WEBVTT - S04 Episode 1: Alone With Everybody (Pt 1 of 2) 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:03.120 There's nothing better than feeling comfortable in your own shoes, 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:05.200 and that doesn't mean flopping down on the count with 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:08.560 bunny slippers. Maybe you're a parent raising a little rock star, 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:11.399 or a techno man working from anywhere and jumping from 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.400 one thing to the next. Whoever you are, All Bird 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:16.680 wants you to be comfortable in your actual shoes too. 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.640 Their wool runners, pipers, and loungers are designed for a 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:21.560 level of coziness that makes you feel like you can 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:24.759 do anything. You might even forget your wearing them and 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:27.280 their shoes are so stylish they go perfectly with a 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:31.280 wear whatever I want attitude. All Birds is all about 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:33.839 loving mother nature too, because no one wants to leave 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.280 a bad footprint. Each shoe is carefully crafted from natural 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:40.760 materials that tread lightly on our planet, from ZQ certified 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.680 Marino wool to a bouncing midstill made from sweet foam, 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:47.880 the world's first carbon negative EVA material made from sugarcane. 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.680 When it comes to work, communication is key, even if 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:55.480 you don't have a riding job. Sounding unconfident, indecisive, or 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.600 passive aggressive can hold you back professionally and hurt your 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:03.160 team's productivity. 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Go to gramley dot com slash 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.959 podcast to sign up for free, then get twenty percent 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:45.160 off when you upgrade to premium. That's twenty percent off 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:59.560 at gramley dot com slash Podcast. At the northern edge 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:04.360 of the Guialing Brecon Beacons in Cumerie, under the shadow 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:08.320 of Penny Fan to the south and the Black Mountains 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:14.280 to the east, there sits a large stone house, long 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:18.400 and narrow with its rickety roof and jumbled patchwork of brick. 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:23.320 It lies at the intersection of two winding lanes, surrounded 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:27.840 by a thick ring of oak alder and which elm 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:32.880 hidden from prying eyes by the holly, the hawthorn, and 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:38.799 the ash. From the front, ivy paurs greedily at its 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:42.120 northern flanks, almost as if it were trying to drag 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.880 it down and into the ground, while from the back 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.360 the way the earth rises up into a rugged clearing 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:52.600 of thick scrub. You'd be forgiven for thinking it was 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:59.480 part way to succeeding. Its name is heel Fannock, or 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:04.040 in English road to the Peaks, a reference to the 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:09.680 hills and mountains that overshadow it. An entry point of sorts, 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:14.800 or perhaps a gateway, as some might say. Constructed in 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.920 the nineteen fifties, like a repurposed limb grafted onto the 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:22.880 remnants of an old barn, it is comprised largely of 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:25.800 stone taken from what was left at the old sixteenth 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:30.200 century manor house, the lichen covered ruins of which can 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:33.760 still be found hidden deeper amongst the trees at the 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:40.160 very back of the garden. It is May nineteen eighty nine, 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.720 and all is quiet save for the distant chatter of skylarks, 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.200 while high above light tufts of cloud in the bright 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:55.160 spring sky draw shadows across the roof. They drift lazily 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:59.240 from front to back, east to west, slipping down onto 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:03.480 the thick grass before heading into the trees and disappearing 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:11.440 somewhere beyond. Inside, silence rains as dust mots float through 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:16.800 soft beams of light. Spiders twitch in dark corners. The 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:22.880 barn door creaks up above, a large crow comes to 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.719 rest on the chimney, pop digging its beak into its 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:30.160 feathers as it preens, when suddenly its head jerks up, 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:37.080 the eyes alert to something rustling in the undergrowth. Moments later, 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:43.440 something else, far more ominous is heard, the faint sound 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:49.239 of an approaching vehicle. With a strained squawk, the crow 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:54.240 spreads its iridescent wings and launches into the air, rising 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:58.480 away and over the tree tops before it too disappears 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:05.200 somewhere beyond. Back down below, he old fannock sits quiet 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:09.120 and still as the sound of the engine draws ever nearer, 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.880 until finally a car turns into the front drive and 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:19.680 pulls up outside the house. Silence returns for the briefest 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.960 of moments before the front door swing open and its 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:28.719 excitable passengers spill out into the warm spring air you're 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:41.360 listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard mc lean smith. Thirty 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:45.239 year old Liz was first to exit, followed by her partner, Bill, 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:48.920 thirteen years her senior, from the other side of the car, 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.640 a big smile spreading across her face as she caught 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:57.000 his eye. Fourteen year old Lawrence, Bill's son from a 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:01.480 previous marriage, was the last to get out, slowly extricating 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:07.200 himself from the back seat. Liz, her pregnancy bump just 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.560 beginning to show above her waist, paused to take it 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:13.800 all in as Bill and Lawrence set about unloading their things. 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.600 It was even more beautiful than she remembered, She thought, 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.600 the perfect place to raise their baby and begin afresh, 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:27.919 free from the distractions of the past. For Bill, it 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.600 was the sheer remoteness of the place and the large 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:34.359 studio space above the barn that had first appealed. A 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:39.160 gifted and renowned artist of predominantly surrealist pop art pieces, 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.560 Bill had become increasingly frustrated with how much his time 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:46.600 was being taken up with his more commercial endeavors, creating 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:51.719 decorative boxes and other pieces for the casual consumer. He 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.480 old Fannock he hoped would be a chance to rediscover 0:06:55.600 --> 0:07:01.800 the true artist inside him. For most in similar circumstances, 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.080 it is easy to become distracted by the excitement of 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:09.039 a move, to become wrapped up in the accompanying sense 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:13.720 of optimism it often brings. It is also easy, when 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:17.040 in such a state, not to notice things that at 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:21.440 the time might otherwise have seemed a little off kilter. 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.160 The receipt for six pound sixty six that Bill found 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.480 shortly after moving in, taken from the last meal the 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:34.920 couple eight before arriving at the house, for example, or 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:38.640 the sixty six pound sixty grocery bill they would incur 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:45.240 shortly after. There were certainly no signs of anything untoward 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:49.480 that first summer, as the family settled into their new lives, 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.400 bringing a whole host of life to join them in 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.480 their new adventure, from cats to goats and even a 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:01.080 pig named loose Cinder, and with a steady run of 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:04.760 orders for Bill's work coming in, it wasn't long before 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.520 he was finally able to dedicate some time to his 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:13.400 more personal and fulfilling work. By September, Liz and Bill 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.280 were married, and the following month, as if to top 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:22.280 it all off, her waters broke despite some initial complications. 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:27.880 Come November, the couple welcomed new arrival, Ben into their 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:33.760 dream home. Life, as they say, couldn't have been more sweet. 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:46.600 But all that was about to change. It was one 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:50.400 afternoon in mid November when Liz stepped out of the 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:54.360 house for some fresh air. As a sudden gust of 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.800 wind rustled the leaves in the trees. She was struck 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.760 for the first time by just how quiet it usually 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.760 was out there, as if no birds ever seemed to 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:09.160 alight in the garden. Perhaps it was just the drawing 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:12.400 in of the nights, or how winter had stripped the 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.520 leaves from some of the larger trees, leaving her and 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:20.880 the house feeling a little more exposed than usual. But 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.640 as Liz watched the pale sun drop below the horizon, 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:29.800 sending majestic crepuscular rays shooting white gold across the sky, 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:36.240 it wasn't a sense of wonder that she felt, but dread. 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.520 Early one morning, with all the family laying fast asleep, 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:48.080 Baby Ben begins to twitch in his cot, kicking out 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:52.679 with both legs, with his hands squeezed up into little fists, 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:57.280 and his face beginning to Redden and scrunch up. Finally, 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:02.720 his mouth opens wide and he begin to cry. Liz, 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.560 having woken instantly, switched on the light and gathered Ben 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:10.160 from the cot as she prepared to feed him. A 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.640 weary Bill pulled back the covers and headed toward the 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:19.280 toilet downstairs. He had just started to pee when an 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:24.480 unexpected noise startled him, a loud, hammering sound that seemed 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:29.600 to be moving along the corridor above like heavy footsteps. 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:34.199 Bill froze as the apparent footsteps near the top of 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:40.720 the stairs before coming to a sudden stop. Assuming it 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.280 to be his son, Lawrence, Bill headed back upstairs, only 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:48.920 to find the corridor completely empty and Lawrence's bedroom door 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:53.840 now closed. He switched off the light and returned to 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:57.560 his own bedroom, where he found Liz quietly placing Ben 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:02.920 back into his cot. Bill asked if she'd heard anything too, 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:08.440 but to his surprise, she hadn't heard a think. He 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.640 poked his head back into the hall, switched on the light, 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:15.880 and stood watch for a moment, keeping his eyes trained 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:20.240 on the studio door at the far end. Hearing and 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:24.680 seeing nothing, he switched off the light and returned to bed. 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.880 The following morning, Bill and Liz were stunned to receive 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:41.240 an exorbitant electricity bill from SWALEC, the South Wales Electricity Board, 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.840 which was almost four times what they had been expecting. 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.240 That afternoon, as she sat down on the bed to 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:53.680 feed bed, Liz couldn't stop thinking about the extortionate invoice 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.800 and what Bill had said the previous night that he'd 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:03.319 heard something moving about the house. Although it was true 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:07.400 that she hadn't heard anything herself, there was something that 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:13.400 she hadn't mentioned that recently in her private moments, she 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:17.240 had begun to feel as though something was watching her. 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.480 Just then, the studio door at the far end of 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:26.720 the house slammed shut with a bank, startling Liz. Momentarily 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.440 thinking it was nothing, she returned to feeding her baby 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:36.360 when a second closer door slammed shut, startling her again. 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:42.480 It must be Lawrence, she thought with annoyance. With her 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:46.079 eyes now trained on her own door, Liz jumped again 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.160 when the sound of a third door being slammed was heard, 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:54.960 this time leaving her utterly frozen in fear, for although 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:59.000 the noise seemed to have come from inside her own room, 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:03.840 the door hadn't moved an inch. Bill, who had heard 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:07.520 the bangs from downstairs. Burst in moments later to find 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.880 a scared and confused Liz struggling to comprehend what had 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:15.360 just happened. Convinced it had something to do with Lawrence, 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:18.440 she demanded that Bill tell him to pack it in, 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:24.760 but Bill didn't understand Lawrence hadn't been home for over 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:36.320 an hour. Bill called the electricity board at the first 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:41.200 opportunity to dispute their invoice, eventually forcing them to send 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:46.320 an electrician round to monitor the meeter. Unfortunately, they found 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:50.360 nothing wrong with it, though they couldn't say exactly how 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:54.600 the family were racking up such a large bill. Something 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:59.000 in that house was draining the electricity one way or another. 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:04.559 It was about the same time that Bill started noticing 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:09.000 a foul smell emanating from somewhere in the kitchen, as 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:14.280 if something putrid had been set on fire. A plumber 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:17.160 was duly called to locate the source of it, but 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:23.920 found nothing untoward. As winter reproached, life at the house 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:29.920 superficially at least carried on as normal. However, though the 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:33.280 couple had yet to acknowledge it to each other, both 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.480 had the sense that something of the atmosphere in their 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:43.200 home had recently shifted. A few days later, Bill received 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:47.840 a disappointing phone call from a major client. They were 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.200 terribly sorry, they said, but they would have to cancel 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:56.920 their order. Conscious of the unwieldy electricity bill still hanging 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:01.800 over their heads, Bill tried to remain up beat. After all, 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:06.880 he still had another large order to fulfill. Later that afternoon, 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:13.600 they canceled too. As the holiday season approached, Bill and Liz, 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:17.040 with their newborn son and Lawrence, who they felt was 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:21.960 becoming increasingly withdrawn, found themselves in the grip of a 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:26.840 very domestic sense of uncertainty. For by now, Liz and 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:32.000 Lawrence were noticing those footsteps too, and the occasional eruptions 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:36.560 of the inexplicable putrid stench that continued to plague their home. 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:43.240 But most of all, they couldn't escape that unmistakable, skin 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:50.040 crawling sensation that something else was in there with them. 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.760 Are you always taking care of your family? Do you 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.920 often take care of others and not yourself? Now it's 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:00.640 time to take care of yourself, to make time for 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:04.320 you you deserve it. TELEDOC gives you access to a 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.400 licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:11.680 best to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc, you can 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:15.200 speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video. Therapy 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.480 appointments are available seven days a week from seven am 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:22.560 to nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed sometimes 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:27.200 maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, or 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.880 you might be struggling with a personal or family issue, 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:35.600 teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:38.480 so they make it easy to change counselors if needed. 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:43.560 For free. Teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers. 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.880 Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:54.520 Unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com 0:16:54.560 --> 0:17:04.359 slash Unexplained Podcast. After sharing a first Christmas together in 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.040 their new home, not least for the benefit of Lawrence 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:11.760 and their baby's son, Bill and Liz agreed to not 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.520 let the disappointments of the last few months and the 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:19.960 increasingly strange events get the better of them. It wouldn't 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:26.119 be long, however, before they were being challenged again. Early 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:30.000 in the new year, Liz entered the barn overjoyed to 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:33.320 find their goat Lulu had given birth to two kids, 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:38.119 but when she neared them, her excitement turned to horror. 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:44.400 Though one kid seemed bright and healthy, the other lay 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:50.560 completely still, its tiny glassy eyes fixed and rolled back 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.959 into its head. The mother had crushed it with her 0:17:55.040 --> 0:18:00.560 hind legs shortly after it was born. Not long after that, 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:05.879 Lucinda the pig was found brushing about the barn, screaming wildly. 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.840 A few days later, she was diagnosed with a rare 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:15.200 disease for which, towards no cure, the devastated family had 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:21.159 no option but to have her put down. Liz tried 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.240 her best not to overthink it at all, to put 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:29.119 it down to unfortunate coincidence, but when Bill's orders started 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:35.000 drying up too, she couldn't ignore it anymore. Picking up 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:38.520 the phone one morning, she took a deep breath and 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:45.240 died a few moments later, Bridget Buscombe, the previous resident 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:52.200 of Hugh or Fannock, answered the corps. After introducing herself, Liz, 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:56.880 cautious not to sound too odd, proceeded to ask Bridget 0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:01.639 about her time living in the house. She was disappointed, however, 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.560 to learn that she had only fond memories of her 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.840 experiences there, but as the pair were just saying there 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:15.280 good byes, Liz sensed a slight pause from Bridget's end. Actually, 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:24.800 she said, Finally, there was one thing, yes, replied Liz. Once, 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:27.800 when she had been lying alone, reading in bed, with 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.600 her husband away on business, she became aware of a 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:36.320 very gentle creaking sound. Looking across to the other side 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:40.399 of the room, she was astonished to see her antique 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:46.480 spinning wheel slowly turning of its own accord. She had 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:49.720 stared at it utterly perplexed for a number of seconds, 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.679 before eventually rising from the bed and jamming it with 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:59.719 a piece of paper. She knew it, thought Liz. They 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:08.320 had hadn't been imagining it after all. As if in 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:12.400 response to Liz's renewed conviction that something untoward was occurring 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:17.480 in their home, the strange activity intensified, and in early 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:22.679 March they finally agreed to seek help. A priest was 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:26.119 found to bless the house, and although he didn't notice 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:29.960 anything himself, the family were reassured by his lack of 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.000 judgment and determination to help, and in the days that 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:37.720 followed the house seemed lighter and more spacious than it 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:42.840 had done in months. One morning, after Bill had driven 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:47.080 into town to run some errands, Liz took Ben for 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:52.679 a warp. When she returned for the first time she 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:57.600 could remember, Liz felt pleased to see the house, smiling 0:20:57.600 --> 0:20:59.800 warmly at the sight of her husband in one of 0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:02.840 the top floor windows as she made her way up 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:10.040 the driveway with Ben. But then her smile dropped. Bill's 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:15.160 car was not in the driveway, meaning it wasn't her husband. 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:22.919 Standing at the window. With her breath quickening, Liz forced 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:28.760 herself to look up again. There staring back at her 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:32.720 from inside the house was the gaunt face of an 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:39.480 elderly woman she didn't recognize. A moment later it was gone. 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:45.880 Left terrified at the recent turn of events, but unable 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:49.840 to afford a move elsewhere, the couple turned their attention 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:52.760 to the history of the local area in the hope 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:56.959 that they might uncover something to help understand what seemed 0:21:57.119 --> 0:22:02.679 to be stalking their home. Soon after, a builder, responding 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:05.840 to a hopeful article placed by Bill in the local paper, 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:10.600 got in touch. There was something he thought the couple 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:14.920 should know. The man, as he went on to explain, 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:19.760 had helped build the house in the nineteen fifties. At 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:23.360 some point during construction. He and his co workers were 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.320 gathering stones from the ruins of the old manor House 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:30.000 when they came across a set of old, smashed up 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:35.160 headstones in amongst the rubble. Could it be? He wandered 0:22:35.960 --> 0:22:39.119 that the house had in fact been built on the 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:51.199 site of the old manor houses burial ground. One afternoon 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:55.240 in the spring of nineteen ninety, Bill was upstairs working 0:22:55.240 --> 0:22:58.479 in his studio when Liz, who was just finishing cleaning 0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:01.840 up in the kitchen, had the sudden urge to check 0:23:01.840 --> 0:23:06.760 on their baby. With a rising sense of panic, Liz 0:23:06.880 --> 0:23:10.920 hurried to the bedroom. Rushing through the door, she looked 0:23:10.960 --> 0:23:14.200 up in horror to find sitting in the chair opposite 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:18.399 the crib the same elderly woman she had seen looking 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:24.240 at her from the window. A second later, she was gone. 0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:29.200 The next morning, Bill woke in agony to find both 0:23:29.240 --> 0:23:34.280 his hands strangely dry, the skin red and cracking all 0:23:34.280 --> 0:23:38.359 over them. The sudden affliction left him unable to paint 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:43.640 for weeks on end, But just as the increasingly oppressive 0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:48.320 atmosphere in the house was threatening to overcome them, the 0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:52.040 mood was lifted when the couple learned that Liz was 0:23:52.119 --> 0:23:58.120 pregnant again. The joyous revelation left them more determined than 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:03.960 ever to find an end to the problems. Local spiritualist 0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:08.119 Ray Williams was recommended to the couple, having apparently succeeded 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:14.240 in helping other parishioners in similar situations to themselves. Arriving 0:24:14.359 --> 0:24:19.000 one bright April morning along with two colleagues, he swiftly 0:24:19.000 --> 0:24:21.960 set about examining each room of the house for any 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:27.960 sign of psychical disturbance. Within minutes, Williams was in no 0:24:28.080 --> 0:24:33.679 doubt that something dark had found its way into the property. 0:24:34.160 --> 0:24:37.080 A few days later, with Liz and the children staying 0:24:37.119 --> 0:24:41.000 at her mother's in the nearby village of Cowbridge, Bill 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:44.280 arrived at the property to meet with the three men again. 0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:49.040 After letting them in, he waited in the kitchen as 0:24:49.040 --> 0:24:55.000 they carefully made their way around the house, blessing each room. 0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:58.200 A short time later, while Bill went through his mail, 0:24:59.080 --> 0:25:01.679 he heard a cry coming from the back of the house. 0:25:03.240 --> 0:25:06.520 Racing outside to investigate, he found one of the men 0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:10.159 doubled over in pain, claiming it had come on as 0:25:10.240 --> 0:25:15.080 soon as he approached the window to the downstairs bathroom. 0:25:15.200 --> 0:25:18.240 Returning to the house, the men made a bee line 0:25:18.320 --> 0:25:20.760 for the small area between the bottom of the stairs 0:25:20.840 --> 0:25:24.199 and the rest room downstairs. Convinced it was where the 0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:30.640 malicious activity was centering, Bill explained with amazement that indeed 0:25:30.640 --> 0:25:33.719 it was the exact spot where most of the strange 0:25:33.720 --> 0:25:39.680 events seemed to occur. With their investigation completed, the men 0:25:39.840 --> 0:25:43.359 relaid their findings to Bill, stating that they had felt 0:25:43.359 --> 0:25:47.760 the presence of four entities in total, three being an 0:25:47.760 --> 0:25:51.280 elderly woman and two young men, who they had now 0:25:51.320 --> 0:25:56.840 successfully banished from the house. However, there was one other, 0:25:57.760 --> 0:26:03.159 far darker and clearly not of this world. It was 0:26:03.200 --> 0:26:07.400 their opinion that, unlike the three other entities, it had 0:26:07.400 --> 0:26:10.480 not originated at the sight of the property, but had 0:26:10.480 --> 0:26:13.879 in fact arrived with Bill and may have been following 0:26:13.960 --> 0:26:19.639 him for the past twenty years. Later, in an effort 0:26:19.640 --> 0:26:22.880 to provide protection for the family, one of the men 0:26:22.960 --> 0:26:26.760 returned to construct a psychic wall of protection around the house. 0:26:28.359 --> 0:26:32.040 Finding a spot on the kitchen floor, he carefully outlined 0:26:32.040 --> 0:26:36.000 a pentacle with chalk, before placing incense at each point. 0:26:37.400 --> 0:26:42.000 As the perfumed smoke drifted and dispersed into the room. Quietly, 0:26:42.480 --> 0:26:47.880 he implored any spirit to vacate the property. Immediately twenty 0:26:47.920 --> 0:26:52.120 minutes later he was gone, leaving Bill alone to rack 0:26:52.200 --> 0:26:55.000 his brains for any reason as to why a malicious 0:26:55.119 --> 0:26:59.239 entity might have attached itself to him. And then it 0:26:59.280 --> 0:27:12.560 came to him, Alex Sanders. Back in his early twenties, 0:27:12.600 --> 0:27:14.920 when Bill was trying to make a name for himself 0:27:14.960 --> 0:27:18.800 as an aspiring artist in London, he was introduced to 0:27:18.800 --> 0:27:23.520 a man named Alex Sanders, the self styled King of 0:27:23.600 --> 0:27:28.600 the Witches. The controversial Sanders had at one time been 0:27:28.600 --> 0:27:33.840 a follower of renowned Wiccan practitioner Gerald Gardner, before splitting 0:27:33.920 --> 0:27:38.359 from his teachings to pursue his own interpretations of ceremonial magic. 0:27:39.920 --> 0:27:43.840 Having at one point been informed of Bill's ambitions, Sanders 0:27:43.840 --> 0:27:47.040 offered to initiate him into his coven in an effort 0:27:47.080 --> 0:27:50.520 to aid his development as an artist. With nothing to 0:27:50.600 --> 0:27:57.320 lose and curious to know more, Bill accepted his invitation. However, 0:27:58.040 --> 0:28:01.240 no sooner had Bill begun the series of initiation rituals 0:28:01.920 --> 0:28:04.520 than he had a change of heart and pulled out 0:28:04.520 --> 0:28:08.560 of it. Could it be? He wondered that his failure 0:28:08.560 --> 0:28:12.679 to complete the initiation had opened some kind of gateway 0:28:12.760 --> 0:28:17.080 allowing something unsavory to come through and attach itself to 0:28:17.160 --> 0:28:22.480 him either way. When the family moved back to the 0:28:22.520 --> 0:28:26.080 house that summer, they found that whatever the spiritualists had 0:28:26.119 --> 0:28:31.800 done appeared to have worked. Gone was the heavy, oppressive atmosphere, 0:28:32.960 --> 0:28:40.080 those strange noises and noxious smells. Despite the apparent cleansing 0:28:40.080 --> 0:28:45.240 of Yolfannock. However, Bill, growing increasingly worried about the impact 0:28:45.240 --> 0:28:48.240 it was all having on Lawrence, was unwilling to take 0:28:48.280 --> 0:28:52.480 any more chances. After consulting with his ex wife, it 0:28:52.520 --> 0:28:54.479 was arranged to have Lawrence to take a room at 0:28:54.480 --> 0:28:58.560 a nearby boarding house. Though Bill was relieved that his 0:28:58.600 --> 0:29:01.160 oldest son could now get on with life away from 0:29:01.160 --> 0:29:04.840 the Mayhem, it was a further hit to the family finances, 0:29:06.600 --> 0:29:10.680 as if things weren't complicated enough, a nationwide recession had 0:29:10.720 --> 0:29:14.800 all but done for his regular stream of income. In July, 0:29:15.040 --> 0:29:18.240 they were forced to sell the car, and, being unable 0:29:18.240 --> 0:29:21.680 to pay the phone bill, their line was cut off. 0:29:24.080 --> 0:29:26.400 With a number of friends and family having found it 0:29:26.400 --> 0:29:30.440 difficult to sympathize with their recent plight, having no experience 0:29:30.440 --> 0:29:33.520 of what it was they had been through, the family 0:29:33.600 --> 0:29:40.400 could scarcely have felt more isolated. That summer of nineteen ninety. 0:29:40.480 --> 0:29:44.160 The trees that surrounded the house seemed to loom higher 0:29:44.200 --> 0:29:49.120 than ever, the rising hills of the beacons taller and 0:29:49.280 --> 0:29:54.120 more foreboding, and it wasn't long before Bill and Liz 0:29:55.000 --> 0:30:05.680 were hearing those footsteps again. This concludes part one of 0:30:05.760 --> 0:30:09.720 a loan with Everybody. You can hear the second and 0:30:09.800 --> 0:30:19.960 final part next week on Friday, eighteenth of January. If 0:30:20.000 --> 0:30:22.680 you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to help 0:30:22.680 --> 0:30:25.920 support us, you can now go to Unexplained podcast dot 0:30:25.960 --> 0:30:31.000 com forward slash support. All donations, no matter how large 0:30:31.080 --> 0:30:38.560 or small, are massively appreciated. All elements of Unexplained are 0:30:38.560 --> 0:30:42.000 produced by me Richard mcclained smith. Please subscribe and rate 0:30:42.040 --> 0:30:44.280 the show on iTunes. Feel free to get in touch 0:30:44.320 --> 0:30:46.960 with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard 0:30:47.000 --> 0:30:49.800 on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your 0:30:49.800 --> 0:30:52.400 own you'd like to share. You can reach us online 0:30:52.400 --> 0:30:56.120