The Hackney Mole Man

In 2006, a network of tunnels were discovered beneath a house in Hackney, London. This discovery initiated a wave of public concern and media attention revolving around a lone figure, known locally as 'the Mole Man'.

[tgazza]

Love how the council weren't bothered about the 8-foot sinkhole beneath the pavement, but were when a crack appeared on the road. Typical.

[tomjohnston]

In 1975, I'd just arrived in London. I saw an advert for a flat and went to see it. The flat was in the Mole Man's house. He lived there with his wife, he told me she was an opera singer. He told me all about his tunnels, that the ground was all gravel and that he sold the gravel. He pointed out the window to the garden. There was a round, 15ft deep hole, where the garden used to be. There was an old fridge at the bottom of the hole. He told me he had just sold all the gravel from the hole. He took me down into his tunnels, they opened into caves. One cave was full of water, he said it was his swimming pool. The rooms for let were in an awful state, the floor sank as you moved into the room and electric wires hung out of every plug socket. I decided not to take the flat. He never mentioned being Irish, even though I am Irish, but perhaps that was why he was very open with me. I didn't mind that he was eccentric, but thought he was creepy.

[CharlieApples]

The urge to play Minecraft evidently preceded the invention of Minecraft

[Alex-cwrz]

Imagine living in an age where you can be an electrical engineer get made redundant and you can easily afford to move into a detached beautiful victorian house in London.

[DPM-]

I lived on Mortimer Road from 2015 to 2020, opposite the Mole Man's house, located only a few hundred yards from De Beauvoir Square. The De Beauvoir estate consisted initially of long rows of wealthy Victorian terraced houses, lined along what later became Mortimer Road. The Mole Man bought this house in the 60s, and rumour from the oldies in local pubs was that he found an incomplete map of parts of the De Beauvoir antiques, buried underneath what is now one of those residences around the square. So he dug and dug, in the shape of a spider web, in the hope of finding the treasure

[m.streicher]

How many mole men exist undiscovered because they know how to structurally brace their work

[connellmchugh]

No idea why I clicked on this video but I’m glad I did…excellent research and narrated so well they you want to keep watching. Really enjoyed it, thankyou

[buonaguidi]

I put that Blue plaque on his wall. He was a mad bastard, but a local character. Nice doc by the way.

[Nurofaen]

I read a book series as a teen called "Tunnels" about a london teen who shares a love of digging with his father, and after his father goes missing and the tunnel he was working on has been neatly filled in, adventure ensues. The original draft for the book was called "The Highfield Mole" and the main character is called William Burrows. I guess this is the inspiration...

[trisarahtops]

I think it’s so interesting that this is just A Thing that happens to people. Any hobby tunnelists that I have ever met or heard of always start digging for a very practical reason (like making a cellar) and then just… can’t stop.

[somedude]

Just a fact check - the 76 bus was actually diverted after William Lyttle was already gone and this was because it unnecessarily cut through a residential road. Every time the bus went by it would shake the houses quite badly and caused a number of noise complaints. (A friendly local)

[jaykaygxd]

Kind of unrelated to the main topic but it’s a archeology myth that 16, 000 years ago humans just lived in or near caves, the only reason for that thinking is because caves a really good at preserving things from the natural elements unlike the a hut in a clearing or Forrest, so it’s only because caves preserve their inhabitants belongings and bodies so well that you find lots of valuable archeological evidence in them, this does not mean that humans were “cave men” though historically most humans also tended to try and live as close to a body of water as possible

[KaelWrit]

it's always sad when you're like "ha this guy is quirky and weird that's kinda cool I kinda like him" and then the narrator is like: "also he was racist and sexist and mean and-"

[TheJohnRowley]

The subject matter drew me in, but the high standard of the writing and the calm and measured delivery of the narration kept me watching until the end. A great little documentary film, very well put together out of limited assets, thank you. Edit: i was already subscribed!

[ekimoleksander]

I'm really sad to see that you stopped making videos. This was awesome

[VincentNajger]

When you grow up during wartime and then live through the genuinely terrifying years of the Cold War, constantly in fear of bombs and nukes, digging deep into the ground probably provided a deep feeling of safety etc. (and he wouldn't be the first to think and live like that)

[forevertipsy]

i worked on stamford road doing house refirbishments at the time right opposite his house and remember seeing mole-man all the time. he was very odd. i didnt know he was digging tunnels though. thanks for covering this story.

[dieu_et_maitre]

in case anyone's interested: the painting at 13:36 is by salvator rosa - "landscape with a hermit".

[citrus]

It’s been a long time. I hope you come back the world needs more night time stories

[shaunwalley]

Although im just coming across this 4 yrs later, this story is very intriguing, cool laid back narration, no sarcasm.
Thank you for sharing.