THE BIGFOOT OF CANNOCK CHASE?
Is large footprint evidence of Staffordshire’s rumoured mystery manimal?
“I realised the Cannock Chase Bigfoot was more than a myth”
Cannock Chase in Staffordshire is noted as a place more than usually blessed with strange phenomena; it regularly produces big cat sightings, has a reputation as a UFO hotspot and there have been reports of everything from werewolves to a “pig man” from the area (see FT306:70-72). It also has a history of sightings of a Bigfoot-like creature going back to the 19th century, and now local paranormal investigator Lee Brickley claims to have found physical evidence of the monster.
Brickley, who has also reported on Slender Man see ( FT305:55, 316:4, 317:30-37) and Black-eyed kid sightings (see FT322:26-32) on the Chase, has spent 10 years on the track of the local Bigfoot, often camping in the woods to search for it. On one occasion, he believes he sighted it himself: “I can’t say for sure what it was, as it was around 7pm and getting dark and the figure was covered in shadow. It definitely moved more like an animal than a man, and it was easily 7ft [2m] tall”. Brickley says that he was contacted by a man (who wishes to remain anonymous) who saw something unusual while flying a remote-control plane over Gentleshaw Common, so visited the location to investigate. “I went out there straight away and found the footprint,” says Brickley. “I was astounded… I’d never seen a footprint that large in my life, and it was clearly not made using a mould or cast.” It was 16in (41cm) long, which makes it about twice the size of a man’s size eight shoe. “That is probably the moment I realised the Cannock Chase Bigfoot was more than just a myth,” he added.
A month later, he says, he also saw claw marks on a tree and a mutilated deer nearby. “It looked as though something had bitten and then ripped out its throat before eating from the torso. You see a lot of dead deer on Cannock Chase – often they’ve been hit by cars – but it was unusual to see one in that condition.” Brickley feels this is further evidence of the creature’s existence, although, if we’re talking mystery fauna, these could equally be taken as evidence for the area’s out-ofplace big cats.
“Reports of these sightings seem to have drastically increased in number and frequency since the beginning of 2019,” Brickley said. birminghammail.co.uk, 14 Nov; thesun.co.uk, 15 Nov; coventrytelegraph.net, 16 Nov 2021.