Overview

"What would entice a dedicated and dependable family man to abandon a promising career to go and hunt for a mythical beast? Aeronautical engineer Tim Dinsdale did exactly that and is widely credited with igniting the world's fascination with the phenomenon known as the Loch Ness monster. Adventure was not unknown to Tim. He spent his early childhood in Imperial China, survived being kidnapped by pirates, and trained in South Africa for the RAF during World War Two. Then, in the late 1950s he stumbled across an article about an elusive beast living in the murky waters of Loch Ness in northern Scotland, and his innate curiosity was sparked. Characteristic of a true engineer, he carefully analysed over 100 sighting reports before organising his first visit to the loch. What he found there changed his life forever; Tim filmed a large, animate object swimming in the waters of Loch Ness. Over the following twenty-seven years Tim undertook fifty-seven Nessie hunting expeditions, along the way meeting a cast of colourful characters. His work with many serious explores and scientists yielded some exciting results, which culminated in a scientific symposium at the House of Commons in London, its purpose to gain acceptance of Nessie as a living entity and therefore be given a level of protection. Ultimately the attempt failed. Tim's dedication to unravelling the Loch Ness riddle is captivating, his reasoning for finding the ""truth for truth's sake"" compelling. His life ended before he was able to solve the mystery that held him in its thrall, but his film continues to intrigue monster seekers and researchers around the world."

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Tim Dinsdale was one-of-a-kind. A special man from a special generation. He combined a sense of adventure, incubated by his early travels and hardened by his wartime service, with an infectious curiosity about life and a bloody-minded determination to puncture establishment pomposity. In 1960 he found a focus for these instincts and his long and determined quest at Loch Ness was launched. I met Tim for the first time in 1970. That was the summer when he was running the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau site at Achnahannet. It was my first visit to the loch. I'd become intrigued by the mystery. Looking back, I realise these were the first stirrings of that journalistic instinct which was subsequently to take me to a working life with BBC News. Loch Ness was such a good story. It had everything: romance, mystery, adventure and the prospect of a startling discovery. Tim was one of a band of wartime veterans who were drawn to it. I suspect they may have found civilian life a little dull. Loch Ness was a marvellous diversion - except that, for Tim, it became so much more. He was a delightful man whose life took an extraordinary turn. It was a pleasure to have known him, his wife Wendy and his family, and to have been able to re-live his great adventure through the pages of Angus Dinsdale's absorbing biography. -- Nicholas Witchell BBC News Royal Correspondent May 2013 Tim Dinsdale's filming of a Loch Ness monster in 1960 set off more than two decades of intense searching and enormous publicity; this book recaptures the excitement of those years and reminds us of the wealth of solid evidence that Nessies are real creatures. Through three decades of expeditions, Dinsdale kept a clear-headed, critical appreciation of that evidence despite the staggering frustration of not bettering the 1960 film. Tim's integrity and strength of character stand in stark contrast to the frustrated others who try to explain away the evidence as sturgeons, birds, otter-boards, etc., and who, saddest of all, claim that the 1960 film shows only a boat. Tim's film is now available at this book's website, allowing everyone to see what nonsense this boat explanation is. Tim was always clear about the importance of his quest and he took it with appropriate seriousness, but he never took himself seriously. He was a delightful companion, full of good humor, a wonderful exemplar of free spirit coupled to conscientious responsibility. Tim's dedication and integrity influenced innumerable lives. His work stimulated a career change for me, very much for the better; and I find myself still grappling with the conundrum that floored Tim 50 years ago: Why does science ignore so much that's of such great interest? -- Dr. Henry H. Bauer, emeritus professor of chemistry and science studies Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University May 2013

Author Information

Angus Dinsdale has monster hunting in his blood. Born the very day his father presented his famous film to the British nation on the BBC programme Panorama, Angus grew up in a household where searching for the Loch Ness monsters was his father's full-time - and perfectly acceptable - occupation. Subsequently Angus's childhood was full of adventures as he took part in many monster-hunting expeditions to Scotland. He developed a love for the outdoors , sports and travel, interests which have taken him all over the world, turning his two key passions of skiing and rowing into adventures all of their own. He now lives in Vancouver Canada where he has found the inspiration to write, surrounded as he is by majestic mountains, elemental wilderness, and stunning lakes - which might even have a Nessie of their own.

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