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.
@@hamishwhitehenderson5197What makes you say that? A house of that size, even requiring significant renovation, would be far outside the budget of such a person today. That's a large house.
@@diabl2master House prices are ludicrously high in Hackney, as they are across the country, but back then it was a neglected slum- the houses where not cheap because of some sort of benevolent government subsidy, but because most people were too racist to live next to black people. They moved to Essex and the lefty students moved in to squat, and invested in things that racists wouldn't. now Hackney today is still within the catchment area of some of the best state schools in the country, has excellent transport links and lots of museums and trendy bars and shops. it's a very broad strokes view of urban decline and renewal, but then, so is yours.
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
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
' at a certain point he had wife and kids' ....after hearing the artists recount about his sexual aggression i wonder....he clearly was seriously traumatised by things in his youth....
No you didn't, I put that Plaque there, he was a transvestite who liked to wander around laughing, kicking and farting all at the same time in a cognitively obliterated, emotionally discombobulated catharsis....
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.
Finally more about the wife! an opera singer! how surreal can life be....how on earth did they meet?? perhaps there was a period when he wasnt that bonkers as he became but the wife seemingly intelligent enough must ve packed her bags after his strange behaviour getting out of hand
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.
Fred Dibnah was the same. He created an entire replica coal mine in his back garden. Allegedly the local council had to order him to stop, as his tunnels were affecting the foundations of neighbouring houses.
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)
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...
I liked them as a kid but tried again a few years back and couldn't get through the second book He first got inspiration when he bought an old house which was meant to have secret tunnels under it He lives in Norfolk now Norwich is well know for its old chalk workings gardens houses and even a double decker bus have fallen into the old mines when the tunnels collapse
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!
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)
I was born in 1958 and the cold war "bomb readiness" classes we got at school started nightmares that go on till today. I can see these intercontinental nuclear bombs flying in to Aberdeen over the North Sea (slowly for some reason). At the same time I started dreaming about Victorian sewer culverts, some of which opened onto the river Dee near my school. I can only imagine that theres a link between the two because they told us to go to the basement or cellar under strong structures such as lintel stones and to brace for the explosion under large pieces of furniture under the door lintels or other strong points. I think thats why in my dreams we were perhaps getting right into the sewer system to keep safe. We still had garden Air Raid shelters when I was a kid and we were told to use the strong concrete ones if we had access to one.
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
Bears hibernate in caves, easiest time to hunt a bear with simple tech is when they are hibernating...then you have a pad with a well stocked kitchen@@10538overture
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.
When a man got a skill that society missed. See if we had system that recognised a man's capability and helped channel it the right way there would be increased geniuses and inventions and skills
He could get a job digging holes. Irrigation, landscape install, various construction jobs. But digging holes for yourself is more fun. I do it in my yard sometimes just for a bit of exercise.
This is the first TH-cam channel I've ever subscribed to. Thanks for digging into the substrate of our culture and history and locating such compelling narratives.
I really love the idea of a guy digging tunnels out in all directions from underneath his house, just for the hell of it. It’s especially fascinating and humorous that he even attempted to dig tunnels from the 6th floor place he was moved to after his tunnel home was condemned.. I would have loved to have explored them. It would be great to excavate them today and inspect the semi-modern “artifacts” contained. It’s a shame they weren’t more thoroughly documented before being filled in..
Very good. I have a bloke live a few doors down from me in Thornton Heath. Eccentric man named George. He turned his back garden into a concrete art installation that he works on for decades. It was amazing. Would love to know if it’s still there. Whitehall Rd. Hope you’re doing well George, wherever you may be.
Your use of Rusty Lake music is something a man of culture would do. Lol. But seriously your narration is top tier, and you know how to set a great mood. Vastly underrated channel.
I just saw someone comment that you’d stopped making videos and was so sad, because I thought this was amazing. Click on your channel to see you’ve been back making videos for about a year! Great news!
What a great video. Extremely well made and fascinating subject matter. Thankfully the algorithm did its thing and has suggested this video to many, I see. Keep up the great work, I really enjoyed everything about this video.
Lol that's not how scaffolding works it's not a support for the building it's a platform for working on the outsides of the building at different levels
I'm Scottish but moved to Hackney in 1997. I keep thinking that the name 'mole man' sounds familiar but am unsure from where. You would think I would have heard about this living in Hackney Central, then Stoke Newington and now in Lower Clapton. However its fascinating and I'm enjoying it. Excellent video, you got a sub.
I stumbled upon this video, and the title intrigued me. Didn't expect to enjoy it, but your research and skill won out. Thanks for this brief biography of William Little. I'd never heard of him until this evening. What happened to his wife and daughter? Their apparent disappearance could have sinister connotations.
I enjoyed that very much. In your voice, I could hear your feelings for the man and his mission. I thought I could even detect tears from you sometimes. People who have different ideas are always targets of those without ideas.
well, 'mission', i guess you can call it but.....he was a seriously derailed man. he couldnt keep normal human relations. though seemingly odd and original, its not really admirable behaviour....
@@hetedeleambacht6608 What is normal? If it is what society says it is, then there would be no inventors or artists with free minds. I would say his obsession in another field or situation might have made him famous rather than infamous. Societies dig bunkers for nuclear war and plan for MAD weapons, and yet people might say that man is crazy. Look to those who lead humanity and tell me they are all sane.
Discovered this video by accident- what a wonderful story and This video captures and tells the story beautifully Thank you for creating this, I will share it on my socials now Cheers Ian Plumber & Distiller to Buckingham Palace
According to a news article, after he was evicted the council removed 40 tonnes of excavated material from his backyard. www.theguardian.com/society/2006/aug/08/communities.uknews
It actually is a fascinating thing to think about. He did have space in his house but it must have taken a ton of effort to juggle the puzzle pieces of this digging process.. I'm kind of baffled how he didn't pile up a huge pile of dirt, etc..
At age 62, living in the same home I bought 40 years ago, way out in the country, there are now houses that belong in the suburbs, all around me.. I have become the odd character of my neighborhood. I do exactly as I please. Will I become the crazy marengo rock lady? ( for my habit of dragging interesting rocks home, which now surround my house?) The eccentric dog lady, yes surely. The witch with the fetishes hanging from the trees. ( actually just home made wind chimes and mobiles). I can imagine how odd I seem to my neighbors. I look at my neighbors, who refuse to wave or give a nod of the head, and surely, I think them mad. I hope they are happy, but they never smile. Do I scare or disturb them? Truthfully as we age, and are limited by income and physical ability, the weeds grow up, and the house breaks down. At 20 I never saw myself here, that said I am happy. I busily garden in the summer and do arts and crafts in the winter. My broken down home is big enough ,for those desperate for a place to lay their head, to move in and out; and they do. My overgrown yard is now my wildlife area. You would be surprised how many species of birds, insects and spiders have moved back in, and to my delight; even a pair of blue tailed skinks. Mostly it is just me and my Mom, who has none such proclivities, and all my odd habits, that used to annoy her, she now sees the beauty in. It is a matter of perspective. I choose to see the glass half full rather than half empty. In some ways i can surely relate to William, digging made him happy. I do not think he meant to undermine the surrounding area, He just had to dig or die. RIP William Lyttle
I sympathise. I live in suburbia. Most people here don't talk to each other. It is a short walk from the house to the car for them. One of my elderly neighbours has disappeared. No idea if she was moved into sheltered accom or passed away.
I used to live nearby in the early noughties and walked past often. I heard the stories but appreciated the contrast to the gentile houses around, imagine it made the neighbours lives difficult. We need to have space for characters in society, the fact he still made holes in his flat was interesting, he had a rich internal world, but without a proper outlet.Great video!
Nah he was just an antisocial nutter, who could have caused more damage and death. Digging through the walls and floor of 6th floor flat proves that without a shadow of a doubt.
Everything associated with Freud comes down to sex! I was always under the impression from my law studies that one owned surface property but not the ground beneath. That belongs to the Crown or local authority on behalf of the Crown. As a student in South London 1960/70/71 I lived in some ropey properties at £5 a week but would never have stayed in such a place as owned by Krecik (Polish mole character).
The ground eventually reclaims everything, doens't it? Great video, one of those times you don't really expect to watch the whole thing but you actually do. Very entertaining and thought provoking.
Think about it. He must not of used a loader and dump truck or people would have been wondering what was up. He must have hauling out by what ?..... buckets and then dumping somewhere else by car??
Lived in hackney in the late 80 ,s never met the mole man , quite a few characters in hackney and dalston in them days , had a friend squatted a house in goulton road , council ended up letting him have it , fair play john , 😊
There’s no such thing as private property outside of the US. Even inside of your take into account civil asset forfeiture and eminent (imminent ?) domain.
Well, well, well. I lived there for a year (i think) in about '85 or '86. Still got some photos. He was a complete racist oddball who had the same meal from the chippy every night.
This was awesome. I just subscribed. In a way I really understand the urge to want to just dig, create, explore. It can be a hobby sorta like rock hunting or metal detecting. I don't vibe with parts of his personality but I'm still very interested and curious about all of this. I wish the city would have documented in detail everything before just filling it up with cement. I'm surprised it took so long for the city to be able to stop him. Especially with all the events that happened that impacted the surrounding area around his house. Did they ever find out what happened to his wife and daughter? Regardless keep up the great work 👍🏻
Some people have this curiosity and urge to explore that has just gone wrong. Instead of becoming a scientist who digs for information they end up digging tunnels. But I believe it's the same mindset.
@paulfrost8952 surreptitiously, through a pocket hole in his trousers, down his trouser leg... while on his way to the shops/flea market... with that bicycle - did it have panniers? 🤔
Do you know how he got rid of all the soil from the tunnel? Porridge - No Way Out (24th December 1975). "They dug another tunnel and put the earth down there".
How interesting! Contrary to some comments, the Freudian & primordial angle at the end gives the story depth and an additional layer worth thinking about, rounding up this little gem.
Watching this reminded me of a book series I read as a child called ‘Tunnels’. I imagine the author was inspired by this story or similar ones because it evoked the exact same feelings of otherworldliness and captured the same primal urge to dig and explore the unknown worlds beneath the earths surface..
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam ." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window ? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"
Gus Ellen sang "and by clinging to the chimbley you could see across to Wimbley...if it wasn't for the 'ouses in between...and with a pair of glasses you could see the 'ackney Marshes...if it wasn't for the 'ouses in between".
The only thing stopping this man was the water table. This is impressive not having a tractor, I want to know how. Where did he put the dirt he removed?
I had dealings with him building the house on the south side in the 1990s, I was the Architect. As you might expect it was not the most straight forward of interactions. I am not a mental heath professional but he exhibited the classic behaviour of Bi-polar disorder. Agreements and decisions made one day would be turned 180 deg the next, the party wall issues were totally unworkable as there were two sides to him a deep paranoia and a disinterested detachment to life which could go from both extremes without obvious reason. The whole structure was redesigned to enable the contractor to work around him. The Engineer and Party Wall Surveyors got the short straw. I was still sad when I found out he had been evicted, but there were more than the ones mentions of pavement collapses and bits falling into the street. The pictures of him portray him in a more positive way than I remember. He always appeared to have just finished digging a tunnel with all the other issues one would expect pre showering. RIP
In a hundred + years, archeologists digging and finding an ancient tv, cars & furniture. Wondering why they’re down there amongst any like tunnels filled with concrete 😂
Sometimes when you start something you just can't stop. I remember when I moved into the ground floor flat, it had a concrete floor, but just where the head of my bed was there was a little hole in the cement, gradually just using my fingers for not very long and with stops in between I managed to scoop out enough cement to fit my whole forearm in, whoever had laid the mortar had put too much sand in it. I asked my housing Association for some cement to fill it in, and back in the day they were quite good and left a bag of cement outside my door, so I filled in that hole and stopped the digging though I always wondered about digging out a big cavern underneath, but I doubt it would be safe. My ancestors were all coal miners.
The urge to play Minecraft evidently preceded the invention of Minecraft
Not only the children yearn for the mines but the men and women too!
Sounds like Wizardry.
god this is funny
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.
by that point it would have been semi-derelict.
That was my first thought as well
@@hamishwhitehenderson5197What makes you say that? A house of that size, even requiring significant renovation, would be far outside the budget of such a person today. That's a large house.
@@diabl2master House prices are ludicrously high in Hackney, as they are across the country, but back then it was a neglected slum- the houses where not cheap because of some sort of benevolent government subsidy, but because most people were too racist to live next to black people. They moved to Essex and the lefty students moved in to squat, and invested in things that racists wouldn't. now Hackney today is still within the catchment area of some of the best state schools in the country, has excellent transport links and lots of museums and trendy bars and shops.
it's a very broad strokes view of urban decline and renewal, but then, so is yours.
Back then it was an absolute dump though, houses were on the market for years
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
exactly what just happened to me
@@christopher11morris and me
I clicked on it because I'm a Mole Catcher and I was expecting a documentary on a fellow Mole Catcher. . . . So interesting.
Did you dig it? 😂
4:16 “ Old eccentric & somewhat antisocial?” Me too Sir, me too…
How many mole men exist undiscovered because they know how to structurally brace their work
I doubt many molemen follow safety guidelines
the country could be riddled with them
@@jointgib Maybe they occasionally run into each other
@@samuelmelton8353 but then they fight to the death. keeps the populations down
Colin furze is a very public mole man
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
thats a sweet bit of lore
thats bittersweet aswell @richjones7313
Holy shit we really got mole man lore before gta6
Dude same this is dope
Thanks for the info ❤
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.
How would they even know until theroad cracked. Some peole will winge about anything! Right wingers are way out of control!
The hole was on private property
@boardskins the whole swalled up part of the pavement outside private property
I put that Blue plaque on his wall. He was a mad bastard, but a local character. Nice doc by the way.
Cool
' at a certain point he had wife and kids' ....after hearing the artists recount about his sexual aggression i wonder....he clearly was seriously traumatised by things in his youth....
No you didn't, I put that Plaque there, he was a transvestite who liked to wander around laughing, kicking and farting all at the same time in a cognitively obliterated, emotionally discombobulated catharsis....
He didn't seem normal, with hoarding and other things. Was he ever medically assessed?
🤣😂🤣😂
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.
Finally more about the wife! an opera singer! how surreal can life be....how on earth did they meet?? perhaps there was a period when he wasnt that bonkers as he became but the wife seemingly intelligent enough must ve packed her bags after his strange behaviour getting out of hand
Was it the "Human Organs for sale" sign maybe?
Did he retain an Irish accent?
@@ThursoBerwick I didn't notice any strong accent. Also he talked very fast, like he was on speed.
@@tomjohnston1220 That's what's known as "pressure of speech". It can be a psychological symptom.
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.
Hobbiest tunneler, surely, no?
@@Emil-AntonowskyGo check out Colin Furze,😂
How do you meet hobbyist tunnelers?
Sounds like an obsessive compulsive disorder…his way to compensate for something out of kilter up top
Fred Dibnah was the same. He created an entire replica coal mine in his back garden. Allegedly the local council had to order him to stop, as his tunnels were affecting the foundations of neighbouring houses.
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)
Yh I’ve been walked down that road many a time and I was shocked when he said a bus used to pass through there. Like how was that a thing ever 😂
Nice to know, also a local but never knew why the bus route changed! Thanks for sharing 👌🏾
He was long gone. All my windows cracked cos of that bus flying down the road!
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...
Such a brilliant book series very disturbing ideas at play in them
I liked them as a kid but tried again a few years back and couldn't get through the second book
He first got inspiration when he bought an old house which was meant to have secret tunnels under it
He lives in Norfolk now Norwich is well know for its old chalk workings gardens houses and even a double decker bus have fallen into the old mines when the tunnels collapse
i remember that book too :)
Absolutely loved that series as a kid. I wish they would've went ahead and made a movie of it
hmm never heard of it.
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!
Yes! I came here to say exactly that, too! 😀
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)
Donegal wasn’t affected by the war
Fear of Cold War stems from repressed memories of hard nipples in the winter according to psychologists.
I was born in 1958 and the cold war "bomb readiness" classes we got at school started nightmares that go on till today. I can see these intercontinental nuclear bombs flying in to Aberdeen over the North Sea (slowly for some reason). At the same time I started dreaming about Victorian sewer culverts, some of which opened onto the river Dee near my school. I can only imagine that theres a link between the two because they told us to go to the basement or cellar under strong structures such as lintel stones and to brace for the explosion under large pieces of furniture under the door lintels or other strong points. I think thats why in my dreams we were perhaps getting right into the sewer system to keep safe. We still had garden Air Raid shelters when I was a kid and we were told to use the strong concrete ones if we had access to one.
that might explain why he dragged all these big heavy things down in his tunnels, fridges, cars, sofas........
cold war was "terrifying"? lol
imagine living through a hot war, you cuck
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
Body of water. That's why every major city in the world is usually built round water bodies
The only thing more dangerous than finding a bear in its cave is a bear finding you in yours.
Bears hibernate in caves, easiest time to hunt a bear with simple tech is when they are hibernating...then you have a pad with a well stocked kitchen@@10538overture
If you have the chance, sleep in or at least in the mouth of a cave, seeing the structure that can crush you stands its silent vigil. Peace.
Menorca caves still lived in 😍
Beautifully narrated, well done.
Fucking legend.. I remember his creation very well.
I'm really sad to see that you stopped making videos. This was awesome
You’ll be happy to know he started making videos again!
he is back baby
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.
When a man got a skill that society missed. See if we had system that recognised a man's capability and helped channel it the right way there would be increased geniuses and inventions and skills
He could get a job digging holes. Irrigation, landscape install, various construction jobs. But digging holes for yourself is more fun. I do it in my yard sometimes just for a bit of exercise.
@@nyakwarObat This guy was clearly. simply a nutcase.
@PinballWizard999 Depends on what kind of nuts..most scientists have also been known to be nuts, coming up with genius inventions when unexpected.
@@nyakwarObatimagine that guy working with infrastructure
wow
This is the first TH-cam channel I've ever subscribed to. Thanks for digging into the substrate of our culture and history and locating such compelling narratives.
I really love the idea of a guy digging tunnels out in all directions from underneath his house, just for the hell of it. It’s especially fascinating and humorous that he even attempted to dig tunnels from the 6th floor place he was moved to after his tunnel home was condemned.. I would have loved to have explored them. It would be great to excavate them today and inspect the semi-modern “artifacts” contained. It’s a shame they weren’t more thoroughly documented before being filled in..
Very good. I have a bloke live a few doors down from me in Thornton Heath. Eccentric man named George. He turned his back garden into a concrete art installation that he works on for decades. It was amazing. Would love to know if it’s still there. Whitehall Rd. Hope you’re doing well George, wherever you may be.
when archaeologists find those tunnels in like 2000 years they are gonna be SO fucking psyched
I'm psyched for them
I hope you're right. Things need to change course
in case anyone's interested: the painting at 13:36 is by salvator rosa - "landscape with a hermit".
Although im just coming across this 4 yrs later, this story is very intriguing, cool laid back narration, no sarcasm.
Thank you for sharing.
Can’t get enough of this channel, please keep it up. Great work, thanks
A friend of mine said he met the mole man once - apparently he was surprisingly charming and down to earth
pun not intended
Ba dum Ching!
@@byiouj8709 still funny lmao
Your story is full of holes
Get out!!
It’s been a long time. I hope you come back the world needs more night time stories
What a fascinating, charming little documentary. Thank you so much.
What I would like to know is what he did with all the soil he dug out it’s not like it was a small amount
“Some 33 tonnes of soil and debris were removed from Lyttle's former garden and from some of the rooms”
"some of the rooms"
Oof ! 😬
dear lord 🙊
Your use of Rusty Lake music is something a man of culture would do. Lol. But seriously your narration is top tier, and you know how to set a great mood. Vastly underrated channel.
The mole man could be the basis for one of their games
this was great, thank you for making this.
I just saw someone comment that you’d stopped making videos and was so sad, because I thought this was amazing. Click on your channel to see you’ve been back making videos for about a year! Great news!
What a great video. Extremely well made and fascinating subject matter.
Thankfully the algorithm did its thing and has suggested this video to many, I see.
Keep up the great work, I really enjoyed everything about this video.
I find the best channels have the least content.
Lol that's not how scaffolding works it's not a support for the building it's a platform for working on the outsides of the building at different levels
This video appeared randomly, I am glad I watched it. It was extremely interesting. Thank you for the research.
I'm incredibly curious to know what his wife and daughter had to say about him.
Or even what became of them.
I think they had a 2 up 2 down in the basement
Buried in the tunnels somewhere
@@legitbeans9078 😂
They're propping up the tunnels somewhere, probably
@@legitbeans9078DONT MAKE STUFF UP
Thank you for making this!
A wonderful, artistic video that leaves this viewer wondering at what tiny glimpse of sanity could possibly be at end of the Tunnels? Very well done!
I'm Scottish but moved to Hackney in 1997. I keep thinking that the name 'mole man' sounds familiar but am unsure from where. You would think I would have heard about this living in Hackney Central, then Stoke Newington and now in Lower Clapton. However its fascinating and I'm enjoying it. Excellent video, you got a sub.
I stumbled upon this video, and the title intrigued me. Didn't expect to enjoy it, but your research and skill won out. Thanks for this brief biography of William Little. I'd never heard of him until this evening.
What happened to his wife and daughter? Their apparent disappearance could have sinister connotations.
An excellent short documentary. And obscure eccentrics are often the best subjects for them!
16:20 well done thanks for sharing this story ❤
I enjoyed that very much. In your voice, I could hear your feelings for the man and his mission. I thought I could even detect tears from you sometimes. People who have different ideas are always targets of those without ideas.
Different ideas - like damaging public property and attacking young girls, You mean ???
well, 'mission', i guess you can call it but.....he was a seriously derailed man. he couldnt keep normal human relations. though seemingly odd and original, its not really admirable behaviour....
@@hetedeleambacht6608 What is normal? If it is what society says it is, then there would be no inventors or artists with free minds. I would say his obsession in another field or situation might have made him famous rather than infamous. Societies dig bunkers for nuclear war and plan for MAD weapons, and yet people might say that man is crazy. Look to those who lead humanity and tell me they are all sane.
Bravo. An intriguing tale. Still a landmark invoking its history.
Discovered this video by accident- what a wonderful story and This video captures and tells the story beautifully
Thank you for creating this, I will share it on my socials now
Cheers
Ian
Plumber & Distiller to Buckingham Palace
That was absolutely brilliant! Thanks so much!!
This was very interesting. Gets your mind to thinking. Great voice for a bedtime story. Thank you.
The thing is, they have built in its place and what is there is not much better. I met the guy on odd occasions and always found him friendly enough.
you are not of the female kind then, i suppose
Thanks for the great and informative video. I pass this house quite regularly and I had heard about the Mole Man but had never put the two together.
Where did he put all the dirt? Just disposing of that must have been an endeavor in itself.
According to a news article, after he was evicted the council removed 40 tonnes of excavated material from his backyard. www.theguardian.com/society/2006/aug/08/communities.uknews
@@AsherIsbrucker That sounds like a mound that would be larger than his house, yet we don't see it.
@@jtgdyt2 imagine him filling his pockets with the dirt and ditching it slowly a pocketful at a time in the local park, Shawshank redemption style
I guess he dug another hole and put it in there
It actually is a fascinating thing to think about. He did have space in his house but it must have taken a ton of effort to juggle the puzzle pieces of this digging process.. I'm kind of baffled how he didn't pile up a huge pile of dirt, etc..
Excellent bit of storytelling, cheers very much.
At age 62, living in the same home I bought 40 years ago, way out in the country, there are now houses that belong in the suburbs, all around me.. I have become the odd character of my neighborhood. I do exactly as I please. Will I become the crazy marengo rock lady? ( for my habit of dragging interesting rocks home, which now surround my house?) The eccentric dog lady, yes surely. The witch with the fetishes hanging from the trees. ( actually just home made wind chimes and mobiles). I can imagine how odd I seem to my neighbors.
I look at my neighbors, who refuse to wave or give a nod of the head, and surely, I think them mad. I hope they are happy, but they never smile. Do I scare or disturb them?
Truthfully as we age, and are limited by income and physical ability, the weeds grow up, and the house breaks down. At 20 I never saw myself here, that said I am happy. I busily garden in the summer and do arts and crafts in the winter. My broken down home is big enough ,for those desperate for a place to lay their head, to move in and out; and they do. My overgrown yard is now my wildlife area. You would be surprised how many species of birds, insects and spiders have moved back in, and to my delight; even a pair of blue tailed skinks. Mostly it is just me and my Mom, who has none such proclivities, and all my odd habits, that used to annoy her, she now sees the beauty in. It is a matter of perspective. I choose to see the glass half full rather than half empty.
In some ways i can surely relate to William, digging made him happy. I do not think he meant to undermine the surrounding area, He just had to dig or die. RIP William Lyttle
I sympathise. I live in suburbia. Most people here don't talk to each other. It is a short walk from the house to the car for them. One of my elderly neighbours has disappeared. No idea if she was moved into sheltered accom or passed away.
He should have moved to Cooper Pedy in Australia. He would have just been another local
He could have had a mansion, lol.
😂😂😂😂😂
I used to live nearby in the early noughties and walked past often. I heard the stories but appreciated the contrast to the gentile houses around, imagine it made the neighbours lives difficult. We need to have space for characters in society, the fact he still made holes in his flat was interesting, he had a rich internal world, but without a proper outlet.Great video!
Nah he was just an antisocial nutter, who could have caused more damage and death. Digging through the walls and floor of 6th floor flat proves that without a shadow of a doubt.
Well done, finally something of substance on TH-cam! Thank you.
The stupidity of bringing up Freudian theory is staggering.
had me a lil confused im not gonna lie
Sounds like she diagnosed him before she met him and then only saw what she wanted to see
Everything associated with Freud comes down to sex! I was always under the impression from my law studies that one owned surface property but not the ground beneath. That belongs to the Crown or local authority on behalf of the Crown. As a student in South London 1960/70/71 I lived in some ropey properties at £5 a week but would never have stayed in such a place as owned by Krecik (Polish mole character).
The ground eventually reclaims everything, doens't it? Great video, one of those times you don't really expect to watch the whole thing but you actually do. Very entertaining and thought provoking.
I'd like to see an overlay on a map of the tunnel network. What happened to his wife and daughter?
To say that what they have done to the house preserves its history is ridiculous. It looks like nothing, neither old nor new.
You left the biggest question unanswered! Where did he put all the dirt!?
Think about it. He must not of used a loader and dump truck or people would have been wondering what was up. He must have hauling out by what ?..... buckets and then dumping somewhere else by car??
That's what IWas wanting to know
Someone in the comments said he met the Moleman and he told them he sold it.
@@ViloAfisold it apparently.
@@TheFakeyCakeMaker sounds made up, why would anyone buy small amounts of bad quality dirt ?
good work, apreciate it... bit more often please 😁 really enjoy the stories, cheers from Thailand ✌
Lived in hackney in the late 80 ,s never met the mole man , quite a few characters in hackney and dalston in them days , had a friend squatted a house in goulton road , council ended up letting him have it , fair play john , 😊
some things turn out right then at least!
Crazy they booted him from his own house, took the property, gave him hundreds of thousands in fines, then sold the property for millions lol.
It's a leftist thing
There’s no such thing as private property outside of the US. Even inside of your take into account civil asset forfeiture and eminent (imminent ?) domain.
he couldve caused a sinkhole and fucked up other peoples houses lol, of course they kicked him out
Yeah let's make everything into dumb political hot takes. Way to go
What did he do with all the dirt ?
Put it in the stew😁
Great question
Dug a big hole and put it in there
"JJforShie1
2 months ago
“Some 33 tonnes of soil and debris were removed from Lyttle's former garden and from some of the rooms” "
wow...
@@tonyhancock3912😂😂😂😂😂😂 quality
thanks for this video!!! these stories deserve to be told
youre fine
4:16 “Old eccentric & somewhat antisocial?” Me too Sir, me too…
alright, but you dont dig tunnels under main roads, right?? 😂
My grandmother met the mole man in a laneway behind the shops.She said that mid-sentence he started sniffing at the air then kind of scurried off.
😂
‘The most beautiful thing about my burrow is the stillness..’ #Kafka
That's a motive right there!
Well, well, well. I lived there for a year (i think) in about '85 or '86. Still got some photos. He was a complete racist oddball who had the same meal from the chippy every night.
Tunnels were already there he just dug them out, stone arches in the photos I don’t think he made and carved them, good video
This was awesome. I just subscribed. In a way I really understand the urge to want to just dig, create, explore. It can be a hobby sorta like rock hunting or metal detecting. I don't vibe with parts of his personality but I'm still very interested and curious about all of this. I wish the city would have documented in detail everything before just filling it up with cement. I'm surprised it took so long for the city to be able to stop him. Especially with all the events that happened that impacted the surrounding area around his house. Did they ever find out what happened to his wife and daughter? Regardless keep up the great work 👍🏻
This is a fascinating video! I'm just confused as to why you used archive of London from the 1970s to represent the early 2000s?
Thank you TH-cam algorithm for this 3 year old gem
Just had an aneurism at £25 for rent.
That was so interesting to watch, it's crazy what goes on behind people's doors.
Some people have this curiosity and urge to explore that has just gone wrong. Instead of becoming a scientist who digs for information they end up digging tunnels. But I believe it's the same mindset.
Not necessarily gone wrong. In a different time and place, tunnelling could have been very beneficial.
Order in the chaos
What a weirdo. I used to live round the corner. A well off artist now lives there and has modernised the property.
Two artists, as mentioned in the video?
Seems artists that easily spend 1.2m on what was once an affordable area are the true mole men undermining the city fabric
Just ruining the history and the area around them
RIP mole man.
Man Hackey is really changing, it's going to stop being cool and become shoreditch in 5 years.
I’ve a question which was not asked in the video. Where did the “Mole man” deposit all the spoil from the tunnels?
@paulfrost8952 surreptitiously, through a pocket hole in his trousers, down his trouser leg... while on his way to the shops/flea market... with that bicycle - did it have panniers? 🤔
@@liammhodonohue He probably had a Vaulting Horse too!🤔
I think he dug another hole to put it in
he dug out another tunnel and it in there
Someone in the comments said he told them he sold it. It was mainly gravel.
Where did he put all the dirt ?? :-)
Nowhere
Landfill bin @@garyrigby21
Apparently he sold it
Do you know how he got rid of all the soil from the tunnel?
Porridge - No Way Out (24th December 1975). "They dug another tunnel and put the earth down there".
Sold it according to someone in the comments
Interesting watch. But a scaffold has no structural support.
This was fascinating. Just fascinating. Thank you.
How interesting! Contrary to some comments, the Freudian & primordial angle at the end gives the story depth and an additional layer worth thinking about, rounding up this little gem.
Does it really? Or is it pretentious nonsense?
It's not surprising that he sought refuge in the tunnels. Think how much London has changed since he has been there.
I lived in hackney infact I grew up there. Not once have I heard of this...intresting documentary.
Watching this reminded me of a book series I read as a child called ‘Tunnels’. I imagine the author was inspired by this story or similar ones because it evoked the exact same feelings of otherworldliness and captured the same primal urge to dig and explore the unknown worlds beneath the earths surface..
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !"
Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam ."
Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!"
Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window ? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains?..."
Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!"
Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky."
Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction."
Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"
You need a psychiatric evaluation, or perhaps you receive a warm feeling inside if/when people reply in a negative manner.
Lol
Gus Ellen sang "and by clinging to the chimbley you could see across to Wimbley...if it wasn't for the 'ouses in between...and with a pair of glasses you could see the 'ackney Marshes...if it wasn't for the 'ouses in between".
Ah! Yes, Fawlty Towers.
I wonder how many missing people are buried in the tunnels, now sealed in forever.
Damn wish this channel was still going!
I agree.
Perhaps this channel was a covid lockdown project?
Good news: It is!
@@hotelmario510 I knw! So glad they posted again
Not what I expected, but I'm glad I clicked on the video. Very interesting. Thanks for uploading
You can imagine my surprise when i clicked this video only to have my exact location in rural Donegal show up in the footage @1:11 ... 😶
Did you just doxx yourself bro😅
@@wkvdmerwe4407 😂 good luck finding anyone in this wilderness!
The only thing stopping this man was the water table. This is impressive not having a tractor, I want to know how. Where did he put the dirt he removed?
I had dealings with him building the house on the south side in the 1990s, I was the Architect. As you might expect it was not the most straight forward of interactions. I am not a mental heath professional but he exhibited the classic behaviour of Bi-polar disorder. Agreements and decisions made one day would be turned 180 deg the next, the party wall issues were totally unworkable as there were two sides to him a deep paranoia and a disinterested detachment to life which could go from both extremes without obvious reason. The whole structure was redesigned to enable the contractor to work around him. The Engineer and Party Wall Surveyors got the short straw.
I was still sad when I found out he had been evicted, but there were more than the ones mentions of pavement collapses and bits falling into the street.
The pictures of him portray him in a more positive way than I remember. He always appeared to have just finished digging a tunnel with all the other issues one would expect pre showering. RIP
You don't understand bipolar disorder
you can tell from his behaviour he was seriously ill indeed
I’m so happy I found you! ❤ Best wishes for your continued success in 2025
In a hundred + years, archeologists digging and finding an ancient tv, cars & furniture. Wondering why they’re down there amongst any like tunnels filled with concrete 😂
this is the most interesting thing i've found on this website for a while now
MY THEORY IS , HE JUST LIKED DIGGING
U could be onto something chief
A lot of sand hogs from Donegal
Sometimes when you start something you just can't stop. I remember when I moved into the ground floor flat, it had a concrete floor, but just where the head of my bed was there was a little hole in the cement, gradually just using my fingers for not very long and with stops in between I managed to scoop out enough cement to fit my whole forearm in, whoever had laid the mortar had put too much sand in it. I asked my housing Association for some cement to fill it in, and back in the day they were quite good and left a bag of cement outside my door, so I filled in that hole and stopped the digging though I always wondered about digging out a big cavern underneath, but I doubt it would be safe. My ancestors were all coal miners.
i think you are quite young
I grew up on the DeBeauvoir Estate. I used to walk past this house everyday on my way to school in the early 90s.
The blue plaque made me laugh. Good video.
It looks very convincing, why should a tribute sign need bureaucratic approval.
I feel like he was happier than most of us