Strange Stories UK

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Here is the Halloween podcast for 2026, the ninth Halloween podcast that I have posted. There was an old Halloween episode from 2018 which I had deleted as I did not think it was that interesting, and I accidentally reposted it a couple of days back, I thought I would leave it published.

For the 2026 Halloween pod, there are a few stories, nothing too scary. I am posting this before going away for three weeks on a research projrect so I will schedule this for a couple of days before Halloween. There is a pug padding around the room as I post this and I am fighting a cold and have a husky voice. I suppose I will dedicate this podcast to the memory of Dan Leno who is mentioned in this podcast and died on Halloween 1904.

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Two stories of reported hauntings in the UK that on closer inspection seem to have other explanations. The UK media being quick to report supposed hauntings without doing much background checking.

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January 2023, 34-year-old Hugo Flint Cahan was strangled by fellow patient Rolando Torres-Pena, aged 22, on Topaz Ward at Newham Mental Health Centre in east London. An inquest reported in September 2026 revealed serious failings in patient supervision, including staff sleeping while on duty. Such cases have always happened. This is not a podcast about that event.

This is a similar case  from 1967 that you are unlikely to have heard of and is quite unbelievably in places. 

The details come from two different police files researched at Kew and newspaper searches. This podcast is not a professional podcast, I have written it and posted it on a Sunday morning and afternoon. 

When the podcasting boom first started after Serial around 2015, I was abroad but felt it was like Punk, anyone could do it. I was abroad at that time and was unable to join the party until 2018. I never wanted to become a business, I did subscribe to buy a coffee for a while but then requested that people who sent donations gave to animal charities instead.

Today most of my time is taken up on other projects including rewilding a small farm. Although my podcast are not exclusivly true crime, I have had the feeling that True Crime is reaching saturation point and others have the time and ability to do it better than myself. I intend to continue for another couple of years and after that will post the occasional podcast if I can find stories I find interesting.

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The hidden history of a Yorkshire village. A quiet landscape which contains thousands of years of conflict. This podcasts moves from 1138, the battle of the standard to 2026 domestic violence. The central story involves a 1950 murder which seemed unusual on a number of counts. There are paranormal aspects, although Brompton has usually been a peaceful Yorkshire village.

BTW, this page says 'please send fan mail' I say please do not, what is the point? I just tell a story as I find it. I have so many projects on at the moment and have not spent as much time on posting pods as I did when I first started. 

I will continue to post podcasts until I reach podcast 500. I think that murder stories are rather past their sell by date now, but I have a backlog of police files to post. Some years back the only true crime murders seemed to be German or American stories apart from the famous cases.

I am quite interested in psychogeography, I think that is the future route of pods, of course murder will be part of that but not exclusively. Thank You to anyone who listens to these podcasts that will always be free. The next podcast will be a 2026 Halloween, if I can find a story.

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This episode examines the seperate crimes of Ronald Bennell and Barry Bennell, two members of the same family whose offences became part of Manchester’s criminal history. Ronald Bennell was convicted on two separate occasions 15 years apart of rape and murder. Barry Bennell was convicted of numerous sexual offences against boys. Their crimes were their own and there is nothing to imply that there was any blame or wrong doing on other members of the Bennell family. The actions of two people should not define a family. However their story needs to be told.

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Following events in Middlesborough last weekend, on the lunch time news today, Friday 28 August, it seems that trouble continues. I wanted to understand what was going on so put this short podcast together. This was made in two hours so not a very polished but it includes all what is known at present. 

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This is a bit of a ramble about Chelsea, London in 1962. Rolling Stones and the Beatles get a mention as does the Kings Road and a murder.

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This is a short podcast after the sad news that Jason Arday was found dead yesterday, Friday 14 August 2026. As I have made a couple of podcasts on the Arday affair, I thought I would make some final comments.

This matter is not going to be forgotten as a result of the many issues raised. The spotlight now falls on John Moores University Liverpool and Cambridge University and other groups in order to explain their actions. People seem to be trying to deflect by blaming the media and newspapers  for doing their job.

Arday was unfortunate to live in an age of social media where ridicule can be unrelenting.

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This is another podcast concerning the Jason Arday affair at Cambridge University. Although so much has been posted on the subject I was concerned that those involved in Arday’s appointment had not been widely made. I thought I would name them hopefully in a neutral way. 

To make my position clear I will state my political views, in the past I had voted Labour and for the past couple of elections I voted Green for Caroline Lucas at Brighton. I do not intend to vote for the Greens now or for anyone else until some form of Proportional Representation is introduced. There is no party that represents me, my political touchstone is George Orwell.

I recently read the book Broken Vows about Tony Blair by Tom Bower and was amazed with the similarities there are with the Starmer premiership. Both were unprepared for office, Blair got away with it, but social media bought Starmer down. 

This podcast was made in the garden with chickens, dogs and cats all sheltering under a pergola with an intense sun beating down.

Some sad news the cock that always called out during earlier podcasts, ‘Blackie’ which my daughter thought a dreadful non PC name, (he was black). Anyhow he died this week. I don’t know how old he was. He was mature when we got him 12 years ago. I was told he was dead and went out to bury him but he was alive and took a day to die, just sitting there taking an occasional drink of water. He was buried in the pet graveyard in the wood with the rest of departed friends.

Thankyou to anyone listening, there is so much good content to listen to online, I am surprised anyone listens to this podcast. This one recorded on a 2014 Macbook (the two newer ones playing up) and two dodgy microphones, this one recorded on a Rode with a broken screen to stop ‘lisping’sounds. The Yeti mic was too temperamental.

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I have read this story in the news reports today and felt like making a podcast on it. It concerns a Critical Race theory sociologist who was appointed a professor at the University of Cambridge. The person was Jason Arday and he had not been truthful in his claims and should never of been given the appointment. 

The blame lies with the University of Cambridge for not carrying out due diligence on the appointment. Although Arday did not accept that he was delusional blaming his behaviour on his autism. 

I find the story almost unbelievable. I wrote this podcast in a couple of hours this afternoon, posted it from notes and have not listened to its back. Its is lofi, probs lots of mistakes and mispronunciations.