A British Bigfoot?

By: Frank Markov.

There are many tales of strange or foreign creatures roaming the countryside of Britain. From leopards to Nessie many have been reported, and in many cases the evidence for their existence is strong. The one type of creature which we don't hear of in this country is the ape man, or bigfoot. Sometimes there are tales of escaped monkeys, but very few reports of large apes in the countryside. But following my investigations, this could be about to change.

Last year I was alerted by a correspondent in a rural part of Warwickshire to a strange trail of footprints. The prints were very large, but, my correspondent told me, looked almost human. Immediately I wondered two things: could there be a bigfoot type creature living in the UK? Or could there be a large gorilla or similar ape loose in the area? Either way, I needed to investigate further. I set off as soon as possible to take a look myself.

By the time I arrived, the original set of footprints had vanished into the mud, however, I was sure that by being patient and observant the beasts trail could be picked up again. All I needed to do was careful scan the area for signs of the movement of a large bipedal primate, and hopefully, this would lead me to the creature.

I had been told which direction the footprints where headed, and this naturally was my first line of investigation. The prints had crossed a track between two scrubby, lightly wooded areas. I headed into the scrub, and straight away found what I was looking for: saplings bent and broken, as if by the passage of a bulky and strong beast. Unfortunately, the grass and fallen leaves underfoot had been disturbed by wind and so no footprints were visible. Nevertheless, there was still a trail of disturbed brush to follow.

I followed the trail for quite some distance, until the landscape opened back up into an open grassy area. The trail was lost. There were no trees to bend or break, just grass which was all bent and broken anyway. I looked around and worked out were I would be heading if I was the beast. Ahead of me was a small river, and behind that more scrub and woodland. I walked down to the river to see if there was any evidence the creature had done the same.

Sure enough, on the other side of the river was what appeared to be footprints. And large ones at that, perhaps 14 or 15 inches in length. I had no means of crossing the stream, but was able to see that the prints lead out of the water, then presumably off into the woods behind. Sure that there was a strange animal of some sort in the area, I returned home to plan another trip and hopefully get some further evidence. Now the hunt was on!

The inset shows the footprints by the river highlighted for clarity.

Several days later I returned to the area, armed with wellington boots so I could cross the river. Once I had waded the stream I made straight for the woods above. It was a strange almost primeval woodland of quite young trees, though dense and difficult to walk through. This made the job of locating the track of the creature easier, however, as there would be clear evidence of the vegetation being moved as it passed through. Sure enough, I found the tell-tale signs of recent movement and followed them.

As I moved further down the trail, deeper into the wood, I began to get a strange feeling I was being watched. I stopped, looked about but could see and hear nothing out of the ordinary, so I continued cautiously along the track. At this point I had no idea what the creature was that I was tracking. It could be an escaped gorilla or some unknown ape, and it was clearly a large beast. I felt a growing concern for my personal safety.

Still feeling that I was "not alone" in the woods, I stopped once more and sat down for a moment to contemplate matters. Perhaps the animal was stalking me, rather than me stalking it? A chill ran down my spine, and I decided to return to base and work on a safer plan for tracking the creature. But then, just as I was about to get up and go, a crack in the near distance, the sound of something standing on and breaking a fallen branch or similar. I froze, camera at the ready, and tried to work out where the sound had come from. Then, from behind a tree no more than 50 yards in front of me, a dark shape appeared. Well over six feet tall, standing upright like a human, and covered in shaggy dark brown hair, there was the creature, staring at me.

The British Bigfoot

I quickly took a picture, expecting the creature to either run away or attack me, but it stayed exactly where it was for nearly a minute watching me, before slowly ambling away back into the woods. I left as quickly as possible. The creature certainly did not seem scared of me, which made me all the more scared of it.

What was this creature in the woods? Was it some strange unknown form of ape? Or some kind of throw back to mankind's own primitive days? Only one thing is for sure - deep in the English countryside there is a mysterious bigfoot alive and well.

WCSRO, 2006.