Revisiting the Mystery Decades Later

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Hello, it's Richard McClain Smith here. Very excited to announce that this May I'll be heading to CrimeCon 2026 in Las Vegas, the world's number one true crime event. And I'd love to see you there. From May 29th to the 31st, thousands of true crime fans, investigators, journalists, podcasters, experts, and survivors will gather at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for an unforgettable weekend of live talks, exclusive panels, deep dives, and behind the scenes conversations. I'll be appearing throughout the weekend on Creator Row, so please come and say hello. And if you'd like to join me for my live session, Treasure, Betrayal and Death in Vegas, the Ted Binion Mystery. I'll be speaking at ten twenty AM on the Saturday morning. To get tickets, head to crimecon.com and use promo code unexplained for 10% off. Hope to see you there. It was early morning, Sunday july 13, 1980. as a coach full of excited children dressed in majorette uniforms rumbled along the M1 in central England. The Zingaris. A junior marching band from Clay Cross in Derbyshire were on their way to the Hollandwell Annual Show. The children chatted noisily, as the band's founder and leader, Judy Vaughan, Watching over them like a hawk. Just after 8 a.m., the bus decelerated suddenly and made a slow, lumbering turn. into a field littered with parked cars and buses. The children cheered in unison, forcing Judy to raise her voice to tell them to calm down. Ordinarily. Hollandwell Field, located near the small Nottinghamshire mining town of Kirby and Ashfield, was little more than a large patch of grass, surrounded by farmland. But that Sunday, it teemed with activity and noise, with several hundred children, teachers and parents having gathered there for the show. Generators started up. to run the many food stalls, selling hot dogs, candy floss and ice cream. while the local St. John's ambulance brigade added the finishing touches to their tent. The Hollingwell Band Competition would involve five hundred children from eleven junior marching bands. Bright clear sky above, and the excited band confident in their routine. It was set to be the perfect day. But all that. You're listening to Unexplained. And I'm Richard McClain. bands are especially popular in northern and central England, largely in former mining communities. Very much in vogue in the nineteen eighties, junior bands were often called jazz bands, and Despite playing an eclectic range of tunes. The name was more because the whole enterprise was thought of as jazzy. The kids loved getting dressed up and wearing sashes with all their medals. Coaches began arriving early at the Holland Well showground. each full of children aged between five and fifteen, wearing bright majorette uniforms. The jazz band competition would begin with an inspection, in which each band was judged for the neatness of their outfits. Then each group was given a slot to perform a 15 to 20 minute long display, on which they would be judged again. It was going to be a long day. Luckily it was shaping up to be a pleasant one. Being sunny with just a few clouds here and there. As Judy ushered the kids off the coach, she urged them all to visit the Portalus first, before returning to get themselves ready for the inspection. A short time later. The band were all back and neatly assembled. Bingham, the band's secretary, and Judy fussed over them, adjusting outfits and giving last-minute pointers on routines they've been practicing for months. As Judy reminded them. The event was highly competitive, and every band would be giving it their all. The youthful excitement and tension in the air was palpable, as the Zagaris lined up for their inspection. After what seemed an age, the judges finally finished their assessment. Bands were ready to begin. Eight year old Claire Hughes from Kirby in Ashfield played the tambourine in one of the bands and had come to the event with her granddad. They both watched on as one of the top bands began performing an elaborate routine. It had just gone eleven fifteen as the band marched from the arena. The lead girl began to stagger slightly. Then suddenly collapse to the ground. Then a loud gasp rang out from the crowd, as one by one, five of her fellow band members then collapsed behind her. Parents and carers sprinted over to help. and found the children either unresponsive or strangely dazed. Pulling them up. They carried them hurriedly to the St. John's ambulance tent. where water and first aid were swiftly administered. Tight fitting uniforms were loosened, and the children cooled down as best as possible. Before long, they'd all come round. Having seemingly just collapsed from heat exhaustion, from having been kept standing to attention for over an hour, Then performing an energetic routine under the blazing sun. But then more children started to collapse. Photographer Neil Lancashire happened to set up his stall close to the ambulance tent. He watched with alarm, as one And then a second group of kids were stretchered in by St. John's ambulance volunteers. Then he heard muttering among some of the spectators. Perhaps it wasn't exhaustion at all, they wondered. Poisoning. Just then, as if echoing what the photographer had just heard, An announcement suddenly boom from the Tannoy system. Don't eat the ice cream. There may be a problem with the ice cream. Wand No sooner had the announcement been made Then another group of children in uniform keeled over. As parents and teachers swarmed around the fallen children, another Tannoy announcement blared across the field. Don't eat the sweets either. There might be a problem with them too. Just then, on the far side of the field, another group of children collapsed. Following that, one of the food vendors wondered aloud if it might in fact be something to do with the water. Provoking another urgent announcement over the Tannoy. Don't drink the water. There may be a problem with that too. And sure enough, another group of children collapsed, seemingly in response. Screams were heard as the crow became ever more distressed. Wondering who might be affected next. Neil, the photographer, snatched up one of his cameras. and started taking shots of the Mayhem steadily unfolding around him. By then, so many children had collapsed, there wasn't room for all of them in the first A tent. So new patients were laid on the ground outside. But first responders had been so focused on the children. No one had noticed that spectators were also now falling to the ground. Some started to complain of headaches. and feeling pins and needles in their tongues and lips. Others clutched at their stomachs, feeling cramps. Man stumbled up to the ambulance volunteers, complaining of weakness in his arms and legs. He said it felt as if they had no bones in them. Enid Holmes, the secretary of another marching band, tended to one of her troops. Pulling their jacket off. She was horrified to see strange blobs that appeared on their back and legs, and seem to be water filled blisters. Later, other people would mention that their eyes and noses had begun to sting. Some complained of a bad taste in their mouths. Burning sensation at the back of their throats. A few people said that the grass looked dusty, and in places appeared to have a weird blue colour. Another Tannoy announcement rang out. Stay off the grass. It's being sprayed with insecticide. Then another group of children collapsed. and the event was hurriedly called off. One paramedic and his partner raced towards the Hollandwell showgrounds in their ambulance, the radio squawked out an endless request for all hands to make their way to the annual show. Having assumed they were heading towards a major road traffic accident, they were surprised when they pulled onto Hollinwell Field and found something else entirely. It was like a surreal battleground. with collapsed children dressed in bright military uniforms, lying on the ground everywhere, surrounded by worried adults. When the paramedic stepped out of his ambulance. You notice something else. A strong and peculiar odour in the air. Eight-year-old Claire Brown and her grandad watched stunned as more and more ambulances came through the gate. It was only then that they and the people around them sensed the full seriousness of the situation. Police arrived too, and began clearing the site. Sengari's band leader, Judy Vaughan, rounded up what was left of her troop and ushered them onto their coach. Elsewhere. Club secretary Terry Bingham was driving six of them, who'd all come down with various ailments, to the local hospital. But as Terry drove, he started to feel unwell too. and a sharp pain began to spread across his chest. As the Zingari's coach pulled out onto the road. For a few minutes, all seemed to be well with the remaining children. Then Judy heard crying. Coming from the back of the bus. Judy made her way down the aisle, and soon found the sick girl lying across two seats. And said it was too sore to sit up. Cry came out from elsewhere on the bus from another girl with the exact same symptoms. panic. Judy immediately had the coach driver turn them around. And drive them straight to the hospital. Once there, the various members of the Zingaris were examined by medical staff, but were all eventually discharged, when doctors failed to establish any genuine cause of their symptoms. when eight year old Claire Brown finally made it home with her granddad. She ran out to play in the back garden, having seemingly escaped any harm from the showground. It was a few hours later, as Claire played under the soft afternoon sun, Then she found the light feeling suddenly too bright. And the sound of the birds chirping in a nearby tree. Eerie and distorted. Claire staggered across the lawn and tottered unsteadily into the kitchen. Her mother was aghast at what she saw. The little girl was swaying and foaming at the mouth. The eyes red raw and streaming. Claire was rushed to hospital immediately. where she was kept in for the night for observation. By the end of that strange Sunday, around 400 victims from Hollandwell Field had received medical attention. Due to the sheer numbers, every hospital in Nottinghamshire had ended up receiving affected people for observation and treatment. Police moved in to investigate. Public health officials from Kirby and Asheville's district council began taking samples of food and drink from all the stalls, as well as sampling the water, soil and grass. An official inquiry was immediately set up. Speculation about the cause of the incident was rife, with theories ranging from the mundane to the extravagantly bizarre. One contended that aliens had landed in the field next to the event. causing the outbreak of an unknown illness. But no one had caught even the slightest glimpse of anything strange in the skies over Nottinghamshire. So that theory was soon replaced by another. For some time it had been speculated that top secret weaponry involving the beaming of microwave radiation. used by the government of the Soviet Union. to covertly destabilize their opponents. After the incident at Hollinwell Field, some began to wonder if the UK had employed the exact same thing. Targeting the nineteen eighties Summer Olympic Games, which were due to start six days later, on july nineteenth in Moscow. The official inquiry certainly had its work cut out. There were a number of key facts that didn't seem to make any sense. Why did many of the victims collapse in a relatively small part of the field? Why did it happen to small groups of people? typically five or six at a time, rather than everyone at once. Why, of the 193 hospitalized children from marching bands, were the overwhelming majority girls? One hundred and thirty seven of them. While only thirty seven were boys. and what had caused nine patients, including two babies. To have symptoms so concerning, they were detained in hospital for one or two nights. As it turned out. The symptoms and their timing were not consistent with food poisoning. Water from the single drinking pipe at the site was also found not to be contaminated. and very few children had drunk from it anyway. Perhaps the crowds at Hollinwell had somehow been exposed to a toxic chemical, wondered some. Blood and urine taken from victims, all teste negative for toxic substances. The only seemingly solid clue was that doctors noted a few patients did show symptoms of inhaling something toxic. Sengari's band leader, Judy Vaughan, noticed that the band's uniforms began to emit a very strong chemical odor when she washed them later that day. Despite leaving them soaking overnight and changing the water several times, the unpleasant chemical smell had not shifted. Long after Terry Bingham, the band's secretary, returned home, complaining of a pain in his chest. Two was rushed off to hospital. After being examined by a doctor. He was given a sealed letter to take to his GP. home, irritated that they wouldn't tell him directly what it said. Terry is said to have steamed the letter open to read it for himself. He was horrified to discover the hospital's conclusion was that his symptoms were most likely the result of exposure to a poison. The possibility that people at the Hollandwell Annual Show had been exposed to some kind of chemical poison was on the minds of the official investigators too. One was found to have spray his crops with the chemical Calixin, which contained the fungicide tridomorph. This fungicide has since been found to be so toxic when inhaled or ingested. With symptoms including skin and eye irritation. It was banned from use in the UK in two thousand. But the spraying had been carried out three days before the event. Several fields away from the Hollandwell site. and little to no evidence of tridimorph was found on the grass and soil samples. The next theory examined was whether a fire at a plastics factory some miles away had spread toxic fumes. But again, that cause was ruled out too, since the wind had been blowing in the wrong direction at the time. Then another line of inquiry emerged. There are over 150,000 abandoned mines across the UK, and mine workings often extend for long distances underground, and were not always properly mapped. Across England, it's said that more than 130,000 residential and commercial properties across England are within just 20 metres of an abandoned mine shaft. Often there are few, if any, signs at the surface that the old mine workings are present below. And Nottinghir was once a cornerstone of the British coal mining industry, with some of the nation's largest and most productive, deep-mined coal reserves carved out from underneath it. Once abandoned, underground mines can accumulate gases like methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide that can sometimes seep out from below. Residents in homes above such areas have reported experiencing headaches, breathlessness, dizziness, dry coughs, and anxiety caused by rising gases. During the inquiry into what became known as the Hollinwell Incident, it was confirmed that there were indeed old mine workings underneath Hollinwell Field. Star from the National Coal Board had even been at the site the week before the marching band competition. But yet again, investigators drew a blank. The coal board had merely been inspecting a borehole that had been solidly capped and sealed before the workers left. In the end, incredibly, when the official report came out, it said that what had happened at Hollonwell was unrelated to any environmental hazard. Instead, it concluded something unexpected and highly controversial. that the event had been caused by mass hysteria, due to a combination of the warm weather compounded by the hot and tight fitting costumes that many of the marching band children had been wearing, all of which had been exacerbated by the nervous excitement of participants and spectators. and the alarming Tannoy announcements, which had supposedly reinforced the panic. Unsurprisingly, the mass hysteria finding of the official Hollandwell report was not well received by many of the people who'd actually been there. Unexplained has covered strange stories of mass hysteria before. Like the dancing plague of Strasbourg in season eight, episode twenty seven. But while that is thought to have been due to mass hysteria in motor behaviour. Hollandwell incident was considered to be an outbreak of mass anxiety hysteria. Many might have heard of this type of outbreak happening at pop concerts, for example. It seems to happen most where there is a crowd people in a state of nervous excitement, combined with heat. And long periods of waiting. Such cases are especially prevalent in groups of school children and factory workers. Often with girls and women disproportionately affected. On average, sixty seven percent of victims report headaches. Around half feel dizzy. While nausea crops up forty one percent of the time. And irritated eyes in thirteen percent of cases. A mass exterior event took place one October morning in nineteen sixty five, at a girls' school in Blackburn in Northern England. Within a couple of hours, 85 girls from the school were rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital. After fainting or becoming dizzy. Clinical and laboratory tests showed no evidence of food poisoning or air pollution. The day before the outbreak. Children had taken part in a three hour parade where twenty of them had seemingly collapsed. It was concluded that this, along with the communal distress caused by a recent polio epidemic in the area, had combined to trigger the hysteria. Similarly in two thousand and nine, there were a spate of what initially appeared to be poisonings at girls' schools across Afghanistan. Dizziness, fainting and vomiting also recorded. But despite investigations by the United Nations and the World Health Organization, No evidence of any toxins or poisoning was ever found in the hundreds of blood, urine and water samples tested. Again the conclusion was that the girls had experienced a mass psychogenic event. Some of the symptoms reported from the Hollandwell event did fit with the mass hysteria hypothesis. but not foaming at the mouth, or skin blisters. Many who were at the Holland Well showground were not convinced by the explanation. Why, they asked, would some children and adults not become afflicted until several hours after they'd gone home? And how could babies get hysteria? There was even a report in the Fourteen Times, the British magazine, reporting on strange phenomena and paranormal occurrences. that several horses and dogs. Present at or near the event. had also collapsed. with some voicing their concerns over the inquiry publicly. The area's local member of parliament at the time, Dennis Skinner, complained that the investigation had not been sufficiently thorough. Because it had only affected working class people. who were also powerless to challenge it. The official report did concede that hospital tests on some patients. showed slight evidence that a toxic substance had been inhaled or consumed. But what that toxin might have been was left unresolved. And over time. The Hollandwell incident. steadily vanished from news headlines and receded in the public consciousness. Then, in 2022, a pair of reporters from BBC Radio Nottingham began to wonder whether there might have been another cause. Together they approached John Wright, a senior lecturer in chemistry and forensic science at Nottingham Trent University. and asked him to reevaluate the evidence from four decades ago, in case a fresh perspective could shed new light on the puzzle. After sifting through all the available evidence, Wright concluded that the symptoms had to be due to some sort of chemical reaction. And there was one incredibly mundane potentially lethal culprit connected to the on-site toilets. which have been given a cursory mention in the original report. In twenty twenty. thirty four year old Celia Seymour from Feltham in West London. to have died from a fatal asthma attack while cleaning her bathroom. It had been triggered by a gas that she unwittingly created after mixing large amounts of bleach and toilet cleaner together. Chemist John Wright. Had spotted that the original report on Hollinwell described how the toilet block consisted of six chemical closets. along with a urinal, which discharged into a pit close by. The report also noted that the toilets appeared to have been recently cleaned with an over-liberal use of bleaching powder. powerful disinfectant. A noxious aroma of chlorine and ammonia had also been reported emanating from the toilet block. Which had only been twenty yards from where many of the children had been standing and performing. The forensic scientist suspected that the cleaning products intensified by the weather might have reacted to produce a cloud of near-lethal chlorine gas. The very same dense pale green gas, used extensively as a chemical weapon in World War One. Symptoms of chlorine gas poisoning. Include coughing. Nausea and watering eyes. If inhaled, it irritates the lungs. Makes people foam at the mouth. and significant direct exposure. Claire Brown for one. It was eight when she became a victim of the incident. has suffered a series of health problems over the years. Including infertility. Endometriosis Having to have a kidney removed. Breast cancer. was related to that strange balmy day in july nineteen eighty. Hops. There hadn't been any type of poisoning at all. Certainly experts studying the nocebo effect. Kind of inverse of the placebo effect. In which the suggestion of illness alone cause real physical symptoms, as explored in season seven, episode 23, The Box. to differ. Either way. Forty five years after the event. It seems the true cause of the Hollingwell incident Is destined to remain stubbornly. Unexplained. This episode was written by Diane Hope. and produced by Richard McLean Smith. Thank you as ever for listening. Unexplained is an AV Club production podcast created by Richard McLean Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music. are also produced by me. Richard McClain Smith. 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