Person    | Male  Born 1931  Died /6/2010

William (Mole man) Lyttle

Categories: Exploring

Countries: Ireland

Known as the ‘Mole Man’ because he spent forty years digging a series of tunnels under his, and his neighbours' houses in Hackney. It was estimated that he had shovelled out over 100 cubic metres of earth. During this time he would talk with his neighbours about his "home improvements". He was active in some performing arts groups where people remembered him as gentlemanly and sparky. He was ordered to pay nearly £300,000 in costs to cover scaffolding and new foundations. Eventually he was moved out - to a flat on the top floor!
See Londonist.

Everyone loves a hidden tunnel.  So on this page we've brought together all the references to interesting, secret, or just weird, tunnels that we have found.  Each one may be more a fantasy than a reality but that's no reason not to enjoy the frisson: The Drum; Bostall Estate; Selfridges (never built, they say); hall of St Alphege, Southwark, White Hart Dock; Sir Mansfield Cumming, Faraday Building North (this one is our fantasy).

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
William (Mole man) Lyttle

Commemorated ati

mole man

English Characters William ‘Mole Man’ Lyttle, 1931 - 2010, burrower, lived a...

Read More

Other Subjects

David Thompson

David Thompson

Fur-trader, surveyor and mapmaker. Born Dafydd ap Thomas at Marsham Street, London. He was chosen to be an apprentice to the Hudson Bay Company. Transferring to the North West Company in 1797 he em...

Person, Exploring, Canada

1 memorial
Robert Ferrier

Robert Ferrier

Role on the lost expedition: Able seaman on SS Erebus. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial
William Moorcroft

William Moorcroft

Pioneer veterinary surgeon, Asian explorer.  Born Lancashire.  First Englishman to qualify as a vet, in France, during a revolution.  He set up in practice in Oxford Street, creating a horse hosp...

Person, Animals, Exploring, Medicine, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Tibet, Uzbekistan

1 memorial
Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson

Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson

Born Cheltenham. One of Scott's four companions who died with him, returning from the South Pole. Cheltenham honours Wilson with a statue on the Promenade and an exhibition in the town museum.

Person, Exploring, Medicine, Arctic & Antarctic

2 memorials
William Gibson

William Gibson

Role on the lost expedition: Petty officer on SS Terror. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial