Did They See The Rivington Pike Werewolf? Witness Interview and Sighting Reports.

The Beast of Winter Hill. Oct 20. Sheep Killed, a 3 Toed Print & a Rumbling Growling Creature.

Two men out Rabbiting See a set of Reddish Eyes watching them in their torch light and they Hear a Terrible Growl. The men stumbled up a fresh kill and whatever had hunted it was out there watching them from the darkness. The legends of a Bear Human Hybrid haunting the hills of West Lancashire are not as far fetched as they seem.

I was contacted on the 25th October 2020 by a lovely lady named Jackie. Jackie wanted to make a report on behalf of her partner and his friend, who had a terrifying experience the evening before we chatted. Jackie explained her partner Dave and his friend Adam had found “a strange sheep carcass that was still steaming when they approached it up at Winterhill” As they were discussing what animal could have made the kill they both heard a rumbling growling sound.

Both men stated “they heard something that night they could not explain” The men were interviewed by BBR Investigators Mick McClaren & Carolan Smith who both heard a similar growl one night close to Edgerton Reservoir in 2019. Which as the crow flies is very close. I would have loved to join them, but due to covid restrictions I was not able to do so. I am very grateful that Mick & Carolan investigated this case as they did a fantastic job of documenting the report and interviewing both men within a few days of the experience happening.

That night the men were walking on the road that leads up to Winter Hill, a well known spot here in the NW. They were around ¾ of a mile away from the Chinese Gardens. An area where there is a previous sighting of an upright humanoid figure known as the Bear Man of Rivington. They arrived, got their guns from the car and set off, both had torches and as they walked Dave realised that Adam had almost stepped into a carcass of some kind. Shining their torches on to it they both saw a Sheep that seemed to have been almost pulled in half? The carcass was steaming even with the rain and the cold night air. Whatever had killed it, couldn't be too far away as this was a very fresh kill. Adam described the carcass as unusual, the head was missing and the rib cage was snapped in two. Dave agreed he said it looked as if it had been pulled into two pieces. 

Alarmed by this both men scanned the area around them with torches looking to see what had growled. Adam thought Dave was maybe messing about with him, but as Dave was speaking the growl came again. They quickly scanned the darkness and Dave saw a dark, stocky shape with reddish eyeshine watching them in his torch light. The shape dipped out of view and was gone. They both left quickly and got back into the car. Both were really shaken up and were still in bewilderment when Mick went up to meet them to record the event. Adam stated he felt almost hysterical and was laughing due to the fear he was feeling. He is not prepared to return up to the hill at night alone, which has done in the past many, many times. Even though they were both armed the men felt it would have been impossible to shoot whatever was out there with them, due to the sheer size of the dark shape and the sound of the growl. They both felt the growl came from something big. Adam turned his gun into a bat at that point as he knew shooting at it would be pointless.

“The remaining Sheep in the field had flocked together and looked scared and worried. They were acting really strange. The growling continued all through the event. It was a loud, rumbling growling noise”. Adam wondered if this could be paranormal as the growl was so scary. And they both felt watched and stalked all the way back to the car. It was around midnight on a wet night and they saw no humans on the way in or out of the area. Dave said to cover his fear “I think we need bigger guns”  They pulled over at this point and tried to get themselves together. Adam stated “he felt helpless and nervous and it was a sickening feeling, almost like fighting in the dark”

After the event the men tried to find the growl using google and known animal recordings here in the UK on their phones. They did not find a match with anything. The only sound that matched was the reported noise of a Werewolf on a recording on youtube. Both men agreed the sound was the same as they had heard that evening. They left the area, Dave returned with Jackie a couple of days later and photographed the remains of the Sheep. At this point it is almost picked clean.

Mick and Carolan accompanied both men and Jackie back to the area and they were able to see the carcass for themselves. Mick recorded this event and his next visit a couple of days later.

Mick and Carolan re-visited with a family member on the next weekend which was Halloween. Being in lockdown no people were up on the hill, that they could see. The group made their way to the area the Sheep was found by Dave and Adam. On examining the area they spotted a Skull which had been driven forcibly into the wall surrounding the field. A spinal column and vertebrae were also found close to the wall. Next to the wall and visible in Micks video is a strange 3 toed print.

Interview with Dave & Adam.

Here is the interview

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There are other reports of strange Creatures and Unexplained events within walking distance of the Sheep found by Dave and Adam. The Family That Never Returned - Witness Report taken at the Sportsman's Arm's Rivington. "I want to tell you something that happened to my family out on the moor one night. My Grandfather was a no nonsense man who had been a Policeman for many years in Liverpool before he retired. He is not a fanciful man or a liar. I was staying with my Grandparents one night as I would do often.

One morning when I came downstairs for breakfast I knew something was wrong. My Nan and Grandad had packed our bags and took us straight back to Liverpool. They sold the cottage and never went back to Rivington. It was only many years later that I found out what made them abandon their home overnight. They stayed with us until the cottage was sold and they found a new place to live.

My Grandfather got up in the middle of the night to use the toilet. He looked out of the window as he was passing, and he looked out onto the dark moor. Whatever he saw out there must have been something so bad he woke up Nan and told her they would never spend another night there. And they never did.

And of course there is this report from the early 1990’s - A Woman Breaks her Ankle Running from the Bear Man of Rivington Pike - Witness Report: Sally - “During the mid nineties Sally and a few friends had been out clubbing and decided to go up to Rivington Pike, they went to the Chinese gardens, around the back where the two car parks are and after walking up the track to the top where the gardens are they met up with some others and had a bit of a party, a few drinks and someone made a little fire. Anyway there were around 6-8 of them there in all, a couple of cars full of people and she decided to go for a wee. Sally walked off to a decent spot away from everyone, she had said wee then noticed around 20-30 yards away something looking at her from some bushes, it took her a few moments for her eyes to adjust but from what she told me she said what see saw was huge, she said the head was big, but the body on the 'thing' was huge. She saw it for around 10-15 seconds in all and from what she could make out 'it' looked like a cross between a man and a Bear, she described it has having the sort of body a huge hairy man would have but the head was that of a Bear, the head was covered in hair she said.

At this point once she’d gained her senses and tidied up her clothing she turned to run, as she turned she twisted her ankle and let out a scream of pain and fell to the floor, at this one of my friends Brian heard her and ran over and picked her up, she was crying and in lots of pain so they carried her back down and took her to the hospital, she had sprained her ankle badly and tore some ligaments and ever since then her ankle had been weak and so all these years later it snapped when she broke it dancing. She said she had never told anyone what she saw in case they took the mickey. She only said she’d been for a wee and twisted her ankle.