1 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain smith. For 2 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the weeks in between episodes, we look at the stories that, 3 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: for one reason or other, didn't make it into the show. 4 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,440 Speaker 1: In last week's episode, Ghosts in Time, we looked at 5 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: the strange occurrences that took place in the nineteen twenties 6 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 1: at Balley Rectory in Essex, England. What intrigues me most 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: about the story is the slight air of credibility it 8 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: carries due to the reputable character of the witnesses and 9 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: the anodyne nature of the supposed hauntings. But for others, 10 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: a ghost story is nothing without something a little more 11 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: sinister buried somewhere within. I was reminded of one such 12 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: story after receiving a tweet from Graham Murray, a listener 13 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: of the show. Graham compared the phrase Balley Rectory with 14 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: the equally evocative grimp and Meyer. For those that don't know, 15 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,639 Speaker 1: grimp and Meyer is the fictional haunt of the Hellish 16 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: hound featured in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's masterful Sherlock Holmes 17 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: story The Hound of the Baskervilles. The Mayer is actually 18 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: based on the eerily beautiful fox Tormia, which is found 19 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: on Dartmoor in the southwest of England. For a relatively 20 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: small pocket of wilderness, there could be fair fewer places 21 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: in the UK so synonymous with a gloomy, moonlit night 22 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: as Dartmoor, home to some of the country's blackest and 23 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: most treacherous of bogs, with some believed as deep as 24 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: twenty feet it is rumored to have snared even the 25 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: most seasoned of travelers. It is also the location of 26 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: the infamous Dartmoor Prison, whose looming gray granite walls were 27 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: said to make even its governor shudder at the mere 28 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: sight of them. And, like all such places, particularly on 29 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: the days when the fog rolls in just that little 30 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: bit thicker, it's easy to see this intensely evocative landscape 31 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: for the cauldron of myth and folklore that it has become. 32 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: It is a place also of rich ancestral history, having 33 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,239 Speaker 1: been home to settlers as far back as the late 34 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: Neolithic period, their bodies now long since buried deep beneath 35 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: the peaty wilderness. Just a few miles to the northwest 36 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: of fox Tour is a stretch of road that strikes 37 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 1: a line right through the heart of the Moors. Known 38 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: rather prosaically as the B three two one two, it 39 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: is nonetheless the location for one of Dartmoor's most intriguing mysteries. 40 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: On March twenty fourth, nineteen twenty one, a certain doctor 41 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: Ernest Helby of the Dartmoor Prison medical team had been 42 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: instructed to travel to the local village of Postbridge. It 43 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: had fallen to doctor Helby to attend the inquest of 44 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: a man named French, who not long before, had been 45 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: killed after being thrown from his horse and trap whilst 46 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: riding through the village. Doctor Helby planned to make the 47 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: trip on his motorbike, accompanied by his wife Maude, and 48 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: the two young daughters of the prison's deputy governor, who 49 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: had begged to come along. With the girls safely positioned 50 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: in the sidecar, doctor Helby and his passengers set out 51 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: on their journey to Postbridge. A short time later, the 52 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: Adkin family, who had been holidaying nearby at a place 53 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: called Cherrybrook Farm, were driving along the B three two 54 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: one two when they spotted a distressed looking woman up ahead. 55 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: It was none other than Missus Helby. Mister Adkin, who 56 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: was also a doctor hurriedly pulled up the car and 57 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: rushed to her aid. Down below in a ditch lay 58 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: the crumbled mess of doctor Helby's motorbike. The two young 59 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: girls had been safely thrown from the vehicle, but the 60 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: fifty one year old doctor Helby had not been so lucky. 61 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: Doctor Adkin confirmed his debt, but when he asked Maud 62 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: what had happened, her reply deeply shocked him. He was 63 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: shouting about someone's hairy hands, she said, and how they 64 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: were forcing him off the road. Despite a short notice 65 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: in the Times newspaper, the event passed with little attention. 66 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: That was until something extraordinary occurred months later on the 67 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: exact same stretch of road. On one gray and foggy 68 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: August Friday, a young army officer who had been staying 69 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: at Penley Farm in Postbridge offered to run some errands 70 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 1: in nearby Princetown. Setting off on his motorbike, he had 71 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: barely made it out of the village when he was 72 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: astonished to see two hands on his handlebars that did 73 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: not belong to him. The hands began to fight with 74 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: him for control of the vehicle. As the officer approached 75 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: the border of a nearby forest. The struggle became too 76 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: much and he too was forced off the road head 77 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: first into a ditch. Fortunately, on this occasion, the young 78 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: officer escaped with only minor cuts bruises. The story was 79 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 1: picked up by the Daily Mail, who ran an article 80 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: later in the year detaining the strange events, along with 81 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: the account of another victim of the ghostly hands. The 82 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: man had been driving an open topped motor coach in 83 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: the exact same spot as the others when he saw 84 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: the hairy hands pull the wheel violently toward the edge 85 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: of the road. Thankfully, on this occasion, again nobody was hurt. 86 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,159 Speaker 1: Are you always taking care of your family? Do you 87 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: often take care of others and not yourself? Now it's 88 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: time to take care of yourself, to make time for you. 89 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: You deserve it. Tele Adoc gives you access to a 90 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your 91 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: best to feeling like yourself again. With tele adoc, you 92 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,719 Speaker 1: can speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video. 93 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven 94 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: am to nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed 95 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, 96 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,280 Speaker 1: or you might be struggling with a personal or family issue. 97 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: Teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, 98 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: so they make it easy to change counselors if needed. 99 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: For free. Teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers. 100 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: Download the app or visit teledoc dot com. Forward slash 101 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: Unexplained podcast Today to get started. That's teladoc dot com 102 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 1: slash unexplained podcast Fast becoming an accident hotspot, the local 103 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: council made a thorough assessment of the area, deciding that 104 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: a treacherous camber had been responsible for the accidents. After 105 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: a number of repairs were made, the problem appeared to 106 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: have been resolved. That was until nineteen sixty one when 107 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: another car was found overturned at exactly the same spot, 108 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: with the driver having been sadly killed. We will never 109 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: know exactly what sent the car careering off the road. Then, 110 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy eight, a doctor from near by Somerset 111 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: was driving through Dartmoor on the B three two one 112 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: two when, in his own words, the atmosphere in the 113 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: car suddenly became deathly cold, and I had a feeling 114 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: almost like paralysis. I stopped the car and found I 115 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: was trembling all over. I drove on, but after about 116 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: two hundred yards it came back worse than ever. I 117 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: was aware of a great force, something quite out of 118 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: my control. The steering wheel was wrenched out of my hands, 119 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: sending the car skidding across the road. The next second 120 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: I was hanging upside down from my seat belt. It 121 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: would seem this was the last incident linked to the 122 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: strange case of the hairy Hands, with some believing the 123 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: curse to have simply vanished from the area. But what 124 00:07:53,840 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: of the owner of those mystery hands. In eighteen o five, 125 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: as British involvement in the Napoleonic Wars began to escalate, 126 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: so too did the number of prisoners captured by the 127 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: British Navy. With the current facilities in appalling condition and 128 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: straining to cope with the numbers, a prisoner of War 129 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: depot was commissioned. A suitably isolated destination was chosen, and 130 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: in eighteen o six work began in Earnest. Three years 131 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: later the facility was finally opened, its name Her Majesty's Prison, Dartmoor. 132 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: By eighteen twelve, The prison housed as many as six 133 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: thousand inmates, most of whom whither French prisoners of war, or, 134 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: perhaps surprisingly for many on this side of the Atlantic, 135 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 1: American sailors, a consequence of the lesser known War of 136 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve. Angered by the drafting of ten thousand Americans 137 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: into the Royal Navy, as well as the continued attempt 138 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: of the British government to maintain a foothold in North America, 139 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: the United States took advantage of the distraction of war 140 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: in Europe to declare war on Great Britain. Over the 141 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: course of the war, as many as twenty thousand American 142 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: seamen were captured by the British Navy and imprisoned throughout 143 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: the world. In eighteen fifteen, an end was brought to 144 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: hostilities with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, but 145 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: for the prisoners of Dartmoor it hadn't come soon enough. 146 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: On the sixth of April eighteen fifteen, prison commandant Captain T. G. 147 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: Shortland discovered a tunnel leading from the prison quarters to 148 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: the barrack yard near the gun racks. With many prisoners 149 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: gathered in the yard at the time, and Fearing an 150 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: imminent insurrection, Captain Shortland ordered the prison bell to be 151 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: sounded and the prisoners to return to their quarters. However, 152 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: the bell had only succeeded in bringing more prisoners into 153 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: the yard, and the crowd grew restless. The guards were 154 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: ordered to fire a warning shot to disperse the crowd, 155 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: which served only to send the prisoners into a terrified frenzy. 156 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 1: As the then grew increasingly agitated, the guards began to 157 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: fire indiscriminately, even shooting the prisoners as they scrambled to 158 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 1: the safety of their cells. Once the smoke had cleared, 159 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: seven men lay dead, including one prisoner named Thomas Jackson, 160 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: who was only fourteen years old. A later account of 161 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 1: the events maintains that at least one American sailor used 162 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: the chaos to mount a successful escape from the prison. 163 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: The prisoner made it as far as Carter's Road, where 164 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: he attempted to commandeer a horse and carriage, only to 165 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 1: be crushed to death beneath the wheels in the process. 166 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: Carter's Road is today more commonly known as the B 167 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: three two one two. Could this unfortunate prisoner hold the 168 00:10:47,320 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: key to the mystery of the Hairy hands. For any 169 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,200 Speaker 1: motorists brave enough to take that infamous road through the 170 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: heart of the moors, I offer only this, Please drive safely, 171 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: and whatever you do, be sure to wear a seat belt. 172 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 1: And if God forbid you ever find yourself venturing out 173 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: on foot. As the daylight starts to dim and the 174 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 1: fog drifts slowly in think on the words of poet 175 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: Edward William Lewis Davis. The hunter homeward speeds in haste 176 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: before fogs overtake him on the waist, And if to 177 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:39,440 Speaker 1: fox tormias he roam, he'll bid along adieu to home. 178 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: A dreary shroud is over his head, a yawning swamp 179 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: around him. Spread spell bound and lost, he ventures on 180 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: one fatal step, and all is done Hopeless. He struggles, vain, 181 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: his throes deeper and deeper down, He goes the ray 182 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:04,080 Speaker 1: and claps her ebony, wing his dirge. The howling winds 183 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: may sing, and mists will spread the last, said Paul, 184 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: over that dark grave, unknown to all. All elements of 185 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain Smith. Please subscribe 186 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: and rate the show on iTunes. Feel free to get 187 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:28,319 Speaker 1: in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories 188 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,079 Speaker 1: you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation 189 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: of your own you'd like to share. You can reach 190 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or on Twitter 191 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: at Unexplained Pod. Now it's time to take care of yourself. 192 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: To make time for you, Tell a doc gives you 193 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: access to a licensed therapist to help you get back 194 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone 195 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:08,079 Speaker 1: or video anytime between seven am to nine pm local time, 196 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available through most 197 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: insurance or employers. Download the app or visit teledoc dot 198 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: com Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast today to get started. That's 199 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:26,319 Speaker 1: t e la d oc dot com Slash Unexplained Podcast