The Mystery of Deadman’s
Hill
The ironically named Deadman’s Hill lay-by was the scene
of a notorious murder some 40 years ago, a story which has stayed
in the news ever since. The title of this cache comes from a TV
documentary that was produced to highlight possible new evidence
that had come to light.
It all began one night in a cornfield near
Slough in Berkshire in August 1961. Parked in his Morris Minor was
36-year-old scientist, Michael Gregsten, and his 22-year-old lover,
Valerie Storie. They were confronted by a man with a gun who got in
the back of the car and ordered them to drive to Deadman's Hill, on
the A6 near Bedford. With the car parked in a lay-by, Michael
Gregsten was shot dead. Valerie Storie was raped, shot five times
and left for dead. She survived, but was paralysed from the waist
down.
The crime scene, August 1961
James Hanratty claimed he was 200 miles away in Rhyl when the
event took place, but he was still convicted of the murder despite
some conflicting and dubious evidence. He was hanged on 4 April,
1962 and was one of the last people to die before the abolition of
capital punishment. The ‘A6 Killer’ as he was known,
went to the gallows protesting his innocence and asked his family
to clear his name.
James Hanratty, Deadman’s Hill Lay-by as it
was in 1962, and a book published 1997
For 40 years many people argued his innocence and his case
became a cause celebre, with politicians and pop stars, legal
experts and writers joining the campaign to prove he was the victim
of a miscarriage of justice. In 2001 his body was exhumed and DNA
testing was carried out. The subsequent appeal concluded in 2002
that he was indeed guilty of the killing. Even so, some still claim
today that the original evidence was contaminated and insist his
hanging was a fatal miscarriage of justice. More info can be found
here
and
here.
Today, Deadman’s Hill lay-by is a popular spot on the
busy A6, much frequented by truck drivers. The mobile cafe serves
hungry truckers and woodland visitors most weekdays. The pot-holed
lay-by gives quick and easy access to one of Bedfordshire's
countryside jewels, Maulden Wood. Waymarked trails and hard rides
radiate out from the gateway in the lay by.
Access to the lay-by is only from the North bound carriageway of
the A6 at N52°02.436 W0°26.121. If you are travelling
South on the A6, there is a roundabout 1 mile down the road where
you can turn round. When you exit the lay-by you can rejoin the
carriageway in either direction.
Unless it is very busy, you should be able to park within about
40-50 metres of the cache. The cache is a 35mm film container, that
only contains a log sheet, pencils, and a few foreign coins. A
couple of small bits of bark help conceal it from passers by.
Please make sure that it is well hidden when you have
finished.
On the opposite side of the lay-by is the main entrance to
Maulden Woods. Just inside here there is an information board and a
very pleasant picnic area. This is also a good starting point for
GCGB5R
'Wild Woods' a traditional cache that lays in the heart of
Maulden Wood.
For further information or to download all waypoints (clue
locations, parking, points of interest etc.) for this and my other
geocaches (various formats - EasyGPS LOC, TomTom, Memory Map,
MapSource) please visit the download page at www.TeamNobby.co.uk
P.S. For a bonus point, send me an email and and tell me what
links this cache with GCD820
?