Legend of the Hairy Hands
Image taken from - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Postbridge_Clapper_Bridge_2005-07-21.jpg
Location of the legend - Postbridge, Dartmoor, the road know as B3212.
This ghost story is the most common or well known "legend" in Dartmoor, I remeber being told the story of The Hair Hands on a school trip to Dartmoor that included seeing Dartmoor prison.
According to the stories the Hair hands are a pair of disembodied hands that appear suddenly grab the steering well of a car or handles of a motorbike and force the victim off the road causing them to crash.
Apparently these sightings & occurrences happen roughly midway between Princetown and Moretonhampstead
This version of the story/legend is found on Wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_hands
According to the story surrounding them, the Hairy Hands are a pair of disembodied hands that appear suddenly, grab at the steering wheel of a moving car or the handlebars of a motorcycle, and then force the victim off the road. In some cases the hands are described as being invisible
Since around 1910, drivers and cyclists have reported suffering unusual accidents between Postbridge and Two Bridges. In many cases, the victims reported that their vehicle had jolted or swerved violently and steered off the side of the road, as if something had taken hold of the wheels and wrenched it out of their control.
In most instances, the victims ran into a verge and survived. Their experiences remained a local curiosity, until June 1921, when Dr. E.H. Helby, the medical officer for Dartmoor Prison was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle combination. Two young girls, children of the prison governor, who had been riding in the sidecar, survived. Several weeks after Dr Helby's death, there was another incident in which a coach driver lost control, injuring several passengers who were thrown out of their seats. Then, on August 26 1921, an army Captain reported that a pair of invisible hands had taken hold of him and forced his motorcycle off the road. After which the story was picked up by newspapers in London and the story became known nationwide.
In Supernatural Dartmoor by Michael Williams, there is a story told by journalist and author Rufus Endle. He claimed that, while driving near Postbridge on an unstated date, "a pair of hands gripped the driving wheel and I had to fight for control." He managed to avoid a crash and the hands disappeared as inexplicably as they had come. He requested that Williams not publish the story until after his death, for fear of ridicule.
Not all reported incidents occurred in moving vehicles. In one incident, in 1924, a woman camping on the moor with her husband reported seeing a hairy hand attempting to gain access to her caravan during the night. She reported that the hand retreated after she made a religious sign.
The Beast of Dartmoor
There have been many reports and sightings of a Big Cats on Dartmoor. One of the many roomers and legends of Dartmoor is the 'beast of Dartmoor'
According to this website http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/beast_dart.htm it's more like 'The Beasts of Dartmoor' the websites when talking to people who spend a lot of time on Dartmoor them or someone they know will have heard stories of big cats on Dartmoor.
I use to spend a lot of time on Dartmoor as a child but never saw of any 'big cat' although i know of someone who has, my Dad's cousin took his dog for a long walk far into Dartmoor, this is where he saw the 'big cat' he claimed to be no more then a couple of hundred feet away from it, closer then he wanted to be. He froze in fear, called for the dog to make sure it kept away from the 'Cat' and carried on walking but in a slightly different direction to the Cat but so he cool keep an eye on the Cats whereabouts. After a few minutes of watching the Man and his dog, the cat strolled off away from them.
The story bellow is found on the website link above -
I have never seen a big cat but near Dick's Well I have seen paw prints. The old story is that paw prints are usually left by a big dog and rain has enlarged them. The ones I saw were large and clearly showed long claws, the rain could not have enlarged them because they were frozen and the edges of the print were 'crisp' and showing no sign of deterioration. I have seen ponies and sheep with their throats torn out down by Dendles Wood. A friend has been lucky enough to have spotted one near the ruins of Doetor Farm. He related how he was returning from a days walk and it was getting towards dusk when he came past the old farm. Something made him stop and look back and he clearly saw a large light brown cat. It had climbed up onto a low wall about a 100 yards away and stood for a couple of seconds looking directly at him. The animal then slowly flicked its long tail a couple of times and in his words, "nonchantly leapt off the wall and loped off."
Considering the size of Dartmoor and the numbers of livestock that graze there it has everything for a big cat to survive. The isolation would mean that very little would disturb such a creature and the sheep and ponies would provide an excellent meat source. It is thought that the introduction of the 1976 Dangerous Animals Act was a contributing factor in the appearance of the big cats. The act required any owner of such an animal to obtain a license from the local authorities and ensure it was kept in secure conditions. Some owners did not or could not obtain the licenses and so simply released the animals in the wild. It is not known whether any of them actually bred or how many survived in their new environments but sightings regularly occur.
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