In 1970, Nessie fever was at its peak.
The Loch Ness Investigation Bureau was based near Urquhart Castle and had set up massive camera rigs overlooking the loch.
Monster hunters from all walks of life flocked to Loch Ness in pursuit of proof of the existence of an otherworldly creature in the depths of the water.
Walking amongst the hubbub was a wide-eyed seven-year-old boy who was on a trip to the Highland loch with his parents.
The excitement and mystery surrounding the loch enchanted Steve Feltham, and he’s been hooked ever since.
Speaking to the Press & Journal at the UK premiere of Loch Ness: They Created A Monster, a film that seeks to tell the untold story of that rock and roll era of monster hunters, Steve said he looks back on that period slightly enviously.
The monster hunter, who has spent the past three decades looking for signs of the Loch Ness Monster, said: “I do feel in sort of Nessie hunting terms, I’ve been born too late for the heyday, for the adventures, the craziness that went on. Now it’s a much more sleepy pastime.
“I think the people involved back then, many I have got to know since, they truly believed that anything was possible. There was a camaraderie and the belief that any day now, the proof was going to turn up.
“I sort of arrived just as they were packing up.”
Rubbing shoulders with eccentric monster hunters
Loch Ness: They Created A Monster, charts a chaotic period of monster hunting, where “sex, violence and madness” was rife, according to the film’s director John MacLaverty.
Much of that was down to Frank Searle, a Cockney ex-soldier with a wooden leg, according to Steve, who met the infamous monster hunter on more than one occasion as a child.
At their first meeting, the young enthusiast took in some photos Mr Searle was displaying in his caravan of the Loch Ness Monster.
Steve said: “When I came out, first thing I said to him was, ‘Have you got any real pictures of it?‘ And his response was, ‘Real pictures boy? They‘re all real pictures.‘ And I could see that they were just not quite right. We didn‘t get on after that.”
Since those days he’s come to learn more about the chaotic side of that era of monster hunters, a lot of which stemmed from Searle.
He said: “Friends in the village remember him when he used to drink at the Dores Inn and he was a little bit of a slippery character, a bit of a smooth-talking… bit of a cad.”
What does the future hold for monster hunters on Loch Ness?
There were other eccentric characters too, like Japanese pop promoter Yoshio Kou and Robert Rines, men who had made their riches in business and were happy to pour money into the hunt for the Loch Ness monster.
The expensive cameras and submarines that first caught the imagination of a young Steve all those years ago are not as common now, with the best chances of new evidence likely to come from the sonar detectors that are mounted on the boats that do tours of the loch.
He said: “There’s not the next generation of people that want to invest their savings into solving what is one of the world’s greatest mysteries.”
Most hunters now are part-time, whereas back in the 1970s, there were people who were doing it full-time.
He said: “Things have slowed right down, we haven’t got much more evidence than we did back then. We’ve got bits and pieces… but that was the exciting time of Nessie hunting.”
There are areas of growth though. Social media mean more and more tourists are coming to the area, reading the evidence and spreading the hallowed tale of Nessie.
He said: “I speak to these people all the time. And people still have the excitement and the hope.”
Even as the number of monster hunters rocking up to the shores of Loch Ness slowly dwindle, Steve plans to stick around.
He said: “I’m in it for the long haul until we solve the mystery, that’s my mission. Although we’re not in the heyday of it, I still thoroughly love the chase and the possibilities, and the tantalizing bits of evidence that we get now and then.
“The pursuit, that’s what I love.”
Loch Ness: They Created A Monster makes its UK premiere at the Inverness Film Festival at Eden Court.
The film will then have a limited run at cinemas across Scotland from November 10.
Unseen footage: ‘Sex, violence and madness’ Nessie documentary reveals untold story
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