The Hairy Hands of Dartmoor: The Haunted B3212 Road Legend

The Hairy Hands are a pair of disembodied hands said to seize the steering wheel or handlebars of a passing vehicle on a lonely stretch of Dartmoor in Devon, England, and push it off the road. The story is tied to the road between Postbridge and Two Bridges, now the B3212, and to a run of accidents in 1921 that reached the London papers. This guide sets out what the sources record, what the locals say caused the crashes, and where the record turns into rumour.

What's Actually Verifiable

English Wikipedia has an article on the Hairy Hands, and the BBC Devon site once ran a page on the legend, now archived. Both agree on the outline. The road exists and is a narrow moorland route with high walls in places. Accidents were reported there in the early twentieth century. A death in June 1921 started the national interest. Beyond that the details come from retelling. Wikipedia lists newspaper articles from October 1921 among its references, but those articles were not checked against the originals for this guide.

What Are the Hairy Hands?

According to the story, the Hairy Hands appear suddenly, grab at the controls of a moving car or motorcycle, and force the vehicle off the road. The BBC Devon page describes them as hairy, calloused and inhumanly strong. Wikipedia adds that in some accounts the hands are invisible, so the driver feels them but sees nothing.

Most versions give no reason for the hands. A few local versions, according to Wikipedia, connect them to an unnamed man who died in an accident on the road. Nothing links them to Dartmoor Prison in the sources used here, although the BBC page asks, as a question and nothing more, whether they might be the ghost of a former inmate.

The 1921 Accidents

Wikipedia says drivers and cyclists had reported strange accidents between Postbridge and Two Bridges since around 1910. Most of them swerved into the verge and survived, and the matter stayed a local curiosity.

That changed in June 1921. E.H. Helby, medical officer for Dartmoor Prison, lost control of his motorcycle combination and was killed. Two girls riding in the sidecar, the prison governor's children according to Wikipedia, survived. The BBC page says they told how their father shouted at them to jump clear and seemed to wrestle with the controls.

Several weeks later, Wikipedia records, a coach driver lost control and passengers were thrown from their seats. On 26 August 1921 an army captain said a pair of invisible hands had taken hold of him and forced his motorcycle off the road. The story then reached the London papers and became known across the country. The Daily Mail pieces listed in Wikipedia's references date from October of that year.

Other Stories

Two later accounts are repeated in most retellings, and neither comes with a date you can check.

• The journalist. Wikipedia cites Michael Williams's book Supernatural Dartmoor for a story from the writer Rufus Endle. He said that near Postbridge, on a date he did not state, “a pair of hands gripped the driving wheel and I had to fight for control.” He said they let go as suddenly as they came, and asked that the story not be published until after his death, fearing ridicule.
• The caravan. In 1924, according to both Wikipedia and the BBC page, a woman camping on the moor with her husband woke in the night and saw a large hairy hand crawling at her caravan window. The hand is said to have left.

Both accounts are retold decades later or at second hand, so they show how the legend spread and tell us little about what happened.

What Do the Locals Say?

Local scepticism is part of the story. Wikipedia and the BBC page both report that many locals blame visitors who were unfamiliar with the area and drove too fast down narrow lanes with high walls. The BBC page uses the local word “grockles” for such visitors. A driver in a hurry on a bend with a stone wall on one side has little room to correct a skid.

Wikipedia adds that after the story appeared in the national press, several investigations looked at the road. It reports that the accidents were most likely due to the camber of the road surface, which reached dangerous levels in places, and that the camber was then altered. The sources used here do not name who carried out those investigations or when the work was done, so that point should be read as a summary and not as a finding you can cite.

Why the Story Lasted

The sources do not explain why the story lasted, but some reasons are plausible. The road is remote and dark at night. Early motorists were not used to rough moorland surfaces, and the 1921 death had a named victim and two child survivors. The newspapers of the time were happy to print an unexplained cause for a crash. Dartmoor already had a long reputation for odd happenings, which made a hostile ghost easy to believe.

The legend has also kept a place in British popular culture. Wikipedia lists a BBC Radio 4 play, The Hairy Hand of Dartmoor, broadcast on 8 February 1999, and mentions of the story on the panel shows QI, Hypothetical, Have I Got a Bit More News for You and The Last Leg.

How the Hairy Hands Compare With Other Haunted Roads

Phantoms that stalk a particular road appear in many places. Our archive already covers Black Shuck, the phantom black dog, and another English figure of the dark is Spring-heeled Jack. For a story that also pairs a road with a ghostly passenger, see the vanishing hitchhiker. A hand that appears on its own is also the subject of the Mexican tale La Mano Peluda, which is a separate legend with its own history.

What sets the Dartmoor tale apart is how plainly it is attached to dated, checkable events. There was a road, a motorcycle and a named man who died in 1921. The hands are what the story adds.

Visiting the B3212

The road is a public route and carries ordinary traffic. If you go, drive slowly, keep to your side of the road and expect narrow stretches, livestock and walkers. Dartmoor weather changes quickly, and the surface is the same one that locals blamed for the crashes. There is no marked site for the legend.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Hairy Hands of Dartmoor?

They are a legend of a pair of disembodied hairy hands that grab the steering wheel or handlebars of a moving vehicle and force it off the road. The story is set on the road between Postbridge and Two Bridges in Devon, now the B3212.

When did the Hairy Hands legend begin?

Wikipedia says accidents were reported on the road from about 1910. The legend became widely known after a death in June 1921 and an army captain's report on 26 August 1921, which brought national newspaper coverage.

Who was E.H. Helby?

According to Wikipedia, E.H. Helby was the medical officer at Dartmoor Prison. He was killed in June 1921 when he lost control of his motorcycle combination near Postbridge. Two young girls riding in the sidecar survived.

Are the Hairy Hands real?

There is no evidence that they are. No photograph or physical trace exists. Local sceptics blame unfamiliar drivers going too fast on narrow, walled roads, and Wikipedia reports that the road camber, which was dangerous in places, was likely behind the crashes and was later altered.

Where is the Hairy Hands road?

On Dartmoor in Devon, England, between Postbridge and Two Bridges. The road is now the B3212.

Is there a Wikipedia article on the Hairy Hands?

Yes. English Wikipedia has an article titled “Hairy Hands,” which was checked on 9 October 2026. The BBC Devon “Discovering Devon” site also hosted an archived page on the legend.