Strange Stories UK
204 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 6 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 15 ratingstrue crime, mysteries, strange stories, stories,paranormal, UK, I try to be factual and not give too many opinions. Podcasts are 'low fi' with out any editing.
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Episodes
Strange Stories UK: Bournemouth drug dealing and murder 2023.
April 25, 2024 20:00 - 38 minutes - 26.4 MBThis case was committed in Boscombe, part of Bournemouth during August 2023. The case has come to Winchester Crown Court this month, starting on April 11, it is expected to finish in late May, more likely early June 2024. I am not sure how to describe the case in a line or two. A gregarious extrovert couple with addiction and mental health problems commit an atrocious act. The trial is live, so please follow it in the media. I dont think I will post another podcast on this case unless there...
Strange Stories UK: Constance Marten & Mark Gordon 5, Confrontations and closing speeches.
April 19, 2024 16:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MBConfrontations and Closing Speeches. This is the fifth podcast on the Constance Marten and Mark Gordon trial. This one concentrates on the last month of the trial which only sat for a few days. The trial has again been delayed halfway through the Judge's summing up speech. I don't think that there will be a verdict until around 29 April 2024. The Strange Stories podcast is not a corporate podcast, there are other podcasts being made on the case, it is recorded in one take, without any editi...
Strange Stories: A Southampton murder 2023.
April 15, 2024 16:00 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBPlease be aware, this podcast is recorded in one take without editing. This is a case that was heard at Winchester Crown Court between January 2024 and March 2024.
Strange Stories: Fiona Beal, Nicholas Billingham, the background to the 2024 trial.
April 04, 2024 16:00 - 43 minutes - 30 MBI am posting this before the retrial of the Nicholas Billingham / Fiona Beal case which is due to be heard at the Old Bailey in the late Spring of 2024. This is a retrial of a case abandoned during June 2023 for no apparent reason. I am giving the background to the original trial. It is told in one take without editing. I will post another podcast when the case finishes probably at the end of June 2024.
Strange Stories : The Lydney murder, Maggots and the downfall of William Brittle.
April 01, 2024 13:00 - 30 minutes - 20.9 MBA Famous murder of its time in 1964, almost forgotten today. The case was famous for its forensic breakthrough. Recorded as usual in one take without editing.
Strange Stories UK: Constance Marten & Mark Gordon part 4
March 21, 2024 21:00 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MBThis is the fourth podcast of what is proving to be an extraordinary case. I was expecting this to be a one podcast case.T his podcast concentrates on the events of week 7 of this case being heard in Court 5 of the Old Bailey in London. This is being posted before the expected start of week 8 on March 25 2024.
Strange Stories UK: The Hawthorn Incident, Portsmouth 1973.
March 18, 2024 21:00 - 32 minutes - 22.7 MBRecorded in lo fi without editing. I don't think you would have heard of this story from Portsmouth, UK in March 1973.
Strange Stories UK: Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, Part 3 The Defence.
March 11, 2024 12:00 - 25 minutes - 17.5 MBI am posting this podcast after week 6 of the trial. The case is intriguing with many odd and unexplained aspects . Week 7 is about to commence with Constance Marten continuing her defence. I am wondering how the jury are going to come to a verdict on which they all agree. As usual, this podcast is posted without editing and the presentation is not of a professional standard.
Strange Stories UK: Constance Marten & Mark Gordon Part 2, 5 weeks of the Old Bailey trial
March 03, 2024 17:00 - 37 minutes - 25.9 MBThis is part 2 of the Constance Marten, Mark Gordon trial at the Old Bailey. Some reflections on the first five weeks of the trial. As always the podcast is recorded in one take with no editing.
Strange Stories : Constance Marten & Mark Gordon. Part 1, The background.
February 26, 2024 21:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBThe Constance Marten and Mark Gordon trial is at present being held at the Old Bailey, it started January 2024 and is scheduled to finish on 8 March. It seems to have caused great interest and a number of podcasts have been commissioned by newspapers and the BBC. This podcast is lo-fi and is not a polished corporate effort. I have tried a different approach , concentrating on the background and events leading to the arrest of the couple in part 1. I will post a second podcast (part 2) aft...
Strange Stories: The Senseless murder of Harrison Tompkins, Crawley, August 2023.
February 24, 2024 13:00 - 22 minutes - 15.3 MBThis is a short podcast about a totally senseless murder last August in the West Sussex town of Crawley. Condolences to the family of Harrison Tompkins.
Strange Stories: Alf 'Houdini' Hinds & Shirley 'The Greatest Shop lifter in the world' Pitts
February 08, 2024 21:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MBTwo characters with links to the Elephant and Castle area of South London. Alfred Hinds probably unjustly imprisoned in 1953 and determined to do something about it. Shirley Pitts born into poverty and determined to do something about it. Recorded in one take in lo-fi with a dog next to me.
Strange Stories UK : The Cleator moor Incident, August 1974.
January 24, 2024 17:00 - 31 minutes - 21.5 MBCleator Moor is a small town near the East Coast of Cumbria in the North of England on the Eastern edge of the Lake District a few miles away. It is an area quite isolated and probably quite dull for young people living there. 23 August 1974 there was a horrific crime committed there which seems totally forgotten now, 50 years later. Those involved seem totally forgotten.
Strange Stories : Bethnal Green, Victoria Hall, Glen Cinema and Barnsley Hall disasters.
January 19, 2024 20:00 - 38 minutes - 26.2 MBThis started as a podcast on the Bethnal Green Tube disaster in 1943. I was surprised to learn about other crowd crush disasters that I had never heard of before. I have gone into some detail on the Bethnal Green story but then give an overview on the other disasters. The last three crowd crush disasters reported on here are exclusively child death disasters, so not a podcast for everyone.
Strange Stories: The Brighton Tragedy of Sue Addis. Lockdown 2021.
January 10, 2024 19:00 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MBIn January 2021 there was news reported that shocked the people of Brighton and Hove. Prominent and popular businesswoman Sue Addis was stabbed and killed in the bath while at home. This podcast is lofi, recorded in one take with no editing.
Strange Stories : Southampton skinhead murder.
December 31, 2023 13:00 - 56 minutes - 38.5 MBThis is a story that has not really been told with any accuracy before. Feckless youth struggling to find an identity, wanting to prove their worth to the skinhead group they identify with. There is important information missing from police files although some interesting reports giving psychiatric reports on those involved. These events took place during Easter 1972 when a fatal stabbing by youths was a rarity. This is recorded in one take and is lo-fi and there is a disastrous attempt to...
Strange Stories : Sold for a farthing, a story of a sparrow.
December 25, 2023 00:00 - 40 minutes - 27.9 MBThis a shorter and quirkier podcast than usual. I read a book which moved me and I wanted to make a podcast about it. It is essentially about the life of a sparrow. I suppose most of us had a time when we tried to rescue an infant or injured bird, usually with an unhappy outcome. In this story an interesting relationship develops between a special woman and a special sparrow. I know its doomed to a low download figure, but I enjoyed making it. As per usual please be advised that it is low...
Strange Stories, Ghost Story for Christmas 2023: Hinton Ampner and a couple of Yorkshire hauntings.
December 20, 2023 00:00 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MBThe first haunting considered is that of Hinton Ampner, then the podcast moves onto the East Riding and West ridings of Yorkshire for further cases of supposed paranormal activity. The Podcast is recorded in one take with animals in the room. I mispronounce words and stumble over words, so apologies for that. I wish anyone reading this a Happy Christmas and all the best for 2024.
Strange Stories UK, Ten Days at Winchester Crown Court, Nov 2023.
December 06, 2023 20:00 - 59 minutes - 41 MBThis is the first episode of Season 7. I spent a couple of weeks at Winchester Crown Court watching a few cases. There was a murder trial in Court 1, a stabbing on the Isle of Wight, there were a few Organised Crime Gangs ranging from drug smuggling to human trafficking. I found it difficult to accept the description OCG, especially when applied to a 'dodgy' roofer who worked with some other cowboy builders cheating vulnerable house owners. An Albanian gang snatching items from elderly peop...
Strange Stories UK: The Messiter mystery, a Southampton murder.
November 15, 2023 16:00 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBThis podcast has a dog snoring throughout, some cats make an appearance but dont seem to have any audio affects. The window is open so warning there may be some crow or frog noise. Anyhow, I remember the story being told during a Christmas with elderly relatives in the 1960s in the city where the murder was committed. The most cogent memory in the 1960s is distant relatives giving my sisters and I stocking shaped presents with mars bars, milky ways and similar offerings which did not r...
Strange Stories UK: Halloween 2023, Stories from 1923 Society of Physic research records.
October 26, 2023 23:00 - 1 hour - 43.9 MBHello Anybody reading this. This podcast is regarding some stories as reported in the Society of Physical Research (SPR) records for 1923. The SPR tended not to report on ghost type stories at this time which were considered old fashioned. World War 1 had ended in 1918 and this resulted in many unexplained stories. Here are a few as recorded in Proceedings and the Journal of the SPR in 1923. I would like to say that I am aware that there have been issues regarding sound quality of these pod...
Strange Stories : William Burkitt, the king of the serial killers.
October 19, 2023 13:00 - 29 minutes - 20.2 MBPlease don't get too excited by the title of this podcast. By definition, Burkitt was a serial killer whose killing area was Hull, but I think that the nickname 'The King of the Serial Killers' that was given to him by fellow prisoners was perhaps ironic as Burkitt was a rather pathetic human being. I had never heard of this story before but I think it is of some interest as Burkitt managed to avoid the hangman on three occasions when most people would have thought that he had committed murd...
Strange Stories UK: Pirate Radio, Top pop tunes and murder on the North Sea.
October 09, 2023 12:00 - 59 minutes - 40.8 MBEpisode 165: Reg Calvert was a family man who got involved in the pop music scene in the early 1960s and through chance became involved with Pirate radio. He was a person that made things happen and was on the look out for new projects. He was well liked although he was said to have a temper when he was let down. I think there was a miscarriage of justice regarding this case. An unarmed Reg Calvert was shot with a shotgun by Oliver Smedley who had tried to steal his radio Station from him...
Strange Stories UK: Ladock, Cornwall. Madness and murder
September 25, 2023 18:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBThis is a podcast about Cornwall in 1959, a strange and sad double murder that seems to have been forgotten about. I am thinking that my microphone needs replacing which won't happen until November when I next visit an urban centre and take some advice. So, I my take a break after posting a few more short pods. I will post a Southampton murder and a Pirate radio murder and then the Halloween episode, so three more pods for Series 6, then I will take a break. I will start series 7 around Chr...
Strange Stories UK: Krays 2, Bob Boothby, Ronnie Kray and Bacon Bonce.
September 11, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 56.5 MBPart 2 of the untold Kray stories. This tells of the corruption that resulted from the sexual interests of Ronnie Kray who was a predatory homosexual paedophile who corrupted others including well known politicians of the day at the sex parties he held. The main criticism is on the Conservative and Labour governments of the day that could have stopped the corruption but allowed it to continue to avoid negative publicity.
Strange Stories UK: The Krays One (part 2) The True Story regarding affray and murder at Catford.
August 29, 2023 20:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBThis is the second part of the podcast about a shoot out and affray at a club in Catford during March 1966. This podcast is not really about the Krays but an incident that finished their main rivals in London, The Richardson gang. The podcast is recorded in one take without editing and are lo-fi. I am not sure how much other kray podcasts can be trusted as many are based on biased books or biased accounts which often glorify the Kray gang. The podcasts I am trying to produce are based on pol...
Strange Stories UK: The Krays 1: The true story of affray and murder at Catford. Part One.
August 28, 2023 20:00 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MBI have had the intention of doing some podcasts on the Kray gang for some time. As the story has been so well told and so well known I am concentrating on some background and lesser known stories. This is part one of the first Kray podcast. So part one of part one! I will post part two tomorrow. This podcast is not really about the Kray gang, but of an incident that gave the Krays the chance to become the dominant gang in London. The affray and shoot out at Mr Smith's club in Catford in So...
Strange Stories Uk: Hells Angels fall out in Yorkshire UK during 1975.
August 14, 2023 20:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBFour chapters of Hells Angels meet in a Yorkshire pub in Normanton and start drinking heavily. What could possibly go wrong? The crime is not a mystery and this is more of a period piece of life in the UK in Yorkshire during 1975. This is a short podcast, probably an unknown story made in a few hours just to post something in August. I have another podcast to post towards the end of the month. I am working on a couple of longer projects, including a podcast on the Krays, telling of some ...
Strange Stories : The Ghosts of Preston Park, Brighton.
July 30, 2023 14:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBHello Anybody reading this, the first 12 minutes of the podcast is background on Preston Manor, is is quite complicated and listening back I have to concentrate, so maybe you could skip that part although it gives some context to the story, which could be understood as young rich folks constructing a family ghost story because it amuses them. This podcast has the normal incompetent narration and probable mispronunciation. How do you pronounce the name Vere? There are two people with this n...
Strange Stories UK: The Monster of Margate.
July 26, 2023 19:00 - 39 minutes - 27.4 MBThis story dates back to August 1965 and events between then and 2014. I have called this episode the Margate Monster referring to Alan Houchin who served ten years for murder was then released, still being in denial, to commit more crime. I am working on some longer complicated cases at present, one of which will be the next paranormal episode. I will try to post photos on the Facebook page although I seem to have upset someone who has hacked my account and uploaded some terrorist and ...
Strange Stories UK, Al Watson and Ruby Roberts.
July 09, 2023 18:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBThe Sussex town of Worthing had the misfortune to have Al Watson move there in 1964 after finishing his latest prison sentence. Watson was a delusional and incompetent criminal who was dishonest and cheated everyone, not discriminating amongst friend or foe. Watson soon met and moved in with wealthy but vulnerable widow Ruby Roberts. The relationship seemed fraught from the beginning, finally resulting in people fishing off a Kent coast making an unpleasant discovery. This is another case t...
Strange stories UK, A double murder at Aldington, Kent. 1961.
July 02, 2023 19:00 - 25 minutes - 17.5 MBThis episode is quite a remarkable story, I said in the pod that it could have been the plot of an Ian McEwan novel. We go back to 1961 to examine a double murder at Aldington, Kent. It was quite quickly solved by Detective chief Superintendent John Du Rose, although I call him Detective Inspector in the podcast. Another mistake in the podcast which I knew I was saying it wrong as I said it, this was the pronunciation of Gillingham. But as I claim not to edit podcasts, it had to stay as it...
Strange Stories UK. A knifing in Eastbourne.
June 28, 2023 14:00 - 23 minutes - 16.3 MBThis is another short podcast about a story long forgotten. It is a sad story set in Eastbourne, a seaside town in Sussex during 1949. The story is told in lo-fi.
Strange stories UK: The Old Curiosity Shop Murder, Arundel, Sussex.
June 25, 2023 17:00 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBThis is a short, straight forward case of a murder from 1944 taken from Police records. Nobody will remember a case that has faded from memory. I intend to post a few more short forgotten cases before the end of this series. I am also working on some podcasts about the Krays, not so much about the well known stories but the unpublished stories and those at the fringes of their corruption. Please be advised this podcast is unedited and lo-fi.
Strange Stories UK: Ghost Cats.
June 20, 2023 16:00 - 1 hour - 42.3 MBThis podcast is dedicated to Megan Finlay Horowitz, a friend of the podcast and a fellow cat lover. The podcast examines a number of alledged paranormal cats and briefly looks at cat folklore. It is something of a ramble into related subjects. I also realise that I have not posted on the Strange Stories UK group Facebook site for about 18 months. Now I have finished with the website, I will make greater use of this site and post photos and answer any questions. I will post something for eve...
Strange Stories UK, The Ladies Directory case, Soho, London. 1960
June 15, 2023 13:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBthis was a well known case although virtually forgotten today, a prosecution for a conspiracy to corrupt public morals. There were a number of prosecutions for this charge in the 1960s, almost all were found guilty. Usually the cases were for showing 'blue' movies or adverts placed by GAY men in newspapers such as the underground paper International Times (IT). The Oz and the IT trials are better remembered today. The offence of conspiracy to 'corrupt public morals' isn't properly describe...
Strange Stories UK, Four murdered in a Sussex field, Tragedy at Arundel.
June 01, 2023 13:00 - 50 minutes - 34.6 MBI suspect that you will not of heard of this case before. It is a tragic case of a mentally unbalanced man trying to kill his family while on a picnic next to the River Adur at Sussex during 1968. It is a real life horror story which is probably part of the reason why the reporting of the case was repressed at the time and has been largely forgotton now. Recorded in one take, in lo-fi, I stumble and miss pronounce words and there are background noises, please do not listen if you want a BBC...
Strange stories: Ballechin part 3, The Ballechin House haunting
May 25, 2023 20:00 - 1 hour - 48 MBThis is part three of the the Ballechin House haunting, known as the most haunted house in Scotland when the story was told in the newspapers in 1897. This case caused a fair amount of embarrassment for the Society of Psychical Research who tried to distance themselves from the investigation that was led by Ada Goodrich Freer. The past three podcasts have been inspired by Trevor H Hall's book 'Strange Things'. Please be aware that this podcast has been recorded in one take and pronunciation...
Strange Stories, Ballechin House part 2, The Clandon House Haunting.
May 16, 2023 15:00 - 39 minutes - 26.8 MBThis is the second Ballechin House podcast. This podcast continues the background research on Ada Goodrich Freer's investigations leading to the Ballechin case. We concentrate on the alleged haunting of Clandon house in Surrey investigated by the Society of Psychical Research. We will get to Ballechin in the next podcast. This subject is niche, going over events of 120 years ago. The presentation is poor recorded in one take without any editing. Please be advised that this is a hobby for m...
Strange Stories: Ballechin House part 1: The Highland Second Sight Enquiry.
May 08, 2023 20:00 - 54 minutes - 37.2 MBThis podcast is part 1 of the story of the alleged haunting of Ballechin House, the so called most haunted house in Scotland. Ballechin House was a well known case in the 1890s and 40 years later seemed to be the blue print for the Borley Rectory case which was known as the most haunted house in England. This podcast tells the lead up to the Ballechin case by explaining who Ada Goodrich Freer was, the person who investigated Bellechin house for the Society of Psychical Research. It concentr...
Strange Stories UK, Psychotic Boy Scout in Bournemouth.
April 29, 2023 19:00 - 30 minutes - 21 MBThis podcast is about a Bournemouth in 1954 and an obsessive Boy Scout became a psychotic murderer. I had not heard of this story until I discovered it in police files in the National Archives. Please be advised it is lo-fi and recorded in one take with no editing.
Strange Stories Uk: The Brighton Blue Gardenia Club shooting, 1962.
April 15, 2023 12:00 - 58 minutes - 40.2 MBThose that have listened to the podcast in the past will know what to expect by now, an interesting story based on primary sources but a flawed presentation with me stumbling over words and spluttering into the microphone. The story is generally told in chronological order and sometimes going off piste in a ramble. This is a generally forgotten sad story. A shooting at a fashionable Brighton nightclub in 1962. A fashionable young couple with so much to look forward to have relationship dif...
Strange Stories Uk: The Ghost Society & Ghost Club.
April 07, 2023 22:00 - 1 hour - 43.5 MBI have attempted to give a history of the Ghost Society from 1850/1 which ran until the late 1870s. A very similar club reformed in 1882 calling itself the Ghost Club. This ran until 1936, A similar club reformed in 1938 until 1848, using the same name the 'Ghost Club' then it reformed again existing to the present day. This podcast tries to give some some idea of why and how it developed. It examines some of the important early members and how they influenced the club, concentrating mainly...
Strange Stories UK, Red Mini Murder, a Reading murder, part 2
March 21, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 44.4 MBThis is part 2 of a case that was well publicised in the UK in 1967 but is now virtually forgotten. The information for the podcast comes from police records and goes into detail over the investigation. I have dispensed with the strange stories uk website. The domain name for Strange Stories came up for renewal, it was a very low price when I first paid for it but the renewal price was an increase in cost of about 2000%!
Strange Stories UK. Red Mini murder part 1.
March 19, 2023 13:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBThis is a case that despite being all over the media at the time in the UK during that psychedelic year of 1967 it seems to be almost forgotten about today.I have told the story in detail and in chronological order starting with an in depth analysis of the main people involved. The story involves a totally unscrupulous with a strong character who seems to be able to get weak willed men to do what she wants. I will post part 2 in a few days time which is concerned with the police solving the...
Strange Stories UK, Donald Omand, exorcist.
March 02, 2023 18:00 - 40 minutes - 27.6 MBThis is the story of the Reverend Dr.Donald Omand (1903-83). He was said to have been an exorcist and the cleanser of malignant zones on roads where there have been multiple accidents. Omand has been in a number of news stories during the 1970s for trying to exorcise the Bermuda Triangle and Loch Ness amongst other places. I am not sure that I can believe everything that Donald Omand claims to have experienced but he seems to have had a number of Bishops onside.
Strange stories uk. Rolling Stones, murder, terror and corruption in Sussex
January 30, 2023 22:00 - 1 hour - 41.7 MBThis is something of a ramble. After becoming famous, the Rolling Stones developed links with Sussex. Their rock star behaviour upset some people who seemed determined to have them sent to jail, this did not end as expected, one drug raid pushing up the sales of Mars bars by 8% after claims it was used as a sex toy. Others were trying to steal from the Rolling Stones. Brian Jones seemed to be the vulnerable weak link who was ousted from the band and it doesn't seem much of a secret now that...
Strange Stories, Murder in Chichester Harbour
December 30, 2022 22:00 - 51 minutes - 35.3 MBThis story takes place during August 1969. Alec Keen who described himself as a self employed chartered yacht owner was desperate for money and claiming that he found it impossible to have a relationship with anybody over the age of 27. Keen told police his wife was missing from the yacht they were staying on while he had taken a dinghy to go to the local pub, The ship Inn at West Itchenor. This is one of two episodes that took place in this area during the summer of 1969. The next podcast...
Strange Stories, Ghost story for Christmas 2022. Two Yorkshire ghosts?
December 23, 2022 23:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBTwo stories from Yorkshire, one from Leeds from the 1880s and one from York from 1950s, both investigated by Trevor H.Hall.
Strange Stories: Kent Serial Killer thwarted part 2.
December 20, 2022 19:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBThis is part 2 of the story of how the police prevented Mark Brown becoming a serial killer of sex workers. Brown killed his mistress Leah Ware whose body was never found. There is a mistake in the title as Mark Brown lived in East Sussex although the Kent police were involved in the case from the beginning. Please be advised that this podcast is recorded in one take with no editing.