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Speaker 1: Okay, welcome to the podcast. My name's Cameron Butner and

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this is the Dixie Cryptid What If It's True Podcast.

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I have two stories from the United Kingdom, two very

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well written stories that were really interesting, and I hope

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you guys are going to enjoy this. I know you will,

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so let's get on with it all right, Here we go.

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In nineteen ninety four and Devon, Southwest, United Kingdom, I

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was walking home from town one evening with just a

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bit of starlight to light my path. I'd walked this

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stretch home many times and didn't need a light to

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find my way. The road was a deep, sunken rocky

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track leading up a steep hill that led to the farm.

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It was an ancient Bronze aged roadway known as as

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a Hollow Wave, probably one of the oldest roads in

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the country. The surface was bumpy and uneven, constructed with

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stones that had moved out of place over the centuries.

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Jogging or even walking at a fast pace could result

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in a turned ankle or worse. But I was light

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footed and agile in those days, and I was not

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worried about stumbling. I walked onto the farm an hour

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away when I saw something unusual in front of me

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in the middle of the road. Without much light, I

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could only make out the contrast of a figure against

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the dimly reflective rocks and stones that made up the

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road's surface. I could hear it huffing slightly as it

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dug into the road and flipped large rocks over. I

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immediately stopped still and strained my eyes to try to

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identify it. My first impression was of a person in

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a black cape, crouching down with its back toward me.

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It seemed to have a pointed head shape like a

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hood or a witch's hat, and when I saw what

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looked like a long, sweeping tail, I thought it might

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be a large black cat, like a leopard, that would

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be quite out of place in the Devonshire countryside. At

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this point, the thing was only twenty feet in front

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of me, and it seemed to have its back to

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me and hadn't noticed me yet. Not knowing what the

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hell it was really spooked me, and I decided to

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go around it by leaving the track via an open

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gateway to my left. Now this led up to a

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narrow strip of land that ran parallel to the roadway,

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the old Norman Quarry, where they got the stone for

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our local castle. But as soon as I got up there,

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I cursed myself for doing it, because the only way

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out of that piece of land was back onto the

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road further up, and by the time I got there,

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I would be in front of this thing, and it

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would surely see me. Then I stood there for a

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while and listened, still hearing the rocks turning and soft

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huffing breathing. The road to my right was eight feet

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below me, and I walked a few steps and heard

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the rock sound stop, and then the creature's low breathing

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came level with me, and I moved forward a few

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more steps, and it did the same. It was pacing me,

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and fear rose in pin pricks up my neck and

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into the back of my scalp. Soon I would have

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to drop back down into the road to continue forward,

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putting me far too close to this thing. I stood

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still for some time, getting up the courage to face

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my fears before jumping down into the road. And when

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I landed, I faced downhill into the blackness of the

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thick sycamore tree cover in the direction of the creature.

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The place where I re entered the track was open

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and there was light enough to make the road below

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look pitch black where it went under the trees. And

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I stared into that darkness, and when nothing moved, I

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began to relax, and I thought I had averted disaster.

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And then a deep, rumbling growl traveled from the darkness

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to my ears, and all hope was gone, and without thinking,

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I picked up a rock. I don't want to fight,

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but I will if I have to, I threatened, with

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a shaking voice, to the creature hiding in the darkness.

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The growl continued, but the entity didn't come closer. I

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turned and began to walk up the hill toward home.

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I never turned my back fully to the darkness behind me.

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I felt it near, and I knew it was following me.

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I turned several times to face it as I walked,

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wanting it to know that I would not go quietly.

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And when I got to the farmhouse, my partner's dog

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was there to meet me. She was supposed to be indoors,

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but had managed to get out. My partner and her

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young son were away at the time. The dog was

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beside herself, shaking. She wrapped her body around my legs

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and then pulled and pushed me through the gate toward

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the home, away from the road. What's that? What's that?

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What is it? Go on? I excitedly said to the dog,

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and pointed down the dark road. Now normally this would

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send her flying off, fearlessly, chasing shadows and hints of

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animal life, even at night, But this time, though she

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never budged, she stayed pressed against my legs, refusing to

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even look in the direction from where I had come.

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I had never seen her act like that, and her

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behavior convinced me that I wasn't imagining the danger that

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I knew was there. I took her inside and pulled

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up an armchair, and I sat with the open door

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and the electric light pouring out into the farmyard. And

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I stayed there until first light, and the dog by

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my side the entire night. Neither of us took our

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eyes off of the doorway. Sometime later, and not too

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far away, I found a cave in the woods. It

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was inaccessible and heavily fenced off, probably for safety, whether

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to keep something from going in or to prevent something

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from coming out. I never knew the places labeled on

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old maps as a lead mine, but I think it's

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a natural cave that was worked on by men in

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medieval times. The cave entrance is a steep, muddy slope

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going down and around to the left. It was free

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of plant life and padded down smoothly, as if something

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large had been using it on a regular basis. I

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walked a little way down the slope and I was

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hit by a horrible smell, a rotten, deathly stench sharp

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with ammonia. That alone filled me with terror, and I

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was out of there in a flash. I must have

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jumped clear over a double five foot barbed wire fence

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and a holly tree because I was in the field

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bordering the woods before I knew it, and I didn't

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remember the climb out at all now. I never went

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back there, but later I heard of two male lines

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that had escaped from a private animal collection. They were

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never found, one was seen in that area, and a

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farmer there was losing fifty turkeys at a time. The

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area where I live is full of unexplained phenomena and events,

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much of it too crazy to believe. And that particular

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section of the road that I was on is famous

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for spooking people, and I know some who will never

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walk it alone at night. I wanted to believe that

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it was a lion that was stalking me, but knowing

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some of the strange things that have happened here, I

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couldn't help but think that it may have been something

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even more sinister. I want to say that I really

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enjoy the Dixie Cryptid podcast. The stories are always thralling

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and beautifully red and atmospheric. I wish I could report

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a bigfoot sighting and equally thrilling story, but as a

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fifty eight year old man from West Sussex, England, bigfoots

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and encryptids are a bit on the ground. I think

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the nearest we get here in the UK is the

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Lockness Monster in Scotland, which the tourists seem to enjoy.

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And while we might be lacking a bit in the

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cryptid department, what we do have is an abundance of history.

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Britain is full of historic buildings, castles and ancient ruins,

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homes and dwellings that have been virtually unchanged for hundreds

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of years. There's a real sense when you live in

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the UK of this abundance of history and those that

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came before. I don't know if my little story in

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some way taps into something that happened in the past.

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But it certainly is odd. Let's see what you think.

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When I was six, my parents took me and my

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old brother to the beautiful, quiet, little seaside village of

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poles Eith p o l z Eah Polsyth, in stunning

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North Cornwall. This wonderful place truly had everything. A beautiful

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sheltered beach, dramatic scenery, and my favorite thing, the opportunity

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to play and bodyboard and the exhilarating waves pounding in

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from the Atlantic. As I got older, I always found

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a week or so to revisit this childhood haunt and

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recapture some of the memories I had so enjoyed growing up.

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Most years I paid a visit to Polsith and continue

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to add wonderful memories of this lovely place to people

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in the UK. If I'm mispronouncing the name of this town,

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I apologize. I just have never heard it, so bear

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with me and give me some grace on that. Okay,

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back to the story. One of the traditions I was

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keen to keep alive was an eighteen round trip hike

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going north following the rugged and stunning coastline of Polsith

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to Port Quinn and then along to the picture perfect

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fishing village of Port Isaac. In two thousand and one,

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I had been running a marketing company in Sussex and

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my team had decided to take part in a hike

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for charity. In preparation for this, I took the opportunity

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to suggest that as part of our training we could

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have a long weekend down in Cornwall and I could

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introduce the team to my go to hike along the

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coastline and back, and coupled with the opportunity of a

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wonderful adventure, the prospect of great weather and perhaps a

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few crafty beers after the event, I had no trouble

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enticing the team to come. After work on Friday. We

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jumped into the minibus and headed west. We arrived at

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our b and b, the Cornish cottage and polseyth and

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had a quick beer and then went to bed shortly after,

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all keen to set off early on Saturday morning for

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our adventure. The day could not have gone better. The

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weather was amazing, the views were spectacular, and the banter

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and camaraderie were everything I had hoped. The hike was tough,

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but manageable, and we all felt a true sense of

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accomplishment when we arrived back at the Cornish cottage, ready

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for a great meal and some alcoholic reward for our endeavors.

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There was a true intention to party hard, but the

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reality was different. One by one everyone started to yearn

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for their beds, and they left the food and half

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drunk pints on the table. And still it was a

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perfect day and a well deserved rest to savor. That night,

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I was sharing a room with my business partner, Graham.

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We had two single beds, one toilet, a shower, and

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not a lot else. It was fit for purpose and cheap,

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and it was comfortable. I think I must have been

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asleep before my head hit the pillow and I went

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spark out. In the middle of the night. I was

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suddenly awake and freezing cold. It had been a warm day,

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so I had just gone to sleep in my underwear.

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I felt the duvet on me, but I since something

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wasn't quite right. As I became more conscious, I realized

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that the mattress I was lying on was absolutely ringing wet.

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It was like water had in some way erupted from

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beneath me. Though the duvet on top of me felt

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relatively dry. My first reaction was that there had been

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a leak in the plumbing, but there was quite a

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bit of light in the room from the street light outside,

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and I could see no evidence of anything out of

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the ordinary. After that, it had occurred to me that

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I might have wet myself, and to be honest, I

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thought this was unlikely because I had drank virtually nothing

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the night before and had never done anything like that. Also,

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I noted that my underwear was dry other than where

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it had touched the mattress. In any event, I looked

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over at my mate Graham, who was sound asleep. I

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decided not to wake him, and I made the best

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of the situation until morning. I turned the mattress over

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and took off the sidden sheets, and I gathered all

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the available towels together to give some protection from the wetness.

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And my night passed very slowly. I was freezing cold

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and a little spook because nothing like this had ever

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happened to me before. I couldn't think of a rational explanation.

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All I knew was that somehow a whole lot of

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water had miraculously appeared from nowhere, and I didn't know

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how or why. As soon as I thought it reasonable,

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I gave Graham a kick and I told him about

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my nighttime experience. He said he had woken up at

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some point and noticed my makeshift duvase situation, which he

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had thought was strange but was funny, And together we

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inspected the ceiling and the plumbing, and we saw no

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evidence of leaks, and then we discussed the possibility of

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one of us being the guilty party with an ill

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timed night pee. Still, we soon eliminated that as unlikely

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because frankly, the wet mattress had no odor, and as

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I said, the water had erupted from below. We concluded

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that it was just one of those things, and that

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we would probably never know the truth, and the rest

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of our team thought it was funny and just part

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of the weekend's adventures. Over the next couple of years,

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there were few opportunities to tell the story. It had

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been a very strange thing to have happened, and when

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we're laying the events, people seemed intrigued. In my heart, though,

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I began to think that there must have been a

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rational explanation that had caused this, and we probably hadn't

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put in the necessary time to investigate the property at

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the time. In any event, I didn't dwell on it,

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and so I put it out of my mind. In

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the spring of twenty twenty two, my business partner Graham

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announced that he was engaged to be married and was

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going to be hits that summer to the love of

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his life, Babs. Great news, I thought, not only a

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nice wedding to enjoy, but also the prospect of a

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great bachelor party, which was bound to be eventful. And

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with his impending nuptials fast approaching, Graham came to me

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with an interesting suggestion. His idea was to get scuba

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qualified before his honeymoon in Jamaica, so he would be

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prepared the moment he landed. It was something I had

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always wanted to do, and I jumped on the chance

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to join him. It was allegedly spring here in the UK,

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although most mornings still came with a thick layer of

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frost on the ground. Graham and I found ourselves standing

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by the foreboding lake that had formerly been a quarry

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to do the open water part of our course. This

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venue in Petersborough was an inland scuba training facility, that

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simulated the real life experience of diving in the open ocean,

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complete with sunken features such as an old aircraft and

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even a double decker London bus. In our little group

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we had eight other trainee divers, three ladies and five blokes,

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spanning age groups from thirty to the oldest of sixty five.

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We got to know these people well in the preceding weeks.

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They were a good bunch of people who, like us,

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wanted to tick scuba diving off the bucket list. One night,

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our group decided to go for a few beers local

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to where we were staying. After freezing most of the

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day in the lake, sitting in a cozy pub with

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an open fire was just the tonic we all needed.

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After a good night with these like minded folk, we

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got to the stage of the evening when we were

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sitting back in chairs contently sipping on a malt whiskey

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to round off the day. The conversation became quite animated,

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with the subject somehow turning to what weird things have

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happened to you in your lifetime? And when it got

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to me it was easy I would tell the strange

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story of our Cornwall adventure. Punctuated with Graham filling in

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the blanks and interjecting his perspective. And as I was speaking,

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I noticed that one of the guys in our group

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started to look at me strangely. He had gone stone

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faced and was fidgeting in his chair. Robert, are you okay?

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I asked? Was this new BnB impulsive up on a hill?

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He asked yes. I said, was it called the Cornish Cottage?

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Robert asked yes. I said, was your room up the

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stairs and first on the right, yes, I said, growing curious.

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Was your bed the first one on the right as

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you entered the room? Robert asked. I hesitated, yes, I said,

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what's going on? Mate? I believe this, but the same

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thing happened to me a couple of years ago, he said.

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I woke up freezing and soaking wet, and I couldn't

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come up with an explanation. I had just put it down.

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It's just one of those things, Robert said, looking a

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little disturbed. Now, as you can appreciate, this information was incredible.

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During grams. In my telling of the story, we had

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not given the location details, the name of the BnB,

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let alone the precise layout of our room, And I

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remember feeling the hair stand up on the back of

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my neck, and it felt like this was no longer

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just one of those things after all. In the following

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years I have told both sides of this story many

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times and have had no need to embellish it in

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any way. These are two different accounts with the same

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strange outcome. And since this strange event, I had visited

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this lovely seaside village and hiked the glorious coastal path

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many times. The Cornish cottages no longer there. It was

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demolished and replaced by a parking lot, and I have

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often wondered what the truth really was here. Was it

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just the most incredible coincidence, or was there something more

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sinister going on? And on beautiful sunny days, I would

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be hard to imagine anything ghostly going on impulsive, But

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in the heart of winter, with the waves crashing over

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the craggy coastline, you can easily imagine a very different world.

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The Cornish coastline is littered with wrecks and tales of

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seagoing folk who have met their untimely deaths at the

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hand of a very cruel sea, and perhaps my experience

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was just one of those things, but I suspect not.

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Thanks for joining me on this podcast. I love getting

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these stories from my friends in the United Kingdom or

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anywhere in the British Isles or Europe. I really enjoy

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reading the stories from different places. I've gotten stories from

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all over the world, actually, and I know there are

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some places that I haven't gotten stories from. I don't

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know something about something going on that I understand in

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another country or another continent is I don't know. It's

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illuminating to me. It really, it's very interesting to me,

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and I love to read these. So I hope you

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all enjoyed that. I've had these stories for a long time,

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and I apologize to the writers for taking so long,

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but I do have a lot of them to do.

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I wanted to get these out today because I liked them.

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That's why I did them, because I like them. All Right,

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you guys, have a good day, and we'll see you

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on the next podcast. Thanks