The Missing Dean Boys' - A REAL Unsolved Case!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video, we travel to Dean, a small hamlet in Rossendale, Lancashire, to tell the story of two young boys, John Hitchen and Fred Williams, both of whom vanished without a trace after going out to explore an old, disused mine, known locally as 'Dean Pit'.
Clive from Rossendale Collieries was kind enough to come along and show us where the pit is as well as supplying photographs for this video.
If you can, please visit his channel at / @rossendalecollieries7995
This video and the story we are telling is a puzzling case. What happened to the boys? People simply don't just disappear into thin air. So what happened on the 29th August? Did the boys lose their way in the mines only to succumbe to the darkness? Or was something more sinister at play, perhaps abduction? Or was an accident to blame for the boys disappearance?
Tell us your thoughts below.
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Myself and a friend of mine, both of us sixteen years of age, went into a cave with an entrance very similar to this one. It was near Shippensburg, Pennsylvania in the mid 1970s. From the outside it looked like a drainage pipe at the bottom of an embankment under a highway. Crawling through the pipe on our hands and knees for about thirty yards we came upon a tiny stone walled room, about four feet square. We had to turn sideways feet first to slip through a tight crack beyond which was a cave with low ceilings about nine feet high, filled with water up to our knees. It's a completely different world down there in utter silence. After about fifteen minutes I wanted to go back and my friend agreed. Slipped through the crack and contorted ourselves to get back into the pipe. As we proceeded along the pipe my sense of relief steadily grew. When we came out into the open I felt such relief and sort of born again into a second chance in life. I could imagine how the boys may have felt if indeed they were trapped in the mine. The sense of isolation from their families and their normal lives must have been excruciating. Whether the mines took them or something else, their families would have had to live with that just about every minute for the remainder of their lives. This is a sad tale indeed and a cautionary tale as well, and should be told for that reason. Thank for presenting this story.
Thanks for this lovely long comment and sharing you personal experience as a youth. Glad you enjoyed this one 😊
I don't believe that the 2 boys are down in the mine William abducted them both.
@@naarahjanemorris3121 we will never know..but anything possible.
The only person who saw the boys walking towards the mine was William Bradley, one of the boys' stepfather. What was known about him?
@@lyndapurnell6995 that’s what I was thinking
I was thinking the exact same thing. Statistically, the last person to see someone alive is usually to blame for their murder/disappearance.
The step father is the only one that places the boys there. The dogs didn't find anything & searchers who knew the tunnels didn't find even one piece of evidence that they were ever there. Could he have said this to throw searchers off because he had in fact harmed the poor lads?
Him setting the timeline would also give him hours to dispose of the bodies. I wonder was he ever a suspect? Did he have a car to transport them somewhere else? Was he alone in the house that day? So many questions.
Perhaps the war coming so soon afterwards hampered the investigation. Sadly, I suppose we'll never know.
Them boys never entered that level,was my first though here
I bet the police never Investigated the step dad or anyone else ffs🤷♂️
@lyndapurnell6995 that's a damn fine point!!
So sad especially when the boys was never found, I wounder if any one has done a ghost experience and using the ghost equipment to contact to boys I'd love to do it because in my heart I feel the same now reading about what you all put about the step dad 😢 ❤ to the boys xxx
The only good thing I can imagine about this is that the boys weren’t alone, if they were lost in the mine. As a mother of a young boy this is heart wrenching. I cannot imagine them deciding to seal off the mine immediately after the disappearance, when the boys could easily - most probably, in fact, have been alive if they were in the tunnels. I would imagine if they were there, in the first place, they could not have come out without assistance and they were not going to get that assistance even if the tunnel entrance remained open, bc they were too far in.
Personally, I hope they weren’t in the tunnels at all, no matter what happened to them. That’s one of the worst fates I can imagine bc it’s longer and more terrifying, more abjectly desperate than anything else that could have happened.
It does make me wonder if someone saw them approaching the tunnels and they thought to themselves, “They could go in there and never be found, again" and, if it happened to be someone who had a nefarious motive, maybe they’d have taken the opportunity to make it look like that happened. I can’t help but to wonder about the stepfather, who seemed so sure the boys were in there but, who didn’t rally to keep the entrance open just a little while longer.
I hope I’m wrong but, that would mean they probably were there since he was the last person to see them. I don’t know what fate is worse. Tragic.
Yea, like you say which fate it worse? Thanks for watching and interacting with you thoughts/comments. Really appreciate this. 😊
I don’t believe they went into the mine. There was no trace of them inside. They must have changed their minds and gone somewhere else. They could have gone into quicksand but they would have been yelling wouldn’t they? Great video.
The quicksand theory is certainly picking up pace with all you kind folks who have watched this video. I'm on board with your thoughts, as in I'm sure they would have yelled out for help. Houses where close to thar area as well as a factory, so I'm also thinking, could the sound from the factory possibly have drowned out their pleas? Interesting.
Would love to see modern day team of cavers and explorers with modern equipment do complete search of the mine to solve the mystery and maybe find thee boys remains for proper burial.
When we were at the entrance when filming this, Clive who was with us was a former miner. He went inside as far as he could, the photos used in this video are his, and even he said it was far to unstable to go any further. The roof of the coal seams looked like they could come down at any time. I actually crawled a little way inside myself and it was too claustrophobic for me.
@@DaysofHorror it's a shame no one has some sort of drone that could go down there.
And all kind of weirdos out there, in France and old case of a couple that vanished was probably done by a sadistic husband and wife already in jail for other crimes...you never know who you're talking too and what their motives are, and many people are naïeve, especially on Holiday.
@@tombaker4586 My mother always used to tell me how, when she and two friends went hitchhiking in France around, I think, 1952, an old farmer and his wife insisted on them staying with them for the night as there had been some disappearances or murders of young people in that area of France at the time.
Well all those thousands that disapeared, some must have been undiscovered murders...France, Italy, in the Big Towns...@@Mat-kr1nf
my family are from Lumb and my grandad told me he and his brothers were involved in the search ,and the old ladies whose hair i used to do would talk about it ,i live just down the road from Lumb,very tragic
We are trying to find people who may be willing to meet up and possibly be okay being on camera to speak about this story. We want to do a follow-up video but only speak to those involved or know of people involved in the search and the story in general. If you are interested, let me know.
Brilliant. There is no evidence the boys ever entered the mine. Other than William saying he saw them go towards the entrance. The blood hounds would have found something of something happened. Maybe they jumped a lift in a lorry and disappeared. I wish my Dad was alive to see if he remembered as he was at Bacup and Roasandale GS at the time which is just down the road
This is one of those stories I'd love to go back and do much better. Interview people who may be alive from that time and ask their thoughts on it. It's a mystery as to what happened to them.
Hi Chris, I'm not sure if you or Vicky would of heard of an incident in Bacup.
It was of a boy who drowned in a well on the tops behind the Leisure hall & Dale Street. He was my friends brother, surname Walker don't know his first name.
I only know of this because I lived on Dale Street & my Mum forbid me to go playing in the fields as there were wells up there & she told me the story, which is very sad.
I hope I'm not upsetting anyone by mentioning it, that is not my intention, it's just that you cover so much history in Rossendale & Lancashire, I thought it might be of interest to you.
Again I'm sorry for any upset this may cause.
Hi Cali, please don't feel like it will be upsetting to anyone. Stories like these are usually in the public domain so I wouldnt go worrying about people being offended by others talking about them. As for this one, it doesn't ring any bells but its one we will look into. I'm sure we can find something and if we do, we will reply here.
It's a mystery. Strange but true . Thank you for sharing this forgotten sad case .
I think something to keep in mind is that Miners have never been recovered after Mine accidents in active, maintained Mines and everyone responds immediately. I showed my Ex Coal Miner Dad this and he said there are few things he would rather do less than enter a Drift Mine in a place like that with lots of ground water that had been abandoned for 50+ years, if they had taken candles in there with the lack of ventilation then the risk of either explosion or bad air making the candle go out and weaken the boys was high.
We thought about the candle and matches, and I remember saying I wonder if they got some distance in and the damp air extinguished them. They possibly got lost and ended up 'somewhere'. A roof fall perhaps may have trapped them? It's a strange, terrible tragedy.
@@DaysofHorror Apparently you can have things like old sumps, many meters deep that fill and then a layer of dust covers it and can look just like a normal floor and other hazards that in the days before modern lights you might not see.
My Father explained quite a few issues with drift Mines that make them deceptively dangerous, including collapses as you mention but not just from the roof, the sides can come fall in too and in some cases unstable sides get propped up with rocks and spoil between Coal "pillars", its a way to get rid of spoil without bringing it all out and which left unmaintained for decades slip in and don't even look like a collapse.
In all honesty it sounds hellish, I wouldn't be surprised that even with the best, most determined intentions if the searchers missed something and once you have a few people tramping about you have no idea whats disturbed or not anyway.
Did no one look under the fresh roof fall? poor buggers R.I.P boys
Everything and everywhere was checked from all accounts. The roof fall itself wasn't substantial and could be easily passed.
Death by misadventure or demise by malicious intent? I think step dad has to be thoroughly examined. And cadaver dogs at where step dad did his day.
Lots agree the stepdad somehow involved. Thanks for watching and commenting Dave. Have a good week 😊
I don't think they joined the military. If they had, I should think at least one of them would have written home to explain their disappearance, or returned home after the war.
Quicksand? Maybe.
The mine? Most likely. It's hard to say how effective the dogs were if the mine had already been muddied by the scents of everybody who'd been in there searching.
It might be possible that the decision to seal the mine is because the men did locate the boys but they were in a location where recovery was impossible due to the instability of the mine. It might have been decided that it wss kinder to the mothers and the boys friends to let them believe the boys were alive somewhere than to know they were inaccessible in an old mine.
I don't think foul play was behind the disappearance.
Whatever happened, may they be resting now at peace, reunited with their loved ones in the afterlife. ❤
Thanks for commenting and yes rip 🙏 boys, hope they are with their loved ones 😊
I am glad that you do remember these two boys, even though it is very sad and I do agree with you their story needs to be told. I come from Staffordshire but my stepfather lived in Water, Rossendale so I do know the area. I do enjoy your stories and I will share those ones you want to share like the young girl from Hebden Bridge, who went missing in 1994. I shared the story on Facebook. I do hope even now that whoever was responsible for that awful crime is discovered. Thank you for highlighting them.
Thank you Linda for your kind comments and thank you for sharing videos we really do appreciate people who share them as we do not do Facebook, so feel welcome to share any of the videos you enjoy for us. We have loads of videos to do and alot more to come in the Rossendale area too. Thanks for your support 😊
What crime? I saw nothing, heard nothing in this story that a crime was committed. Please tell us what you know.
@jillspence7227 Lindsey Jo Rimer - the young girl murdered in Hebden Bridge 🤔
So all the experienced miners ect say there's no sign these boys were ever there but 1 man says he saw them....they should have investigated him.
Thank you for your work on this case very sad indeed I couldn't imagine what the parents and families went through. I just seem to think the boys got lost in the dark and died of hunger and the cold. RIP to John and Fred. Great video 👏👏👏👏
It's a mystery as the search parties apparently scoured every inch of the mine and found nothing. Not a trace of them. And even the bloodhound used never picked up their scent, which, if they had been down there, I'd have thought the dog may have found them. Such a strange case.
Wow Thanks for doing this story on the Dean boys. It's important to have stories told and remembered No matter how tragic and said they are. To document the History of the region. And for possible future generations to find out what happened to There people.Great job.
Thank you for watching and yes we love to retell these old stories, so they are not forgotten. Thanks for the lovely feedback 😊
Chris, you and Vicky keep coming up with real Headscratchers! I love these kind of stories. I tend to think these poor boys were abducted,as you said the bloodhound found no trace,plus the miners.......I don't think they went down the mine. Love your stories Chris,amazed how you keep coming up with them!😊 looking forward to your next one
Many thanks Ste. This is one we had more questions than answers with. I personally think they did enter the pit/mine but something happened AFTER they had left. Abduction a possibility? The quicksand theory is plausible. But I believe something happened after left the mine.
It was amazing video guys I had tears in my eyes 😢 I hope you do more videos like this X ❤
I'd like to read an itinerary of the Step-father's movements that day, and then structinise it for accuracy.
Yeah, I think that would be good to see/read.
A real mystery that one. Lots of questions and no answers. Great work as ever.
Thanks Matt 🙏
What an interesting story and also very sad. Such a mystery as to what happened to the two boys. Thanks for sharing this video, very interesting. 👍👍
It's a difficult one as half of me thinks the bodies are certainly somewhere under those mines, whereas, I do often wonder if they travelled further afield. But saying that, they weren't dressed in what I'd calling clothing to go to, lets say, Blackpool or Southport - which many suspected they may have done. As for the quick-sand theory, Im certain someone would have heard any shouts for help if they had stepped into such a situation.
Sad they were never found, Fred + John.Great video that youv'e highligted this csae DOH.
I'm hoping to get inside that tunnrl next time and into the mine itself. I got a little way during this video, but wasn't suited and booted for it.
Very well told . The pit , the moors , the water ,....who is to say ?
I can't believe we've found this clip my mate and me studied every day for about two weeks on this subject and found very little on it we went right down seatnase cave near by their about 7 years ago on a mission to see what we could see from that angle and we did find a 1900s mining boot that appeared to have a bone in the boot but we left it stupidly because we didn't want to contaminate something we went away reported it nothing came of it so we went back weeks later and the boot wasn't their we couldn't see it anywhere. But we've been planning to go back in for sometime after that
Thanks for commenting and it all sounds very intriguing - the old boot! If you are coming over anytime, let us know and we will gladly meet up and show you the old opening in this video. It's a story I'd love to go back to and try and find more info on it.
@@DaysofHorror will do for sure we where planning on going back down the caves sometime when it gets better weather again so be good yea. We didn't have so much kit last time we went down but more prepared this time but I'm wondering if that Dean pit you showed that enterance is connected somehow to the seatnase cave which is what we where thinking also we did find abother enterance further down in Rossendale as well and also under the grave yard in Waterfoot. But if you haven't already seen it the only thing we've ever really found on the Dean boys is a 2 page PDF online that tells the breif story of them going missing. My mums dads dad as well was a miner in those exact mines as well and she said probably he would have known about all this at the time she still has his original mining lamp.
@@fezie404 Yeah I think I have that same PDF. Ive a fair bit from the British Newspaper Archives and some Rossendale Freepress Archives on this story but I would love to find out more. Im not sure how to go about it, but Id be interested in speaking to anyone who may be related to the families of the two lads or who may have relatives still living in the area who will know about the story in depth. Its a weird feeling standing at the entrance of Dean Pit knowing that two lives may have been lost in there and their bodies or skeletal remains are most likely lying their undisturbed after all these years.
Before you mentioned absconding and maybe signing up to join the army… I was also thinking the lads went and signed up.
My sense of feeling is that the young boys liked adventure and decided to leave a life, they weren’t happy with, behind.
I certainly don’t feel they were abducted.
Very sad nether the less.
Great video
It's such a bizarre case isn't it. But what I can't stopped thinking of, is the case of those lads at Pike Law who also went missing inside the other quarry workings but luckily were found. Makes me wonder IF the Dean boys fell to a similar fate but we're just missed by the search parties 🤔
As I watched this, so many thoughts came to mind.
1. Even before you mentioned it, early on I wondered if the boys somehow managed to leave town and find their way to an outpost to sign up for the war. They may have been 13 years old, but kids lied about their age all the time and they were accepted to fight as long as they were willing and able. Kids can be sneaky and find ways to leave when they want to.
2. That mine was in use back in the 1800s but was no longer operational. When the boys and others were doing their “adventures” in the 1930s, was anyone shoring up the ceilings, checking air quality, watching for collapsed shafts, or any of the other 101 million things that need to be done to keep a mine somewhat safe? Poisoned air, or low oxygen levels happen so quickly in a mine that even with the sophisticated equipment we have today, people succumb and die in mines. Back then they used birds and mules as their safety equipment. If the animal died, well, it was time to get out of Dodge. I doubt those boys were carrying around a bird in a cage with them. They could have been tucked away in a corner somewhere and died from bad air, and that Bloodhound wasn’t taken anywhere near them to find because those boys were father away than anyone thought possible because they were lost.
3. People have a way of protecting their own. Something happened and I think some in the village are covering it up. Coal mines have a way of being endless. If people were still going into that mine to dig coal, and they kept it open for all those years, someone was getting something out of it more than just the little bit of coal being dug out by the poor villagers. Maybe, maybe not. Still, mines tend to be endless and connect up to other mines in nearby villages. After 2.5 days, even with several men who “understand and know those mines”, I can’t believe they explored every foot of open mine shaft in that time on foot. They didn’t even have wheeled vehicles or animals to speed it up. Those boys could have gotten turned around and lost down there beyond what a candle light would give. To close that mine only after 2.5 days of searching is criminal. Imagine if that was YOUR son!!! It truly seems like someone wanted to cover up a crime to me.
4. I also had my questions about the stepfather. But there would have been a lot of tensions at that time with WWII coming. War does crazy things to people. Maybe someone didn’t want to see those 2 involved in the war and decided to kill them. Those who came back from WWI had PTSD, too, but no one to help them. There were crazy people back then, too.
I used to live up water, I’ve been to the put when they filmed Juliet bravo up there in the 80’s. I’ve never heard this tale.
Maybe a collapse left them with no exit. Im not convinced of the dog's abilities in those conditions and there's lot of limiting factors with dogs. If they had run out of candlelight it would be easy to disturb a rotting wood support while feeling around or just walk straight into one.
If it's linked with 2 other pits i doubt they searched all the tunnels thoroughly or at all. If they went down a shaft linking the mines up they'd have no idea they were in a different system. I've seen maps of mines near me that all linked up eventually and it'd take months even with a hundred people to do a thorough search
I understand what you mean about mines being a labyrinth, Wearmouth Colliery extends over 4 miles under the North Sea from Monkwearmouth, so about 6 miles from the pit head
Thanks for commenting, crazy to think about these minds and how long they go on for. 😊
So sad. Could it be possible that the fresh fall that one of the fathers had noticed had fallen on the boys? It seems strange that no trace was found suggesting that the boys didn't go into the pit. If they had nearly got lost previously you would think that they would be hesitant to re-enter. Maybe the quicksand theory could be true.
We have another story just like this one but this time boys where found despite experienced miners going into a mine and not finding them. It was a police officer who went back in on a hunch, and he found them huddled together. So it does make me wonder If the boys in the Dean Pit were there and just missed by the 'experienced' people who were supposed to know those mine workings 🤔 We will be covering the other story soon after our hols as it does tie in nicely with the Dean Pit story.
As for the fresh fall, this was something or nothing as was easy enough to pass by. Also, the bloodhound never reacted to the fall.
I wonder if the police thoroughly questioned the guy that last saw them at entrance to the pit? 🤔
Dunno,never documented
The fact that despite it being recorded on a very cloudy day... the clouds above your right shoulder look like a child @18.03
I'm off to look now. Unloved things like this, the oddities that may lurk in recorded videos. I know it's probably nothing, but you just never know. Thanks for spotting something and for letting us know 🙏
I love the fact you interject with original pics. Btw, did they chk out that step father real well? Last person to see them and all. He cld have given wrong starting points. He didnt mind them searching the mine bc maybe they did go trout fishing and it was there IT happened? Idk. I know its sad. But all things come to the light, eventually. 🙏
We do not have anymore information of wether or not they interviewed the stepfather. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊
Dear god i hope them 2 lovely boys was not alive when they covered the mine up im flabbergasted ❤ R.I.P 2 BEAUTIFUL YOUNG BOYS
Horrid unsolved case. It does make you think doesn't it what really happened to them. Thanks for commenting from Vickie 🙃
Hello Clive I’m new to this channel will go and find your channel, you look so much like someone I used to know a guy called Howard Burton ( he worked on the mi er somewhere in the Rotherham area, you same sort of smile.
Since the stepfather was the only one who saw the boys near the entrance that fateful day, it made me wonder what kind of relationship he and his step son had. Since there wasn't any actual evidence that they ever entered that pit. It's a tragic and sad story that will never solved unfortunately.
Good question Michelle. Thanks for watching and engaging in the comments 😊
That is a very SAD story. To have these boys seen, heading to the entrance of that Dean Mine, I personally consider that, these two boys who may have been fascinated by what lay inside, are still there possibly trapped by a seam fall a truss fall or both. At the end of the day, we shall never know.....so so sad indeed. Thank you for covering an event i had never heard of before this video.
It was an eerie experience being there the day we filmed this and along with Clive, who is an expert in mines, it felt even more poignant. We did venture inside, but I had to leave as that small tunnel was very claustrophobic, and I was struggling. You can stand up further in, but from what I saw, it looked very sketchy to say the least.
Interesting and sad video. I think the most likely explanation is that the boys became lost or succumbed to bad air in old workings that the rescuers missed within the mine. The bloodhound would have lost the scent where the adit was flooded.
I'm bordering on those boys being lost in those mines. The similarities with this and those that went missing in nearby Pike Law quarry are eerie! Luckily for Pike Law, a police officer had a gut feeling and eventually found those lads even after 'exlert' miners had already checked below! So I think the two Dean boys are still inside that mine working. It's awful to think that the area is a tomb of sorts 🫤
😮oh such a sad and harrowing story 😮😢
In the 85 years since this happened, I wonder if every inch has been covered. Any falls in there reached would have been looked into... I get a real feeling they didn't go too far in. I think there is a much bigger chance they were abducted, or made some pact to disappear. It all reminds me of my dad, born in 1927 and in 1939 he was deeply unhappy at home with a dreadful stepfather. Too young to join the army. I don't think a 12-13 yr old could pass as being old enough. he went into the air force the minute he was old enough but by then the war was over.
When I went inside with Clive and his son, I honestly can say it didn't feel right. Not just the safety aspect, and believe me, it was dodgy as heck in there. The old wooden support beams looked like they could give at any time. I had to turn around and go back outside as I was getting claustrophobic. But if it could be done, it would be very interesting to see how far someone may be able to go inside there after all these years.
The quicksand theory is fundimentally flawed. You can only sink so far into quicksand due to physics. Quicksand has a density of about 2g per cubic cm, whereas a human body has a density of only 1g per cubic cm. At that density, sinking below waste hight is impossible. What people think they know of it comes from hollywood and has no basis in fact. Very interesting video. Thanks.
This is interesting, so thank you for putting this. It gives more food for thought and adds more to their disappearance now. Thank you 😊
@@andyovhull1875 Yes , assuming the quicksand is not underwater. If it is and you wade into it for whatever reason it's game over. Sinking in quicksand whilst being in water is a different ballgame.
@@kevfit4333 One genuine danger is that a person who is immobilized in quicksand could be engulfed and drowned by an incoming tide-quicksands often occur in tidal areas-but even these types of accidents are very rare. Otherwise thats not true.
Both were cousins of my grandad....I lived at 240 Dean Lane until I was ten ,then my parents moved to forest Street lumb.... And yes your right not even my family talk about the boys.. not sure why. I used to play in all the fields up Dean .including near Dean mine.. it was a working mine when I was a kid. Owned by father, Billy Clayton. ....the factory had long gone. But in it's place was a massive wooden pig shed. That eventually got pulled down and it was made into a bonfire. .the families of Dean lane had one heck of a party that night..I will never forget it. The amount of money that drunken people had lost ,I had a field day in my local shop 😂
It's a story myself and my wife would love to find out more on, and speak to people, relatives maybe, or people like yourself who know about the story and who were brought up knowing about it. It would be good to get a totally different perspective of it.
@@DaysofHorror I don't really know much myself .but I can ask my dad what he can remember,it was his dad's cousins that were lost .. like you say nobody really talks much about it..not sure if it's because of the sadness of the story ,or we were told not to.im not sure.. but I'll let you know what I find out. I'll subscribe to your channel now ..
@@DaysofHorrorsorry I missed a bit out there. About it was still a working mine.i missed out...part of it was a working mine when I was a kid etc .. but the entrance was further up car lane
I hope ik.wrong, but, I get a weird feeling about the stepdad.
The dogs never alerted, the stepdad said he saw them go in and went about whatever he was doing. I would think, there would have been a certain amount of danger for them to go inside, yet, he just let them? I'm not trying to judge or accuse him of anything. It's just, if my daughter had decided to go somewhere dangerous, and I knew, I'd be telling her to stay away. I get the could've just disobeyed later on. But,now that I've read he had/allowed it to be closed up without doing all he could to make sure they weren't there, concerns me.
Yes, this theory does come up alot... I do hope that was not the case though. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊
There are pit shafts all over them hills. Very easily get lost down there....there was a shaft that ran from the pit yard(now holiday cottages) .right up to the red brick pit shaft building further up Dean lane ,that also had the old shower system still in the building when i was a kid..I think its now been converted into a farm house
Clive, who was with us, said something about the shafts and how far and wide they spread out underground. It's a puzzle for sure what happened to the boys.
I don’t feel the boys are under there. I would suspect the stepfather of something terrible.
Alot have thought the same reading the comments on this video. Thanks for engaging 😊
My uncle eric told me not to venture where you pointed out there was quicksand, and i am sorry bout boys
The quicksand theory is interesting and one I've thought about since this video went out. It's plausible, I guess, but I'm sure one, if not both of the boys would have shouted out for help, and being in close proximity to the houses that were there then, would they have been heard? It's interesting. We also had the chance to crawl into the tunnel, I got midway inside, but it was just too claustrophobic for me. I'd love to try again, but it also looked very unsafe from what I could see.
I've got to say, I'm shocked that they sealed it up so soon after! Thats an appalling decision. 😢
Have you seen the Pike Law video we did shortly after this one? It's kinda similar, but in that story 4 boys were eventually found inside some old mine working. However, they almost ended their search and if it wasnt for a police constable and his gut instinct, they would have all more than likely have died inside. Makes you think this is what happened to the two Dean boys? Perhaps they were inside and just missed by the search parties?
@DaysofHorror Ooh, no I haven't seen that one yet. I'll watch it next.
@DaysofHorror Can you link the Pike Law video for me please, I can't see it.
th-cam.com/video/woRw_-bOvp0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=b3lAtrug5UzyjHnB
@@DaysofHorror You're a star. Thank you 😊
I'm just wondering if people were using the coal in their houses for heating etc. Mum lived in Kidderminster, and she and her brother and sister used to go and collect coal from off the railway lines. It used fall of the trains. I can't suggest what happened to the boys, but my ears perked up when you said 'stepfather'. On the subject of quicksand, apparently you won't sink passed about your waistline. People in quicksand have died when they have been on a beach and drowned when the tide comes in.
Yeah, this one does make you questioned what really happened to these boys 😮
A Good Presentation on this sad case,Dean Boys🙏
Nice one Guy's Keep up the Brilliant Work
Thank you for sharing. Excellent channel.
Thank you. Comments like this make all our hard work, worth it 😊
My heart aches for these lost souls and their family. They are there that is no resting place in a cold dark mine. Go get them out of there you will find them they are a lot father in the mine, they are in another shaft
😢 I know..
With all mines, there's usually a second means of egress. This is usually a long way from the entrance for ventilation.
I don't remember hearing about this before.
Interesting video. Thank you.
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed 😊
I think something else happened here...little to do with the tunnel they may have been there but I reckon they didn't die there.
Has anyone checked to make sure that Fred Williams stepdad could actually see them entering the mine from where he was stood, it seemed to be in a dip.
Unsure if they did. 😮
You say people don’t just disappear but you might be surprised. Current stats, for the uk, is about 170,000 people go missing per year with about 10% still missing after that year (17,000) and of those 10% approximately 10% are still missing after ten years (1700). Statistically.
Shocking really. Most probably have a reasonable explanation but some will definitely be more sinister.
That's a crazy high number 😬 Does make you think what happens to all these people. Like you say, some disappearances may be sinister. I spoke to a bloke today who knows the Dean Boys story and he was always of the opinion they were abducted and, as hard as it sounds, killed and buried in one of the abandoned tunnels. Only thing with that is, every inch was searched and even the bloodhound didn't pick up scent to indicate where their bodies may have been.
@@DaysofHorror honestly, if they WERE abducted or went off with someone then whatever happened to them was probably done a bit away from their last sighting. And if they were put into one of the old tunnels it would probably have been after the searches were done. No cctv back then so after dark anything goes.
Clive does not believe the children are in the mine and neither do i. The mine is very unstable añd does go a long way in. Its my opinion..abduction
It's an intriguing one for sure. One theory that i personally can't belive is the quick sand theory, as I would have thought one or both boys would have screamed and shouted if they got into trouble and someone may have heard them. It's another interesting theory but is one I find hard to believe. The abduction one does seem the more plausible.
12:42 for our American and European friends 150 yards (or 450 feet) is about 140m.
I don’t think they were ever in the mine , there was no evidence to show they were ever there apart from the stepfather saying he saw them.
I think they went up to the mine, as the stepfather saw them on the day they disappeared, but personally, I think they didnt stay around that area for long and something transpired after they left the opening of the mine. What that was is anyone's guess.
Matches and candles in a coal mine ? Isn't methane gas a huge risk in coal mines. Not only poisonous, but an open flame could easily set off an explosion. Not saying this is what happened here, just stunned by the idea.
Exactly what we said whilst outside the entrance to the pit! I remember talking to Clive about this, and it's the one thing that sort of nagged away at us. Saying that, lads will be lads and I wonder if they never gave it that much thought, the gasses and the dangers.
William ( stepfather ) seems to have muddied the waters - a red herring perhaps ?
Quite a lot of people are going down this road of thought and it's very interesting. It will be hard to prove, but still an interesting theory.
Makes you wonder doesn't it? So many comments about the stepdad in the comments. Thanks for watching and commenting Barbara. 😊
I don't understand why the step father was not looked into a little bit better. If he was the last one to see them he should have been investigated better.
All we know is, he went searching for them along with the miners and the police. But how many times have we heard that in recent times, the killer helping in searches. I'm not saying he was guilty, but many people are seemingly thinking that way.
We are loving the thoughts coming from you guys, and we have something planned for a follow-up up video that involves, hopefully, speaking to someone very close to the events that occurred.
Agree 😊
On a poster in Eccles chris, said 70 thousand people go missing every year
God rest their souls
I would say at the time it would not have been talked about as so many were going to lose their life's and in distant lands never to come home and those that came home in body but there minds could never have a home again I say it went into do mention the war
Thanks for watching and engaging with others with your comments.
Ah your brilliant great stories you put so much work in I know an other you tuber maker the amount of work done is unreal
God Bless
We love the research and actually visiting these locations. I know they may be dark and morbid, but there is a weird fascination when it comes to talking about the kind of stories we cover.
You would have thought that shouting for the boys would have received a response.I mean if the miners who searched all of the passages were calling for them as they went along then the sounds would have carried a long way through the tunnels and the boys would have responded. As there was no responses then that may mean that the boys were not down there.
The other point is that you said that the boys had been down that tunnel previously with another lad and had almost got lost, so I'm thinking did they abandon the idea of going down that pit again and instead went looking for another local pit in that area?
Again very plausible, we can on re tell the story as originally documented in the news at the time, but open case still.... thanks John for watching and your thought process on this story 😊
Great Chris worked out really well. Hope you get lots of positive feedback
Many thanks Clive and for meeting up and showing us the location. We are gonna be booking a night or so up in Penrith next month or so, so will keep you updated on that 👍
Intriguing. The step father angle is odd, plus that the boys told parents difference things...they could have gone anywhere...if they went fishing, could they have drowned...so many theories, kidnapped.... Tragic story
It is more than likely that they would have got dirty in the mine, so could they have gone the stream to clean themselves up before going home and then got in trouble in the purported quicksand ???. Thank you for sharing. xx
Good thought. Thanks for watching Sue
@@Daysofhorror-vickie Thanks hun. xx
So sad ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Maybe they didn’t even go down the pit, who really knows 🤔 I feel personally they are miles away from that pit. My dear late mother was a psychic & I too am rather that way & I get a strong feeling they are not down there, it’s like a blank when I concentrate on it & so I believe they are in another place but I don’t feel where other than I feel they area long way away from that pit 🌺
Exactly. They may have been seen standing close to the entrance, but no one actually saw them going into it. For all anyone knows, they could simply have gone in another direction and something terrible happened shortly after.
Two rotting corpses would have stunk, no way a dog would muss it nor anyone entering that pit. They either never went in or came out and met their demise.
Yep, we agree about the dogs. I personally think they came away from the pit and something tranpired shortly afterwards.
But did you not say that the other boy told his parents that they were going fishing? Did they change their mind about the mine?
Again we don't know, but kids being kids, was it just a line they said to their parents at the time....
All I was ever told is that my grandad's cousins got lost into the mine never to be found ,iv never heard the theory of the quick sand .that's a new one on me
Oh my, was these boys related yo you down the line? 😮
@@Daysofhorror-vickie yes. They were my dad's dad's cousins , so they'll be my cousins 2 times removed or how ever the terminology is .I think. Something like that
@@cheechmcduck7013omg what a small world and lovely to see the generation trail. What did your grandad really think happened to they boys?
@@Daysofhorror-vickie my grandad like many others thought he was lost in the mine. He never talked about the quick sand story... I was speaking to my dad about it today,and he knows as much as what was said in the video he doesn't believe that they were lost in the quick sand tho. That was just a bit of a wild theory ,they could of been taken buy the sand ,as there was a couple of other places in that river that has quick sand. But further down Dean lane .. but it is more than likely they are lost in the mine ..their was a couple of other entrances to them shafts .they could of decided to enter it a different way. ..I know when I was a kid up their .that shaft was unentrable as it had collapsed a good way into the mine shaft ..and there are many collapses on the moors you can see the dips in the land..I used to do a lot of mountain biking on them hills.,and them shafts go for miles in many directions
That's good to know, I hope we did the video justice for you. Keep the tell throughout your family, keep their story alive so to speak 😊
They need to open the mine and search evey inch of the mine and find the boys give their family cloture.
Ii know what you are saying, but I personally do not think that will ever happen die to length of time that's passed.
Is it worth risking people’s lives to find their bodies?
Subbed to Clive’s channel - Good work guys!
Clive is a fantastic person and his passion for history and especially in mining is unbelievable. He's been very kind to myself and Vickie since we began chatting with him over a couple of years ago. Top bloke!
Thank you. Really appreciate comments like this 😊
I would go for abduction too and I suspect this person had told them on the previous day to meet at some point nearby and they would show them an air raid shelter but not to tell anyone. Well they obviously did tell but they didn't mention how they knew where one would be.
😊
I believe they went into the quick sand , definitely not into the mine,when they said mine it can be inside or the land around it,they had wellies on so water would be an area boys would migrate to
Maybe... shame we will never know !
There was zero evidence of the boys in the cave. I can not believe they would not find them. All the people and the dog in there and nobody heard or found anything. I think they were kidnapped.
Correct, only seen at the entrance, but we just retell these stories with the information we have at source. Thanks Chris for watching and interacting 😊
New sub. Working my way through your videos and they are very interesting xx
Hi Gaynor and thank you. We try to keep things as straight forwards as we can when it comes to filming. Not too many bells and whistles in editing, so people get what they see. Also, if you have any stories or recommendations, please feel free to let us know. We now hope you like what we have done so far 😀
I live in Rochdale where Lesley Molseed went missing and was murderd.. Stephan Kisko was imprisoned for her murder but he didn't do it and only 17 years ago someone was revealed and imprisoned as being the murderer.xx
I hadn't heard of the Kisko one 🤔 Sounds an interesting case and I'll have a look into that.
Just had a quick glance. Where that crime took place is only a 20min drive for me. Definately a story I can cover. It reminds me of the Wendy Sewell murder we covered recently in Bakewell.
Welcome on board Gaynor. Thanks for your support 😊
My gut instinct is they weren’t ever in the mine that day. But perhaps they drowned in there. Is it normal to block off a mine after just four days? If the boys had water they might have survived for a week. I’m thinking of a horrible scenario where they got lost then found the way out but the entrance being blocked meant they couldn’t see daylight and they perhaps missed the exit 😮
😮
If the sniffer dogs were trained and failed to find a scent inside or out then maybe they weren't they're at all. Which begs the question, what really happened. Surely with todays technology something could be detected from above ground, even if were to.confirm or deny they're presence.
@@sarahcartier3393 a friend of mine has a trainee scent dog (GSD) and I helped by being a target so he could follow a trail. There is a ford near us and my friend said that’s not a problem, the dog can follow a scent through water. Some dogs are trained to detect bodies underwater and at different depths. Dogs are amazing!
I’m thinking they were abducted by a predator either on there way to the mine or on there way home. Thanks for your interesting videos, I just subscribed.❤
Jacqueline c
New York
USA
Many thanks, Jacqueline 😊 it might take a few videos to get used to my deep, northern accent...
So many thoughts on what happened to these boys,great to see so many differentbpoint of views in the comments to this video. Glad to have you on board Jacqueline. Thanks for your support 😊
I wonder if they joined the armed forces and were either killed or too scared to go home.
So many dud, didn't they! So plausible but they were seen at the entrance of the put prior to their disappearance.
Hi both you your wife & clive I'm a sensitive the first thing the boys showed me was that the 2 boys both were tied by there wrists they were tied up together in the same rope they then showed me a concrete basement a double mattress was on the concrete floor of the basement it was a dark room for developing photos there's a camera on a tripod facing the mattress I believe William the stepfather was a pedophile & he abducted both of them & forced them against there will in sexual acts they're both showing me this God bless them both it's heartbreaking to see I'm a mum i want to know why the police didn't look closely at william? I will let you know if the boys show me more there should be a plaque to remember them both definitely, please look into more about William & his family history to & let me know what you uncover I'm from the UK.
Hi there. We both don't know anything on the subject of spirit communication in the way you describe, but it sounds fascinating! Its also something new to us as you are the first person to comment on a story with information like this so we are very intrigued. We do have something planned for a potential follow-up video to this one, as we have always wanted to speak to someone, perhaps a family member or members, about what went on all those years ago. So we can certainly do more digging and hopefully find out more.
They were looking for an air raid shelter, could there have other pit entrances. I also said that they were going trout fishing what was the weather like was the water high.
We know there were other pit entrances but not close by. This was the last time they were seen by this entrance. Thanks for watching and commenting Gareth 😊
It would be good to get a digger to excavate the quick sand place to see if they are there
Very sad ,do you investigate other stories, what do you go as ,to listen to more stories .
The channel is primarily about covering historical crimes, some known, some not so known. Many are local to us, BUT, we do try to travel as far as possible and when time and money permits us to, to cover other stories from other areas.
We also do videos on so-called haunted properties, but these are few and far between.
As for our go to channels - we love Grimm Life Collective, Faces of the Forgotten and That Chapter as our main inspirations, but there are a few smaller channels who we also watch regularly.
Thanks for watching 😊
whomever saw them and said they were in there, is the one that abducted and killed them. Why he wasn't investigated I don't know.
Good questions Danny...
Could the boys not have fallen into an a big hole inside the mine, was there any bottomless pits where they could have fallen, stange story ..
Ive just bought two of your books
Many thanks Mandy! Everything goes back into the channek so it does help. We are currently putting together another one, a mix of all the stories we have so far covered but each will contain more information, as we have come across more things regarding some of the stories.
@DaysofHorror I'd love to meet you both one day to sign my books me and my husband love all your content as you my husband mentioned you in one of his videos we love what you both do
@@user-po8eh3dr9p was it the Herbert Noga headstone video? If so, can't thank you both enough 😀 also, I may have mentioned it on another video, but we are more than happy to meet and go out covering a story with like minded people with similar interests.
@DaysofHorror yes it was were valanteers at layton cemetery blackpool
@@DaysofHorrorCan I ask where I can buy your books, please?
was the entrance big enough to walk into ?
Yes, the newspaper clipping in the thumbnail shows men stood next to it. Obviously, it's all changed now, and the entrance was pretty much sealed to prevent others from entering it.
@@DaysofHorror ty
I fink they would do a dig it up to check it to day if they are in.the Quick sand with the teg
Noesh to days and if they found them boys in the old Quick sand that's would be next fin that they should have done to rule out that ground
Has you say a big misstery
and the boys R.I.P for ever
Yeah, and probably will always be now, due to the time that's passed. Thanks for watching 😊
Three more days though …..
Were there entrances to other closed pits that were close by, just a thought.
Clive did show us where some entrances used to be and how to spot them with how the land looks now. But I'll check with him and ask. Good question!
I suspect the stepfather the last person to see them
Alot say this reading the comments..
Great vid my thoughts are the boys went in if they hadnt it would nearly be impossible not ro be found or seen then again at 13 yku srill know the difference between i shouldn't really be hear...... Sad case but i feel they came to grief inside
The dogs xould of been put off by tbe water that can kill smells.....
It's one of those mysteries that is so hard to wrap your head around. You have experienced miners who went in for hours looking for them. And then the snigger dogs found no joy. And then you turn your head to the Pike Law incident not too far away and where miners MISSED finding the lost boys in that mine, and if it wasn't for a police constable and his gut instinct, they may well have suffered the same fate. It's such a puzzle this one.
Did they think to use dogs?
Yes, dogs went down As mentioned in the video. 😁