby where they got rather “involved”.  I couldn’t very well make a noise to let them know I was up a tree close by or else they may have wondered just what I was doing up the tree.  I also had to consider the possibility that the police might be called and then I would have to explain to them what I was doing.  I closed my eyes and put my fingers in my ears –one has standards.

    I did find one quite old track in dried out mud that looked like a chimpanzee foot but damp had gotten into my camera and when I later returned with casting material there were deer tracks obliterating it.  But by a shed frequented by the beast there was a strong smell.  One I knew all too well.  While a student at Greenway Boys School in the early 1970s, there was a visit from the owner of the Westbury-on-Trym Wildlife Park a nice spot to visit in Bristol back then.  The owner had, in those pre Dangerous Wild Animals Act days, brought along a chimpanzee with a couple more mundane creatures.  As the chimp was held up to be handed to me it decided to relieve its bladder. A lot.  That smell, mentally, has stayed with me for a long time now, but in 1979/1980 my hair stood on end when I smelt that same odour again.

    I checked but there were no droppings I could associate with a chimpanzee.  Ron Harper had told me that he had seen a chimpanzee on several occasions and. later, his widow re-iterated that they had both seen the chimpanzee on a stone wall that stood next to one of the damaged trees –the tree their pet goat would not go near.

    A few years later (1996) when I wanted to see whether anyone else might have plucked up courage to finally report their own sighting, I received at least two phone calls from different sources telling me that there could be between 2-3 chimpanzees loose in the area.  I checked but it seemed, as I suspected, to be nothing.

    I had, through a contact, seen the statement made by two police officers who had clearly seen a chimpanzee –one had been to Bristol Zoological Gardens a few days before and spent some time watching the chimps.  Sadly, as is procedural, the reports were later destroyed along with other files when “dead”.

    But 1996 saw a letter arrived from the Isle of Benbecula, in the North Atlantic.  The taxi driver mentioned in the press reports, Mr. John Elphinstone, was now living on the isle but a relative had sent the article mentioning the beast to him.  He wanted me to know that he was familiar with chimpanzees and their habits and was worried it might be approached by a child or member of the public with an image of friendly “chimp tea party” creatures in their heads.  It was because he saw the animal so clearly that he contacted the police and he pointed out that the policeman had gotten a good long look at it –not the brief glimpse suggested by the press. 

    Back in 1980,smelly,cold and really needing a bath,I arrived home and immediately telephoned Maureen Hall.  I told her that it was clear that one of the odd lights seen in 1979 was a meteorite as that had been seen by amateur astronomers I knew.  The other lights seemed to be aircraft and a military helicopter.  I emphasised that there was no alien or aliens running around the area.  What I was then told helped me decide to leave BUFORA.

    I was told that the new chairman had instigated a big publicity push and had been contacted by Mr. Barker and a seeming promise of publicity was made (but never kept).  BUFORA had been told about the meteorite and other information suggested to them that aircraft lights were the “UFOs” and because there had been a report from the south east of England of a UFO and “monkey-like alien in silver” they decided to get me to investigate: though they never had any doubt it was an escaped chimpanzee.

    Speculation was that Mr. Meyers was a friend of Mr. Pain, the local Primate Protection League man and one of his colleagues.  Mr. Barker, when I spoke to him on the telephone told me he would send a list of people he’d spoken to and added: ”Check out where the Primate man lives”.  Mr. Pain lived in Limpley Stoke.  The suggestion, unsubstantiated, was that somehow the wall of silence was due to a chimpanzee escaping locally.

    The stripped bark that I saw looked as though it had been torn off in places but clearly squirrels had been at work on others.  No sign of giant squirrel anywhere.

    But the idea that the beast “comes out in August when it gets warmer and the new shoots appear on the trees” was mind boggling.  It was very unlikely that a chimp could have survived the Winter of 1979-1980 out in the open.  On the 12^th December,1979,it remained at 8 degrees Celsius for a 24 hour period with sharp drops in the temperature throught out the month.  In January, 1980 to temperature was fluctuating between 4 degrees Celsius in the day and 2 degrees at night –and those were town temperatures.

    Foraging would not be good for a chimpanzee.  My guess was that a chimpanzee kept in the area, had escaped twice; once in 1979 and again in 1980 and on both occasions was recaptured after a few days, though chimpanzees once they get the liking for it become habitual escapees as Longleat Safari Park found out in the early days.

    It was as simple as that.

    I wrote a report on this for the Flying Saucer Review which rejected the item because I could not see the cosmic game being played out by paranormal forces.

A more lengthy item was written and sent to The Fortean Times which acknowledged it’s receipt and I was told in a later phone conversation with one of the editors that the article would appear in the next year (over ten years later and I’m still waiting)

    However, UFO groups as well as various Fortean sources got copies of the report and two even published the articles.  The editor of one still wanted to make it a Fortean mystery despite the facts and still does. I’ve even put the article online sending out links.  So, just to “see”, I ran an internet search.  Not one source gives factual accounts and American Monsters, Man Beast UK, Farshores, Scottish Big Cats, International Folklore Tales as well as Tinwiki all list the Beast Of Brassknocker Hill as either some paranormal Bigfoot type, simple myth and even worse.

    Rather like the Dead Aquatic Creatures of Canvey Island (related in Some Things Strange And Sinister)very little detail is given and even the basic data is distorted to keep it a mystery, yet I have had several articles published in widely read magazines explaining the events!

    When HTV set two very young producers the task of making a 25 minute documentary on the affair in the mid 1990s they were given complete files and I arranged for them to meet and film those witnesses still alive.  On the day of filming I waited but no TV crew.  Apparently they had decided to opt for a group of sensationalist Cryptozoologists who had never even visited the area and the whole programme turned into a very amateurish and horrendous to watch “Blair Witch Project” spoof –the higher ups at TV Centre were not amused and I don’t think the producers worked for HTV again (one later told me that the fiasco meant his demotion).

    So, please understand why I don’t like being called a Fortean or Cryptozoologist.

               *******************************************************

A4
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Follow-up to Some Things Strange & Sinister.  For those interested in Ufology, cryptozoology, hominology, unusual natural history, ghosts and mysteries in general.

The secret history of gorillas -before they were officially 'discovered' along with exclusive lost photographs.  Wild men of Europe, the UK and US; from the bizarre to blood chilling. Hominology.

Giant snakes.  Amazons. The Giant serpent of Carthage. Girt Dog of Ennerdale.  The Beast of Gevaudan. Crocodiles in the UK. Silent City of Alaska.

And much more.  Updated with extra pages and photographs.