What happens if you dance naked around the Devil's Bush in Pluckley, Kent's most haunted village? Do 'big cats' roam the local woods? Does the Devil appear if you manage to count the 'countless stones' at Aylesford? Is Bloody Mary more than just a childhood rumour? Does a phantom hitchhiker haunt the dark lanes of Blue Bell Hill? KENT URBAN LEGENDS is a new book by full-time monster hunter and folklorist Neil Arnold, a strange, quirky and downright weird collection of tales reputedly true yet never proven, passed down through generations and best told around a flickering campfire. Chinese whispers, playground murmurs, internet rumours, and friend of a friend tales are the most potent in that they can embed themselves into a local community despite the fact such yarns are not true. Stories can spread like wildfire despite lacking any detail, causing a snowball effect that can affect an entire village, town or city. KENT URBAN LEGENDS looks at a number of stories not just related to the county of Kent, but legends which have spread across the world, varying depending on the storyteller. Have you heard the one about the famous footballer who paid the mortgage of a couple who had booked their wedding on the same day as his? Have you heard about the girl whose hair was so dirty that all manner of creepy crawlies took up residence and eventually burrowed into her brain? And what about the woman who chomped down on her Chinese takeaway only to find the remains of some animal? These type of stories are known the world over, and you can guarantee that there's always someone you know who knows someone else this has happened to. Urban legends come in all shapes and sizes, but for the most part they are tales of horror - confined to mist-enshrouded lanes and eerie woods, but with KENT URBAN LEGENDS you'll also find out what happens if you play a heavy metal record backwards, or if some horror movies are cursed. You'll also find out if the Chelsea Smilers really did slash the mouths of school children in the 1980s, and what really happened to the woman who had a Killer In The Backseat of her car. Whilst tales of the Bunnyman, The Hook, and The Babysitter & The Man Upstairs may seem to have their origins in the USA, Neil proves that there's more to these scare stories than meets the eye, and delves into similar tales from Kent often involving lone female motorists and cavorting couples brave enough to venture into the night. From video nasties, to phantom viruses, from chain letters, to tales of monstrous bogeymen and out of place animals, KENT URBAN LEGENDS is one book you won't want to read before camping, driving, babysitting, or eating a meal! Be warned...the bogeyman is real after all! KENT URBAN LEGENDS is published by The History Press, with a foreword by Janet Bord (Alien Animals), is an essential book to be read by candlelight! Available from Amazon and all good bookshops, priced £9.99

I must admit that not every day of mine is spent in the woods of the south-east searching for elusive 'big cats.' In fact much of my time is spent writing - it's my job - and a job I love doing. I consider myself a folklorist, but always try to keep the 'big cat' research separate, because to me, studying non-native animals is simply a relation to zoology, and I always try to destroy the silly myths going about that all these 'big cats' are demonic entities and ghosts or that they don't exist, but believe me it's amazing some of the peculiar theories you read about! However, I've always loved a good ghost story - I'm not a huge believer but the power of the ghost story cannot be denied, it's the sort of tale we love at Halloween, or at Christmas, and it's great for kids to read and enjoy such tales whether they believe them or not - in it's far more entertaining than watching 'The X Factor'! I've always enjoyed reading the creepy fictional tales of M.R. James, Charles Dickens and the weirder yarns of H.P. Lovecraft, and have been heavily influenced by them in regards to to writing about folklore. Ghosts are never likely to be proven to exist, but if you are interested in escaping from the tiresome 'Fifty Shades of Grey' trilogy - which have clearly been written for people who don't normally read - then why not check out my latest book HAUNTED CHATHAM. Okay ,so I can hear some of you laughing, and asking "How on earth is a place like Chatham haunted...?" Well, the town has gotten so much bad press over the years - yes, the term chav, although a gypsy word originally, was attached to the place, but just because, like so many other places, it has succumbed to chavdom, doesn't mean it's not got a history.

I spent some thirty years of my life in Chatham, and felt the need to write a book on its folklore, which for attaches itself to history. Over the last couple of years I've written ghost books on Rochester, Maidstone, Ashford, but Chatham has so many stories too. Every Halloween people flock to Fort Amherst, but now it's time to read the what really goes on in those tunnels and whetehr some of the tales are all they are cracked up to be. Another great place is Chatham Dockayrd in fact it's one of Chatham's most haunted locations. Then there are the tales about the Theatre Royal, now merely a shell that sits on the High Street, but we must'nt forget the obscure tales of haunted houses, ghost-infested pubs and parks.

The book will be available in all good bookshops and online of course. And it'll make great fireside reading especially at Halloween or Christmas. I've even slipped in a few tales of creepy creatures too, as well as phantom aircraft and even a spectral sausage slasher! All to be taken with a pinch of salt of course...as all ghost stories should be.

And should anyone want to know more about the ghosts of Blue Bell Hill, Pluckley and the likes then check out my other books and also the forthcoming SHADOWS ON THE SEA: THE MARITIME MYSTERIES OF BRITAIN and KENT URBAN LEGENDS both due early next year. I'll also be doing a few book signing locally to watch this space.

 

I was contacted today by a man who asked me whether I knew anything about a lynx that was found dead on the outskirts of Chatham in 1926. It was a new one on me I must admit, and I'm hoping that a search of newspaper archives will reveal more. Even so, the most fascinating aspect of the story was that the man (a farmer) who found the carcass took it for analysis to 'a zoo.' The lynx had in fact been shot on his farm in an area 'not far from the high road' and it was rumoured to have escaped from captivity although this was never verified. It's these older reports which intrigue me more because they prove that there have been sightings of 'big cats' in the Kent wilds for a long, long time, and yet sceptics are very keen to dismiss the modern reports as if they are part of some hysteria or mass hallucination. It also brought to mind the case of a lynx, housed in a Bristol museum, which was shot dead in the 1800s and then stuffed.

On Sunday 5th August a complete sceptic to such reports had his own strange encounter. At 9:00 am the witness in question was leaving Istead Rise, and driving a long the Weotham Road when suddenly in front of his car a large black cat, which he described as 'panther' casually strolled, from one field to the other. The witness was absoloutely stunned by the sighting. As were the two golfers recently at Dungeness who were on their local course when a lynx stared stright at them before moving off into undergrowth. Daylight sightings are not unheard of, cats still like to bask in the sun or move from a to b before laying up somehwre. In the last two weeks there have been 16 'big cat' sightings reported to me, and half of these were made in broad daylight, including a black leopard near Blue Bell Hill another from Shadoxhurst in Ashford in which a woman reported seeing a black leopard rummaging through the sacks at the end of her drive. The cat measured over three-feet in length and the tail alone was 2-ft long.

A majority of sightings take place at night and often involve motorists. For instance, a black leopard was seen on 22nd July  at 9:10 pm near Hucking my a woman in her car - the cat turned and crossed a field a short distance away, whilsy fifty minutes later but in Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, another female motorist reported seeing a big, black cat that crossed an unlit road, but then spotted the car headlights and turned back. One of the most impressive sightings however took place on the 24th July at Goudhurst. The couple in question had throw a chicken carcass into their garden to feed the local foxes when during the early hours the security light came on. The witness looked out of the window and could hear a strange snuffling noise and was then shocked to see a massive black cat. When the light went off the cat bounded away.

When you receive as many eye witness reports over the years as what I have, you find it impossible to dismiss every one. Not every witness is out to perpetrate a hoax and not every witness gets it wrong. A few decades ago a naturalist who was investigating the Surrey puma leegnd claimed that all the witnesses were seeing dogs!! This theory is incredibly bizarre - I don't know of many stray labradors roaming the remote corners of Kent of a night and whilst dogs do get loose, they do not resemble 'panthers' in broad daylight. And they most certainly do not lick prey clean and leave fang marks. The photo below shows the skull of a pig killed in Sussex. The unfortunate victim was stripped clean, and there are two deep puncture marks on the lower jaw. In the same area foxes, ducks and deer have been found eaten, scratch marks discovered  6-ft up a tree and unusual scat also found. As I often say to sceptics, if you can tell me what animal did this I'd love to hear from you, although there is only one animal that would leave these type of signs. I'm sure however that there'll still be those among you who say "There's no evidence..."

I'm hoping that a number of people who read this blog were interested by the wallaby sighting caught on film recently near Ashford, at Pluckley. A lot of people have questioned as to wether such marsupials exist in Kent, dewspite the fact many escaped from enclosures when we had the storm in '87. The excellent footage can be found at: http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2012/may/10/wallaby_spotted_in_pluckley.aspx

I was recently asked by someone why there's no 'big cat' footage as clear as the footage concerning the wallaby. A wallaby is a relatively shy creature but certainly not of the intelligence of an animal such as a black leopard or puma. A large cat most certainly would not walk up to someone, especially if they have a dog in tow. The wallaby may have been curious or simply unaware of the witness, and judging by the footage the woman's dog didn't have a clue what was going on!

It would be interesting to see if any eaten wallaby carcasses turn up - in Australia where there are many sightings of so-called 'big cats' every year - wallabies are ideal prey for an elusive predator.

Over the last month there have been some interesting 'big cat' sightings. One particular active area is Bearsted at Maidstone, a rural village thick in woods that stretch for miles. We are unsure as to whether the animals een recently at Blue Bell Hill is the same animal seen roaming Bearsted, but the area could provide suffcient habitat for a female with cubs. At the end of April a man jogging at 7:30 pm stopped dead in his tracks when he saw, up ahead about 20 metres away, a large black animal side-on on the pathway. Bavely, or some would say foolishly, the man sprinted to where the animal had slinked into the undergrowth but could find no trace of the animal as there had been long grass and woodland. A prime example of how stealthy a cat can be. There has also been a sighting near Penshurst where in the past paw prints have been cast. There have also been sightings near Mereworth, the site of an ancient and vast woodland.

Did anyone read about the recent sheep killings in Yorkshire whcih many tabloids covered ? It seems that a lot of people were keen to blame a 'big cat' for the carnage despite the fact the photographs shown online suggested nothing of the sort. Around 20 sheep were said to have bene savaged in a night, which sounds to me like the work of several marauding dogs. One photo I saw of a killed sheep showed no signs that a large cat had been present meanwhile recent photographs of alleged 'big cat' remains in Scotland have divided opinion. An animal - measuring more than 2ft in length -and have a set of seemingly fearsome fangs - was found dead by a man walking. The pointed, 18 in long tail, seemed to get a few people thinking that the animal was a cub of a large cat, but a lot of people upon seeing the photo's suggested it was a dead otter.

I think that's it's important, either way, for people to know what they are finding in the wilds of the UK - animals do die, but in 99% of cases are scavenged and decompose very quickly, but it's amazing how many people miss signs of local nature let alone a presence of a large, predatory cat. Wherever you go it's always worth taking photo's of anything unusual you find.

The latest issue of BBC Wildlife magazine has an interesting article regarding the possibility of lynx reintroduction into the woods of Britain. The most frustrating aspect of the article however was the word on the wildlife 'experts' who were quick to dismiss the possibility that large, exotic cats already roam the wilds of Britain. The usual questions were asked, "Why isn't one caught in a trap ?", "Why aren't they run over ?", it really is a high level of ignorance which was confirmed to me when I received a sighting yesterday from a female witness named Sian who was on a train back from London. Sian is a credible witness who has, in the past had twp encounters with a black leopard near her Rolvenden home and yesterday, before dusk she was fortunate again. Whilst travelling between Paddock Wood and Marden a large, black animal ran across a field about 50 metres away. The animal was not a dog....and it was bigger than an Alsatian. It moved like a cat. Bizarrely, Sian was one of the only people aboard the train to see the animal which pretty much proves just how alert people ARE NOT when it comes to wildlife.

I may sound old fashioned but nowadays commuters seem buried in their iphones, PC's and newspapers, and yet the sight out of the window is far more interesting than the contents of the latest social networking site. Last year only two people on a carriage holding some 30 or so people saw a wild boar in a field so it goes to show the lack of awareness. Being on a train may not seem the most likely place to see a 'big cat' especially as most of the surroundings at times are a blur, but even so, the railway networks cut through the woods of the south-east providing a glimpse inot a habitat rarely seen by the general public. The railway line is perfect for a large cat to navigate by - alongside a railway line there is enough food and cover to hide an elusive predator which is why some sightings take place in back gardens in seemingly unlikely areas such as Strood, Halling, Cuxton etc. Another great place for a large cat to lurk at night is a golf course - not the sort of place people frequent. At the moment investigations are under way in Sevenoaks after some elusive wild boar have been seen damaging a course.

I always advise people when they are a passenger in a car or on a train to scan the hedgerows, treelines etc, because these are the areas where a cat will stalk.

Last saturday I spent many hours, with a friend, sitting out in the vast woods of the North Downs. The area is perfect for a large cat or two to hide. From 11:00 am until the late hours we saw two people all day, a dog walker and someone on a bike, but with the Blue Bell's popping up, the woods provided ample cover for any animal that did not wish to be seen. As the rains came down around dusk, sitting out scanning the hedgerows made for an eerie experience. Nope, we never saw anything, except for a wet fox and a scurrying rabbit...and the intriguing bright eyeshine of an animal that was gone in a second (it wasn't a fox/badger/rabbit - the eye shine was bright and a long way away) but the foreboding woods that stretched as far as the eye could see, just confirmed to me just how naive people are regarding the existence of these animals and the woods we still have. At one point we during mid afternoon we disturbed a resting owl which fluttered off into the trees, we were so close to it and yet never knew it was there until it rushed from the bushes. A large cat could lay up just feet away and not be seen. It reminds me of a recent sighting near Halstow concerning a female witness who was picking berries when she heard a terrible growl which came from the bushes below her. Immediately the woman questioned herself then continued picking until it happened again. When she peered down into the thicket she saw an enormous black cat peering back. This had taken place on a roadside. Cats have a remarkable ability to hide in the most unlikely of places.

Tracking a large cat is difficult but if you can, try to think like the cat, and only then can you give yourself a remote chance of seeing something. If you are fortunate enough to see such an animal I can guarantee  that the experience will stay with you forever.

 

 

This morning I received a very interesting phonecall. In my previous post I mentioned how the occasional sceptic is known to have a sighting of a 'big cat'. The chap who phoned me today was one of those, but also the type of person used to spending time in the wilds not only of Kent, but South Africa and other terrain across the world. The man, who lives in Kent, is an experienced mountaineer, a keen rambler, who has spent more than thirty years walking through woods, forests, mountains and valleys, and much of his time has been spent around the wooded pathways of the North Downs. According to the man, on the Thursday of March 8th, at 7:30 pm approximately, he'd been taking a stroll to get fit for an upcoming hike through the Highlands of Scotland. He'd been admiring the full mooon that hung low in the sky like a copper plate, and his journey had taken him close to Walderslade, back to Boxley, Burham and Blue Bell Hill. He'd been walking down a pathway in the woods when suddenly he heard a noise unlike anything he'd heard before. He told me, "It was as if someone was coughing about twenty-five yards away....at first I thought someone was ill in the woods but I couldn't see anyone and there were no sheep about which also make a coughing noise."

The man continued his walk when suddenly, he saw, about 5 yards away, off the pathway, in the wood, an enormous dark shape. The witness wanted to believe it was a labrador dog, but again, the noise was unusual. "I reached for a small light I carry with me and yet when I looked back the animal had gone. I believe I saw a leopard - I'd heard about these stories before and didn't believe them and have spent decades walking around these parts and never seen anything unusual, and yet there it was."

The leopard is known for its deep, sawing cough-like noise as well as a warning hiss and bubbly, guttural growl.

The witness added: "I've been to Africa and seen lions but to see this animal in your own backyard is amazing. I was hesitant to report it at first."

Interestingly, as mentioned on this blog of mine, only a few weeks ago I'd been in the same area with a friend looking for evidence of such an animal. I found leopard scat a few months back near the quarries at Blue Bell Hill, but the Downs are such a vast area, and stretch for miles and miles down into the heart of Kent. I'm hoping to investigate the area of the sighting, but it was actually nice speaking to someone who knows their nature and the sounds one should expect with regards to evening rambles.

Sadly, on the night the man was seeing his first ever black leopard, I was a few miles away at Chatham Hatch conducting a talk so I couldn't follow the sighting up immediately. When I conduct talks there can be any number from 10 to 500 people in attendance. I've given talks in people's front rooms, to huge halls, and I'm amazed at just how many people come forward to tell me of the animals - mainly 'big cats' they've seen, whic proves just how many people do not report their sightings at first. One man mentioned that one night he was out in the fields of Chartham, with a group of friends when they all clearly saw a large lynx which eyed them up rather casually before strolling off into the shadows. Another lady reported how her friends had mocked her for many years after she'd had a daylight sighting of a black leopard in a wooded valley near the village.

The so-called 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' seemingly came to life in 1997 when the Kent Today newspaper created the headline. However, sightings date back many years previous. The image here shows the Kent Today coverage of a smaller cat that was photographed in 1998 by Harry Matthews, even though the image was snapped on the other side of the river at Cooling. Last year I was derided on a local history forum by a warden who claimed that, quite matter of factly, "There is no beast of Blue Bell Hill...." because he'd never seen it. If one stands at the picnic on Blue Bell Hill's Common Road and looks across the beautiful Downs, you'd have to be rather ignorant to think that such a setting could not hide a large cat or two. Aylesford, Wouldham, Burham, Walderslade Woods, Nashenden Valley, etc etc, are places where elusive 'big cats' have been seen, but still, not everyone can be convinced, but just remember, even people used to spending time in the local woods do have occasional sightings of these animals. As the witness said to me at the end of the phone call, "It makes me wonder now just how many times I've not seen the animal but it's actually seen me!"

Think about it...

 

When I conduct lectures and write books about my research into 'big cats', people often come up to me and ask me why I became a 'monster hunter'. Mind you, some people also ask me, "How the hell is being a 'monster hunter' a full-time job ?", haha! As I've mentioned previously, I began collecting data on 'big cat' sightings across the south-east when I was about 9, and through one or two full-time jobs I continued to write and to investigate as well as research sightings of a more folkloric nature. 'Big cats' in the woods of Kent, etc, are very much real animals, but I was always interested in monsters as a kid - as most kids should be - unless today of course they get sucked into the atrocities of programmes such as The X-Factor! Anyway, a few years ago I walked out of my appalling day job and realised there must be more to life than the 9-5 and the stresses and strains, and it was whilst working one day that I heard myself on the radio that I thought to myself, "I can't carry on doing this...." So, as Christmas came I collected my thoughts, and went back to my job...for a couple of hours....then walked out, and never looked back. I'm of the opinion that if you can find a niche in life, or at least have a shade of originality then you might get somewhere doing the things you love. Mind you, the biggest inspiration of all, came via my dad and grandad who, as a kid, often told me ghost stories. Everybody - whether you believe in them or not - loves the idea of a mystery - unless one is blinkered by what newspapers and tv programmes tell you. Even so, I come from a big family where there is lots of tradition and old fashioned values. As a kid three things changed the course of my life. One was a movie called The Legend of Boggy Creek, a '70s US flick made in a docu-drama style way which, so many years ago, was way ahead of its time and paved the way for modern films such as The Blair Witch Project. The Legend Of Boggy Creek was a creepy, low-budget movie about a Bigfoot-type monster roaming the river bottoms of Arkansas. Around the same time I was given a book by a relative of mine, and the book was called A Dictionary of Monsters & Mysterious Beasts, and was written by a Carey Miller. The book was an a-z of bizarre creatures, mostly mythical, but some allegedly true, such as the yeti and the Loch Ness monster, and I devoured it greedily as my mind worked overtime. However, the main turning point for me came when one dark night my dad took me to a place between Rochester and Maidstone called Blue Bell Hill. Now, I'm sure most of you readers have heard about the Blue Bell Hill ghost story, in fact if you type it in on Google or look at a majority of British or Kent-based ghost books you'll get so much information. Sadly, much of this information is incorrect, but the story - when I was a kid - freaked me out but also intrigued me. The village of Blue Bell Hill and its surrounding woods is ancient. The village is divided, by a dual carriageway, into two parts, the Lower Bell (where there is a pub) and the Upper Bell, near the crematorium.

According to my dad, and so many people there is a ghost story attached to this old hill which concerns a phantom hitchhiker. The legend is that many years ago a girl - who was due to be married - was killed on the hill in a terrible car accident - which also claimed the lives of two other women, her friends - whilst one girl survived. This is in fact a true event which took place in the November of 1965. It would seem that since this accident people have encountered a girl on the hill, and they say that she wears the bridal dress (or according to some people the ghost is one of the bridesmaids) she never got to wear on her wedding day. The main ghost story which people have passed down over the years is that a girl in a whitish dress thumbs a lift on the hill but vanishes from the backseat. According to the legend when people go to the house where she asked to be dropped off, they find out that the elderly couple who own the house "get this sort of thing all the time" but then go on to mention that the girl is their daughter....who died many years ago. A great spine-tingling ghost story and a tale that stuck with me for many years, until I found out that most of the details are completely incorrect. It seems that in most cases, what actually happens on the hill is that people knock a girl down in their vehicle but when they look under their car there is no sign of a girl (two separate incidents which took place in 1992 involved an Ian Sharpe and Chris Dawkins who knocked down a girl on different parts of the hill). The woman they describe does not wear a bridal gown of any kind. Now, many people love this story but it's not until you delve into some mysteries that you find that the facts are in fact far stranger than the fiction many reporters, authors and ghost story tellers would have you believe. It's highly unlikely that the girl on the hill is the spirit of the woman (or women) that were killed in 1965, especially as there are accounts of a girl from the hill dating back several decades before the crash. I believe the Blue Bell Hill ghost story - which changed my life - is a product of urban legend in most cases and that over the years the local newspapers have unintentionally embeeded the idea of athe girl in a bridal dress into the psyche of the Kentish community. It became a Chinese whisper.

When I heard this story as a child I became obsessed with Blue Bell Hill and now I know the place like the back of my hand and spend many days and nights there investigating reports of a creature that, rather hilariously became known as the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill'. during the late '90s. Blue Bell Hill is a rather strange area, steeped in history it harbours the fascinating and ancient Kits Coty House and Little Kits Coty House - mysterious sets of stones. There are many legends pertaining to these stones. The village also harbours several other ghost stories, one concerning a very young girl who was knocked down in 1974, another from 1993 in which an entire family whilst travelling up the Old Chatham Road encountered an old hag-type horror - a figure that has been seen a handful of times on the hill. There are also tales of phantom hounds, a giant hair-covered creature (not just the local flasher on the loose!), a flying jellyfish and crop circles. Sure, most of these tales are far-fetched but they add to the mystery of the hill. The old, overgrown quarries - the dark, spooky lanes, all add to the atmosphere. Add to this a legend or two of a large elusive 'big cat' - and yes, there are one or two in the area, then we have an ideal area for what ghost-hunters would term paranormal activity.

Blue Bell Hill is a lovely area, but the ghost story - like so many ghost stories, has become a classic yet stale legend. A good friend of mine named Sean Tudor has researched the ghost sightings on the hill for many years and uncovered some amazing facts and folklore which stretch way beyond the handful of hitchhiker tales that many of you have been fed over the years. His website www.roadghosts.com looks at some of these tales, but at the moment he is writing an enormous, in-depth book about the spooky hill. It's also worth noting that in my recent book Haunted Maidstone I devote a segment to the Blue Bell Hill area and its levels of high strangeness, but if anyone is brave enough, then please do book a place on my Blue Bell Hill ghost walk, www.bluebellhillghostwalk.blogspot.com  I decided to run these walks on the 2nd sunday of each month but am getting a lot of groups wanting private night tours which are far spookier. The walk lasts two hours, and we go into the woods, around the old stones, and I speak about the ghost sightings as well as look into the reports of 'big cats', and other strange phenomena. If you gave any queries then you can email/call the details on the ghost walk website.

So many places across the world, and especially in the UK have a peculiar aura about them, and Blue Bell Hill is one of those places. If my dad hadn't told me the ghost story when I was a kid, then I probably wouldn't have ended up the person I am today (some would say slightly unhinged ha!), but it's important that kids are given mystery and imagination in their lives, rather than being the product of ignorance. Kids may think wildlife or history, let alone ghost stories, are dull because their idea of entertainment is being put in front of a PC or tv screeen for hours and forced into a trance-like state by a computer game. Nature offers us some real magic, on our doorstep are so many marvels, and who knows, when I'm long gone, I hope deep down that a child may continue to carry the torch and write about and investigate the stories I did when I was their age. And who knows, maybe a trip to Blue Bell Hill could change your life, or at least open your eyes to the mysteries and marvels of nature that lurk just around the corner...

If you've seen a ghost on Blue Bell Hill, or heard of any unusual stories about the area, get in touch at: neil.arnold@live.com

 

 

 

Today I received a phone call. It was like thousands of others I'd received before.

"On saturday 25th February," the man said, "I was driving with my wife from New Romney to Ivychurch. It was about 10:30 pm and we saw a black leopard cub playfully chasing a rabbit. The cat was about 2ft 6" long and had a long tail. It took a swipe at the rabbit but missed and then chased it into the undergrowth and we lost sight of it."

A sceptic, in reply to such a report could easily dismiss such a sighting and say, "He probably saw a domestic cat," but this witness, like a few fortunate others, had had a similar experience before. He continued: "We knew it was a 'panther' - the way it was built but in November 2011 I was driving between Hamstreet and Brenzett on the A2070 and the headlights picked up a set of bright green eyes in the road. I saw a huge animal - it froze in the headlights then leaopt into the undergrowth. It was a massive black cat."

Romney Marsh and much of East Kent has been a hot-bed of sightings for many, many years. When I received this call I still got that adrenalin kick that I got when I took my first ever report of a 'big cat' - when I was 9 years old, which seems like many years ago. Back then, as a kid, it was a time when the 'big cat' situation was a mystery, and the 'beast of Exmoor' a mere whisper on the wind. Newspapers covered the stories because it was new - whereas now, a 'big cat' headline is never far away. Back then there weren't big cat hunters popping up everywhere and those that were seeing such animals weren't coming forward in their droves because a majority of witnesses just ddn't know what they were seeing or what was going on. Nowadays, the 'big cat' phenomenon has embedded itself into British folklore and culture. As a child I never thought that one day I'd be researching these animals full-time - and whilst it's a privilege to do so, the element of mystery isn't what it was once, and in a way it's a good thing because it's now a serious situation, but all those years ago things felt different to my innocent mind.

When I first began researching the sightings it was a hobby - not many people took a 9 year old child seriously - but I knew these animals existed and I vowed that one day I would see one, but even then I knew how difficult it would be. Too many people think they can walk out their back door and see a 'big cat' and when they don't they get incredibly frustrated. The amount of big cat hunters out there who are desperate to see a 'big cat' goes to show how the aims of such people over the years have changed. My motives have never changed - all I wanted to do was make the public aware these animals existed because I'd begun to speak to witnesses who had seen these animals and wanted someone to talk to. I've made many friends over the years, and sadly, it would seem, a few enemies and detractors - I guess if I was still that 9 year old I wouldn't have been the target of cowards and pathetic individuals, but then again, as a 9 year old, I didn't really have a voice either.

As a kid I hoped that one day I would see a large cat - and in the late '90s the local press were running quite a few headlines about a local 'big cat' which they dubbed 'the beast of Blue Bell Hill'. Yep, it's a terrible headline, but I've heard far worse. I recall the Kent Today newspaper at the time running an article after there'd been a sighting at the picnic area which overlooks the Downs at Blue Bell Hill. A couple had been walking along the picnic area one afternoon when a large black cat raced in front of them and headed off down a wooded pathway. As we know, newspapers love these stories and within the next few weeks the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' became embeded in the psyche of the local populace. Strangely, even sightings at Gravesend, Dartford, etc were dubbed the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' even though this is on the other side of the river.

At the moment the major tabloids are concentrating their beastly headlines on an area of Gliucestershire where researchers, hunters and the like are setting up cameras etc, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the local beast. I've seen it all before  - it happens every few months - it began with the 'Surrey puma', but since the '60s has happened all over the UK - "the beast of this...., and "the beast of that...." Witnesses come forward - some start reporting things they haven't seen, photographs of muscular domestic cats and blurry blobs start cropping up and then it fades. Nowadays of course there appear to be more concentrated efforts to find these cats - people are buying trigger cameras, there are scent traps etc. When I was a child the occasional police foray into the local woods was as far as it went regarding a search. Back then, nobody wanted these animals caught or categorised - nowadays, that's the only motive.

When the sightings began of a large cat around Blue Bell Hill in the '90s, I'd already marked out the territory of one cat. However, despite so many witnesses ringing me up, I was getting the crank calls too so I had to be careful at the time with regards to giving out locations etc. Things got rather surreal when I was threatened by the local Devil worshippers haha! Even so, one night a relative of mine, whilst travelling near Capstone Park - not far from Hempstead, reported to me he'd seen a large animal protruding from a hedegrow. His son had been with him at the tim and so, hot on the heels I made my way to the area. In most cases I receive sightings hours, or even days later and following these up is unlikley yo produce a personal sighting, but my uncle's report was only an hour or so old. I'll never forget sitting in a vehicle with the headlights on and picking up a set of bright yellow eyes. I'll also never forget seeing those sheep, huddled together in a tight-knit group, and the eyes once again, seemingly with arrogance, glaring back at us. The eyes belonged to an animal that was sitting on its haunches stalking the sheep. I'll never forget slowly getting out the car and watching the sheep scatter and the cat bound off into the distance. It was an amazing experience but I knew I could track this animal and see it again. And I did.

When it comes to research of this kind, it's all very well and good putting reports into a folder otr popping out to the woods a couple of nights a month, but you've got to put yourself out there, become one with nature, eliminate everything else and appreciate your surroundings. I'll never forget melting into the landscape of a farm in the area and seeing the long, dark form a black leopard slink through the fog. The animal had no interest in the sheep on this occasion - it was en route - and it was gone after a few seconds. The more time and effort I put in the more I began to appreciate nature in general - it wasn't just about the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill', it was about understanding. It had been a privilege in 2000 to see this cat twice, but when I saw a different black leopard in 2008, in broad daylight, in the same area, I was gobsmacked. I watched the animal as I surveyed the landscape, and it didn't have a care in the world. It slinked across a field - the same field where I'd watched a fox walk - the long tail, the muscular shoulders, the flat face. It was an inspiring site. I'd found the sheep it had killed just a 1/4 of a mile away - the carcass was fresh (see photo) and rasped clean. The farmer that lost the sheep had never lost a specimen in some 40 years of farming. The cat had preferred rabbit and pheasants, but that night it went for something larger. Bizarrely, by 2008 I'd become accustomed to see unusual cats in the wilds of Kent. I recall becoming good friends with a chap named Ian who lived not far from Higham on the other side of the river. This guy phoned me one night to say that whilst walking his dog he'd been stalked by a large black cat. I took the report with a pinch of salt  - the guy seemed genuine, but when he told me he'd filmed a lynx as well as I had to laugh...until I not only saw the footage, but one summers evening at 8:45 pm saw the lynx for myself. We had been monitoring an area for some months but we never expected this lynx to run across a field in front of us. There were three of us watching that evening - two of us saw the animal as it raced across the field and slinked down into a ditch. It happened lightning fast. It was an area where we had many strange experiences, including being shot at! Nowadays the area, like so many others has changed, but it was clearly a cross-point for at least one species of cat - but both lynx and leopard had been seen there. Then, one evening I was contacted by a hysterical couple who said they'd pulled over by the side of a country lane at Higham and watched a mother and several cubs playing in a field. The reports kept coming. It was not a 'blue Bell Hill beast', just another leopard on its nightly hunt.

I'll never forget the time my father rang me and told me he'd seen a lynx whilst driving home one evening past the local rubbish tip. The cat had been in the hedgerow close to the road and sped off up the field as his car came by. He stopped the car and watched in amazement as the animal reached the top of the field and stopped and looked back at him. The animal's tail wasn't visible from a distance.

Lynx are elusive animals - although they'll take a deer they are more than happy to feed on rodents, hares and birds. They are beautiful animals and I felt so lucky to have seen such an animal.

Most people who see such animals are chance encounters. However, to track an animal is great to do. Imagine if such an animal was tagged and we could then appreciate the ground it covers. No-one appreciates how vast a territory an animal such as a leopard, puma or lynx can cover, but when there is cover and food in an area, it wouldn't necessarilly have to travel that far. My personal sightings were magical experiences. They have stuck in my mind for many years so every time I receive a sighting from a terrified, hysterical, or knowing witness, I know I can share their excitement. After all, the animal they've seen is not from another world, but simply an animal that shouldn't be there. It's not the local 'beast on the loose', or the quarry of the local researcher, it's an animal fending for itself and above all, an animal that does not care for beastly headlines or for the researchers trying to capture a glimpse of it. Without these animals there would be no mystery, and so many seem to forget that this situation is simply about these animals, and about these animals alone. It's not about the evidence really. It's not about the newspapers, or the personal aims of the camo' clad hunter.

When I was 9 years old I was told there was a 'big cat' in the local woods. There will always be a 'big cat' in the local woods. But can you imagine the day one is caught ? I've always been of the opinion that there is no mystery as to why these animals exist. The mystery is created by those who hunt and pursue them. I've also always been of the opinion that the public need to be made aware of what is going on and that the authorities need to acknowledge their existence, but every now and then my 9 year old self taps me on the shoulder to remind me that these majestic animals should be left alone to melt into the countryside...and it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did, after all, they've been doing this for far longer than we realise. Sometimes I wish there were more 9 year old researchers around because in their naivety, they'd see these cats for what they actually are, rather than what we want them to be.

 

 

I'm of the opinion that no amount of evidence in support of large, exotic cats roaming Britain, is good enough for the most hardened sceptics, which is a shame really. Today I spoke with a man who stated that quite categorically a few years back he caught a strange animal - cat-like - in a snare in Kentish woodlands, and had taken a photo of it. The animal had, sadly, died in the snare, but when I asked the man - who was very experienced in the wilds of Kent regarding poaching etc - what he did with the carcass he replied, "We left it and it just rotted." Over the years I've spoken to dozens of people who have claimed to have shot a big cat, or run one over or found a dead one, and in every case these people have either burned or buried the carcass. In most cases this was long before the country was buzzing with researchers keen on making some money out of a good photo or other piece of evidence. And in any case, most people who do come across a carcass - especially if they have shot the animal, aren't going to tell many people about it. As you can see on this blog there have been a few cases over the years across the countryside of the UK where exotic animals have bene run over or shot. Mind you, I'm often asked why we don't find many dead ones, but there is an easy explanation for this and it doesn't involve silly conspiracy theories etc. Basically, if you consider that a large, yet extremely elusive animal is prowling around the remote thickets of Kent, then that means it is avoiding main roads, in fact most sightings I get of animals crossing a road usually involves a motorist travelling on a remote b-road in the wilds of Ashford etc. There isn't much chance that a large cat is going to run out in front of car in such a remote location. However, if a cat did then it still knows to kepe a distance but, if by chance the cat is hit, it may crawl away to die or, as in the case of alot of road kill, vanish simply due to the progression of nature. If you consider also how many sightings of large cats take place after dusk, then you can see why these cats are hardly ever filmed or photographed. However, what seems to be the case is that a piece of footage, no matter how clear, or whether it's been scrutinised and passed by 'experts', it's still not going to convince a hardened sceptic. In reality, I'd love to ask the sceptics one question back (because the sceptics seem quite happy to bombard me), and that is, What would it take to prove to you that these animals exist ? Some would respond that seeing is believing, but is it really when you are so closed off to such a situation ? Some people don't even believe their own eyes. Would a clear, up close photo prove anything ? Of course not, sceptics could argue that it came from a zoo. Over the last few years a terrible hoax photo has been doing the rounds showing what is meant to be a black leopard in a field in Staffordshire. Of course, the image is simply a cut 'n' paste job onto a backround, but I guess these 'big cat' stories bring out the best and worst of people. I still don't think a 'big cat' with young would convince many people, so maybe a cat killing a sheep would, but there's so little chance of getting this on film, and there's a major reason one - no-one is out there putting the time and effort in. Trigger camera's are fine but they mean that someone has to keep checking them. ideally, the people who are going out to film leopards in Africa, etc, are the people we need in the UK, but they haven't the time to do this, and some of these guys may feel that their reputation will be tarnished, which is a pity, as I'm sure that any wildlife cameraman that films a 'big cat' in the UK may see his profile soar. The trouble is, all we have at the moment are 'experts' telling us these animals don't exist rather than looking at the evidence we have and taking it further. Sure, we've had hair analysed, DNA from saliva will eventually prove also that there are 'big cats' around, but it's still not enough. Only today I picked up a cutting from the Daily Mail of November 30th 1994 concerning the escape of a female snow leopard from a private collection in Hertfordshire. It made me realise how easy it is for a cat to escape but also how relatively easy it is for one to get recaptured, which is why I don't believe the animals we have in the wilds today are zoo escapees. Hopefully, with the evidence for such animals accumulating since the 1960s Surrey puma cat-flap (excuse the pun!), all we can do is continue to collate, but I don't think 'big cat' research should be in effect to appease the sceptics. At times we seem to forget that it's about the animals and not the personal egos that are involved. There are always detractors, there are sceptics, and I guess that's what makes the debate healthy to some extent but the problem is, it has become every man for himself, as in most walks of life so no wonder people are hesitant to come forward with their evidence...but you know what a sceptic would say to that, "Maybe they don't want to come forward because they don't have any evidence," so you can't win either way. Deep down I hope these cats outlive us all and I also hope that a child is never attacked by one in the wilds. I'm also of the opinion that if someone gets their 'irrefutible' evidence (whatever that may be), that it will of course only prove one thing - that there's one large cat out there. The situation as a whole is far greater than many realise and even if the authorities (whoever they may be) admit to such animals existing in our wilds (which is highly unlikely) I still don't see us moving on or out from the shadow of the sceptical view.

 

Apologies for the lack of updates in the last week or so. Writing committments and ventures into Kent woodlands have prevented recent entries. One trip, with a friend, took us to Burham Downs, and right across the Downs towards Blue Bell Hill. I recall a year or so ago a local gamekeeper moaning about my research. He came out with the classic line, "There is no big cat on Blue Bell Hill...I've spent many years around the hill and never seen a thing...". It's this type of naive attitude that frustrates me. On Sunday 19th February me and my good friend walked miles through the woods around Burham, Wouldham etc. We saw one solitary fox, which was eyeing us up from its bramble thick domain, and two rabbits which scurried off into a quarry. The area seemed bereft of life and yet there were areas strewn with fox faeces and rabbit droppings, but of course there was no sign of a large cat - finding a piece of scat would be like looking for a needle in a haystack for some people, and it's amazing how many pieces actually get trodden on by people on bridle paths. Even so, an area of woodland that stretches from Burham, to Blue Bell Hill, to Boxley, is vast for a human to walk - down in the lower quarries we didn't even bump into a human, rather strange considering Sunday was a lovely day for a countryside ramble. I did think of that sceptical gamekeeper though as we pushed our way through bracken and bramble and then sat quietly in those dense areas. It made me realise how useless the human is when it comes to acting like an animal - our sense of hearing, sight and smell, especially in the darkness, is no match for a large cat. One can see why most sightings are so brief, mainly concerning people who are driving or walking the dog.

Not sure if anyone saw it but about 2 weeks ago Meridian News covered a bizarre story from Seaford in Sussex where a couple claimed that a leopard had walked into their front room. I find it so hard to take such reports seriously - it reminded me of a chap a few years ago from Nunhead, London who claimed that one night he felt rather ill and so opened the door for a bit of fresh air only to see a massive black cat stroll into his front room. Now, if this sort of thing happened, surely this would be main news, or at least followed up ? Were there hair samples on the carpet ? And, in the case of the couple, why on earth was their front door open at night - or did Mr Leopard have a key ? These are the sort of reports that make a mockery of any type of serious research but sadly, these are the type of reports that make the newspapers etc. I guess the sceptics etc are fed up of the usual, "I was driving and it crossed the road..." stories, but the fact is, these are the most consistent.

A contact of mine in the Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells area recently sent me another photo of a deer kill - and also the image of some scat. Once again it appears that someone has trodden on the scat - which, by the way, is full of deer fur. I recently conducted several talks, one in Farningham Road where I was approached by a young lady who told me that she'd seen a huge, muscular black cat whilst driving through Sevenoaks. Sadly, her partner did not believe a word of it and I wonder just how many people don't report their sightings due to a fear of ridicule. Some witnesses even question their own sanity. Eye-witness reports can be vague but as I've stated previously, some witnesses get clear views of these animals and know what they are seeing. I was also recently contacted by a guy who works for a safari company via Surrey and he was amazed when he recently saw a black leopard in the county. Conducting talks to specific groups and also the general public is a huge buzz for me because it enables me to make the audience aware of what signs to look for and to explain the theories as to why such animals exist in our woods. By giving talks it also enables witnesses to come forward to report their encounters, and they come forward in their droves...

A majority of people do not know where to report their sightings of any unusual animals. If sightings are reported to the police most of these remain in the files, but those I've examined can be very vague, i.e. Feb 1st, Maidstone, black cat sighted. Other sightings are made towards local papers, but only occasionally are the sightings featured in a decent article - otherwise we get the usual stuff from the major tabloids. Although I have received thousands of reports over the years there must be a decent amount of people who've never told a soul about what they've seen. I was also contacted by someone regarding a photo if an alleged exotic cat. Over the years many people have claimed to have shot/run over a cat - or knew someone who has, and, of course, evidence is usually scant. In my book MYSTERY ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES: KENT I featured a photo which someone claimed was of a puma that had been caught in a trap in North Kent. The image in the book clearly shows a domestic cat which has been photographed then stuck on as if it is hanging from a tree - in no way is the image of a large, exotic animal. However, one chap did say that a few years ago he had snared a smaller exotic cat so we'll see what happens...it reminded me of the case a few years back when a buolder claimed that he'd seen someone shoot a 'big cat' on a pheasant shoot on the Isle of Sheppey. Again, this seems unlikely and I'm more inclined to think the team of beaters had encountered a large feral cat. Sceptics argue that there are never any bodies of 'big cats' but again, this is such a naive attitude. You can walk for miles, for years, through vast forest and never find a deer that has died of natural causes and there are thousands of deer, mind you, exotic cat bodies have been found - animals have been shot dead and run over, but these are generally smaller cats, but absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence.

Many 'big cat' stories seem to fade into urban legend, this is understandable when the stories are old and they get passed down through generations like Chinese whispers. Over the years I've bene told numerous fantastic tales which are rarely verified. There was the case down in Maidstone where a family claimed that a black leopard had been killed by a car. The animal was in a ditch and the famil watched in amazement as two leopards came out of the woods and were sniffing round the carcass. Then there's the story from Tonbridge way of the woman who heard a thud on her conservatory roof and found a dead lynx which she believed had been killed by a larger cat. Apparently the woman threw the lynx over the back fence and the newspaper came out and photographed it. This has never been provem. Then there was the chap in Dover who claimed that his car was written off when he struck a lynx and then there was the day I spent trying to run across a motorway in order to find the alleged carcass of an enormous spotted cat. Bizarrely, all we found was a tiny cuddly leopard toy was the witness was adamant that the previous day crows had bene pecking at a large, decomposing animal. Cover up or a simple case of misidentification ? However fascinating these type of stories are, many are nothing more than legend, or, byt he time you arrive on the scene things turn out to be not quite as dramatic as one would hope.

I do wonder how many reports the authorities receive of cats that have been run over etc. A rather cowardly chap recently at a poke at me (he didn't use his actual name of course...very brave) regarding an article that appeared in a major paper regarding the alleged cover up of big cat bodies by the Ministry of Defence. It had been claimed that the MoD were hiding such bodies from the public, and that they'd been picking alleged carcasses up from the roadside and possibly analysing them in some type of covert fashion. It makes for a great story but my opinion is that if a body of a leopard was run over and it was reported to the 'authorities', then surely they would - i.e. the MoD - have the right to take that body away. Why would they need to consult the local 'big cat' researcher or give the carcass to the local news station ? Maybe the MoD have taken bodies into the bowels of their secret laboratories, but isn't this getting into the realms of aliens and UFOs ? If a leopard is found, and obviously it would be considered a danger to the public - especially if it's injured - then the authorities would have a right to deal with it. Whether we believe in cover up's or not, is not the question, but the main problem is that too many researchers are creating, in their minds a complex web of intrigue about the British 'big cat' situation. Yes, it is possible bodies have been investigated by the MoD, but I'm pretty sure that if a local researcher found a carcass of a 'big cat' he'd be all too keen to splash it over the news thinking that once and for all he'd found his Holy Grail...but one body does not solve a mystery. All it does is give a local researcher a massage of his ego.

I'm pretty sure there are people out there gagging to capture a big cat or find a dead one. At the moment there are trigger cameras everywhere hoping to catch a glimpse of  cat, and then of course it'll be all over the tabloids for a week then fade...until the next one. I distinctly recall a few years ago some fantastic photo's in a major tabloid showing a puma looking through a patio door of a house in a Welsh valley...great photo, but the general opinion is "so what ?", and this is how it'll always be unless someone of authority turns round and says "Yes, we DO have leopard and puma in our wilds", but that's not going to happen unless all these cats form a gang and start killing people. When a mystery comes along people make their own minds up - they create conspiracy theories, they start thinking that because they haven't seen a 'big cat' that such animals are paranormal or teasing them, others seem to believe there are thousands of big cats around, others suggest that they aren't big cats but monster hybrids, so it all adds to the melting pot. The one thing lacking of course is consistency but as we know...consistency doesn't make a newspaper headline. Everyone has their own opinion...fair enough...and those that see such animals will react in their own personal way...and I'm sure a day will come when one or more cats is filmed very clearly, and who knows, with the amount of people scouring the woods and fields maybe a dead leopard or puma will turn up...but people will still say "so what?" and maybe they have a right to. After all, it's just a large cat in a place it shouldn't be...

...but if you see one, or have any evidence, then please forward it to me at:  neil.arnold@live.com   I'll happily come and have a look, and advise.