Hello all!
As some of you will be aware, I am (and have been for some time) working on a creative non-fiction book about local ghost stories called "Conversations About Ghosts" and I would like to share a ghost story from that collection with you as well as some of my research surrounding it. This story was told to me by my mother, and was one of her "real life" experiences. Here's the story:
As some of you will be aware, I am (and have been for some time) working on a creative non-fiction book about local ghost stories called "Conversations About Ghosts" and I would like to share a ghost story from that collection with you as well as some of my research surrounding it. This story was told to me by my mother, and was one of her "real life" experiences. Here's the story:
‘When I was a fair bit younger than I am now, and pregnant with my second to last. Me and M (her ex-husband) decided to take Rex – my old collie – for a walk up in the countryside behind the house. It was late in the afternoon but it was summer so we set out into the fields with our picnic and a book each. We were still fairly newly married at the time, with baby on the way. I didn’t want to walk too far so we stuck to the fields opposite the house and then settled down in the grass. I guess my mum had the other kids as it was just me and M. Rex didn’t need a lead as there were no sheep or anything around so we just let him off to explore and play - irresponsible, maybe - but we were young and it was normal for us when walking him. We stayed in the fields which run alongside the lane until evening began to really creep in, when the air got more chill we decided to call it a day and packed up our things. I called Rex back from the other end of the field by a gate where he was sniffing about... but he didn’t come. I called again and nothing - then he started to bark, deep and booming, growling barks. Now, Rex was a really friendly dog! He never barked aggressively (although being a collie, excited barking was a different matter). This sounded fairly threatening though and so, embarrassed, I ran up to grab him. The naughty thing was at one of the stiles which go over into a lane behind, and when he saw us coming he jumped over the short fence. I was astounded, this was so out of character! He was normally such a good dog but he was obviously really wound up. M and I ditched our bag by the stile, I climbed over into the lane to grab the dog and M followed. There, we were surprised (and initially somewhat relieved) not to find a person or perhaps another dog as the object of Rex’s ire, but in fact a very small and compact patch of mist.
Then confusion rose
again.
Why on earth was the stupid dog barking at mist?
So, I was a bit spooked, I won’t lie. The lane is very spooky anyway, deserted with not a house in sight, just tall hedges and countryside. This wasn’t the first spooky thing I have seen in my life, but it was just odd and weird and I was pregnant and tired and not in the mood. I looked at M to see he seemed to share my feelings, lips pressed and eyes wary. I called firmly to Rex who was, just by the way, on the other side of the damn mist. He ignored me. Completely. We tried walking away and calling him but he just stayed, ‘ruprupruprup’ a few growls, then back to the barking. In the whole time I’d owned him, I’d only ever seen Rex do this once before, and that was when M and I had had a big row and he’d got between us. Even then, he’d not growled, just barked, so this was a whole new experience. As I looked at the mist too, I got a weird feeling about it. It kind of looked a bit like a person's outline, a man - taller than me - definite head shape, but with a undefined body and then tapers which looked like arms and legs. Even as I stood puzzling on it, M put a hand on my shoulder - I physically jumped - right out of my skin.
'Annie,' he said, 'does that... does that look like a person?'
I was glad he'd said it first. I said nothing but managed to nod. It was right next to us, not moving - still and normal, but with my dog barking madly on the other side.
'I'm going to have to get him,' I said, but I was still reluctant to touch the misty figure. I wet my lips and then suddenly, I stepped forward and grabbed the dog's collar. It was like walking into a freezer! I started shivering almost in the - what - 2 seconds I was in there? I grabbed for the dog and I managed to get him and then I tell you, I was over that stile in a second and gone!
So, I was a bit spooked, I won’t lie. The lane is very spooky anyway, deserted with not a house in sight, just tall hedges and countryside. This wasn’t the first spooky thing I have seen in my life, but it was just odd and weird and I was pregnant and tired and not in the mood. I looked at M to see he seemed to share my feelings, lips pressed and eyes wary. I called firmly to Rex who was, just by the way, on the other side of the damn mist. He ignored me. Completely. We tried walking away and calling him but he just stayed, ‘ruprupruprup’ a few growls, then back to the barking. In the whole time I’d owned him, I’d only ever seen Rex do this once before, and that was when M and I had had a big row and he’d got between us. Even then, he’d not growled, just barked, so this was a whole new experience. As I looked at the mist too, I got a weird feeling about it. It kind of looked a bit like a person's outline, a man - taller than me - definite head shape, but with a undefined body and then tapers which looked like arms and legs. Even as I stood puzzling on it, M put a hand on my shoulder - I physically jumped - right out of my skin.
'Annie,' he said, 'does that... does that look like a person?'
I was glad he'd said it first. I said nothing but managed to nod. It was right next to us, not moving - still and normal, but with my dog barking madly on the other side.
'I'm going to have to get him,' I said, but I was still reluctant to touch the misty figure. I wet my lips and then suddenly, I stepped forward and grabbed the dog's collar. It was like walking into a freezer! I started shivering almost in the - what - 2 seconds I was in there? I grabbed for the dog and I managed to get him and then I tell you, I was over that stile in a second and gone!
And that was her story, a story she told over and over again! Now, I am sure, like me as a young skeptic that I was, you are probably thinking "come on, that was just mist", but even if it was, my mother wasn't the only person to tell me a story about that exact same place! (you'll have to wait for the book to hear the rest!) Let me show you my little map from my notes...
On the graphic included above, points A to E are places where the stories I have gathered about this lane are said to have happened, to the best of my knowledge from piecing it together from the stories. There is also a missing point F and G because I am unsure where exactly in the lane these encounters happened. So straight off the bat, there seems to be a lot of ghost stories originating about this same lane.
In part this can be put down to the fact that stories travel - especially on little estates like ours, and the lane is very quiet and eerie, especially in early morning or at twilight! It would only take a person to hear a story such as my mothers and then find themselves alone walking their dog as the sun is dipping to start to feel that chill on your spine. Having walked it myself many a time, I can tell you that both sides of the lane are set in by tall hedges with only the occasional gate to break the trees. As my mum described, there were no houses really anywhere close by it, aside from an old place called Butteville House (built 1820s) just on the edge of the lane. It’s a popular spot for both hiking and dog walking as no cars are allowed up it past Butteville.
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| The picturesque Buttville House, Kingsbridge, alongside which the lane runs. Image from Strutt and Parker Estate Agents |
The floor is uneven, some old broken cobbles still remaining here and there but mostly mud and stones. It runs for a good mile, before splitting into two parts, one of which returns you to the housing estates, the other which snakes off towards the now modern road to the next village. As far as I can gather, Mum and M were in the first part of the lane, still, before it broke into two.
"But this is a history blog, Emma!" I hear you shout, "so let's do some history!"
Ok! Let's do some history! A quick glance at some old maps shows me that the "lane" is actually all that remains of the old road from my hometown to another little village nearby, although it no longer goes that far. The first thing that is interesting is that whilst the "lane" proper seems to have been a road, the offshoot looks more like it was a footpath and went a slightly different way. This holds up to walk it as that part of the lane is much narrower and meets a modern road which did not exist then.
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| This is from the 1886 Ordinance Survey |
By 1938 however, the roads on the map were then labelled with road names, however "the lane" - whilst marked, is not named, therefore leading me to believe that sometime between 1886 and 1938 this road fell into disuse!
A theory put about in local myth and told to me at least twice was that it was a condemned man making his last walk to the gallows, however since there never was a gallows in Kingsbridge along this road, that can purely be put down to myth! I did look a little further into this just in case, using internet newspaper archives. Turns out there was only one instance of highway robbery reported in the town and it was on a completely different road. Searches for Butteville and Buttville came up with only births and deaths at the house! There was an unexpected death at nearby Washbrook Mill in 1899, however it was an elderly woman who died after feeling unwell rather than anything nefarious. No accidental deaths were even recorded on the road!
And so all leads came to nothing!
This is the part of doing this sort of research that the spooky ghostly documentaries and "ghost hunter" shows never tell you - I'd say 90% of my research into these sorts of hauntings lead to nothing when you start to explore the history - of course the older a building or place, the more likely it is to throw up something relatable, but not always! This was one of those cases. So, why are so many people experiencing weird phenomena on an apparently unremarkable road? Who knows!