With Halloween just around the corner, it’s time to delve into one of the most famous ghost stories from Devon and it takes place on Dartmoor, the stretch of road can be found nearby to The Lord Haldon Hotel. Take a trip…if you dare!
The Legend of the Hairy Hands of Dartmoor
Dartmoor, a wild and mysterious place in Devon, is famous for its desolate beauty, treacherous fogs, and ghostly tales. One of the most chilling stories to come out of Dartmoor is that of “The Hairy Hands”, a spectral force that haunts the B3212 road between Postbridge and Two Bridges.
In the early 20th century, strange and fatal accidents began happening along this lonely stretch of road. Drivers and cyclists would report a sudden, uncontrollable force gripping their steering wheels or handlebars, causing them to veer off the road, sometimes fatally. The survivors spoke of large, ghostly hands—thick, hairy, and cold—that appeared from nowhere and wrenched control of their vehicles.
One of the earliest and most well-known incidents occurred in 1921. A military officer was riding his motorcycle along the road when he suddenly lost control, crashing and killing himself. His passenger, who survived, claimed that just before the accident, he saw a pair of large, hairy hands appear on the handlebars, pulling them violently to one side.
In the years that followed, more stories emerged of motorists and cyclists suffering the same fate—suddenly being overtaken by an unseen force, feeling cold, hairy hands gripping their own, trying to force them off the road.
Even more eerie, those who stopped on the road for rest reported seeing the phantom hands scratching at their car windows, tapping insistently, as if trying to get in.
The Hairy Hands legend has become one of Dartmoor’s most enduring ghost stories, passed down through generations. Whether it’s a trick of the mind in the moor’s isolation or something truly supernatural, the tales continue to haunt Devon’s misty landscape.
Would you dare to drive that stretch of road alone at night?