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Time Or Dimensional Slips

I know Tom Sleman of the 'Haunted Liverpool' books has been mentioned a few times in this thread, but I don't think this particular case he documented has come up before.
Obviously, a 50 year-old story, told second hand, is lacking somewhat in acceptable provenance. Thought it was worth posting here though. It's an interesting case because, unlike most timeslip accounts that are alleged glimpses of times gone by, this one is suggestive of a hi-tech and militaristic future.
It does contain two common feature of timeslips, namely the "Oz Factor" (sudden unnatural silence) and unusual meteorological conditions - in this case an exceptionally heavy fog.

"In 2005, a woman visited me at Radio Merseyside to tell me how her late husband Jim, had been haunted by a very strange incident which had taken place at Charing Cross, Birkenhead in the 1950s when he was a policeman.
There had already been a terrible accident involving a police motorcyclist which had left Jim traumatised, and now, on this particular night, a dense fog had invaded Wirral and yet some idiotic motorists were still speeding towards the busy roundabout at Charing Cross where five roads converge.
A lorry had ‘conked out’ with the cold and Jim directed traffic in the thick fog around it, and visibility was that bad, he could hardly see anything beyond twelve feet.
A man on a bicycle ran into him at one point, and it was now the rush hour with dusk gathering.
All of a sudden, everything went as silent as the grave, and Jim could hardly see his gloved hand in front of his face because of the fog.
He could see no headlamps nor hear any engines – and then the policeman heard a low rumbling which shook the road and made Jim’s teeth chatter.
Whatever the thing was, it was coming his way – and then he saw its ghostly outline as it came from the direction of Grange Road West.
It resembled a military tank – but it was like no tank he had ever seen before.
It was enormous – as big as a house - and beams of red light shone from a dome on top of the weird vehicle and dazzled the shocked policeman.
He bolted to the left just in time, or he would have been crushed to pulp under the gargantuan caterpillar tracks of the unknown armoured vehicle, and then he saw something even more terrifying and inexplicable – a towering robotic figure about 20 feet in height – was marching towards him.
It was a grey silhouette, but as it approached, it slowed down and stooped – and a massive metallic hand made a grabbing motion towards Jim.
He ran off, and saw other similar giant robotic figures in the distance, but Jim then heard an explosion of traffic sound, and as the fog thinned, he found himself near the familiar Martins Bank building.
There was no sign of any gigantic tank or that mechanical Goliath.
Jim told no one about his frightening experience, and only told his wife about the incident many years later. I believe Jim entered some timeslip at Charing Cross and glimpsed a future war of some sort – hopefully a very long way off..."

(from https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/15643275.haunted-wirral-a-weird-wirral-timeslip/ )

View attachment 22115


Ooh excellent story, and in the Wirral to boot. :D

I did wonder whether the trauma of the motorcycle accident had caused him to mis-see this tank thing, but that's just the rational side of me brain wanting to offer an explanation. It could very well have been something from the future because if time-slips can happen backwards, they can jolly well happen forwards as well.
 
... Fog as a common factor got me Googling into strange meteorological conditions.
There is a rare form of mirage known as Fata Bromosa or "Fairy Fog", which can distort the size, shape and apparent proximity of objects.
Is it possible that the then young policeman, already traumatised by a serious accident befalling a colleague of his, witnessed a genuine military convoy pass by (possibly from nearby RMR Merseyside) and saw a 1950s heavy tank, such as the Centurian and some marching soldiers, rendered distorted and apparently monstrous by the fog?

That doesn't explain the sudden silence or the disappearance of the military hardware and return of the normal traffic, but I guess we have to consider possible rational explanations. ...

If there is a mundane explanation, the fog conditions are certainly a key component. I think you were on the right track in seeking a known fog visual effect, but I don't believe a fata bromosa fits the bill. A fata bromosa is a superior mirage giving the appearance of a fog or fog bank seen at a distance. It's not an illusion one sees when immediately surrounded by heavy fog - it's an illusion of a substantial fog seen through clear air far away (on the horizon). Having said that ...

Magnified shadows seen projected onto / into substantial fog or cloudy (water-saturated) air are the essence of a Brocken Spectre (aka a glory). The canonical form of a glory is seen when there's a light source behind the observer casting his / her own distorted shadow onto fog out front. However ...

If the observer is immersed in fog it's possible for glory-style shadows to be back-projected onto the fog by a light source / shadow-casting object out front. Figuratively speaking, it's as if the observer is standing behind a translucent screen onto which a distant person's canonical glory is being projected by a light source even farther away. This version (glory from the front) is rare, rarely mentioned, and apparently lacks a specific label (I can't find one).

I've witnessed it a couple of times. This version seems to be most likely to occur when there are different fog densities (and clear air gaps) in the direction of view. It causes ghostly shadows / silhouettes of other persons or objects which are magnified in size. The actual persons or objects casting the shadows are farther away than the visible shadows (taken as objects) appear to be.

The policeman's story doesn't specify the time of year or the exact time. All we know is that it was at or just past sunset, when rush hour was beginning. However ... The text does indicate the policeman was standing at Charing Cross and perceived the rumbling sound to be coming from Grange Road West. Assuming he turned in the direction of the noise, he would have been facing westward (i.e., the direction of the sunset and / or any residual solar illumination).

As to the sound aspect ... Fog attenuates sound, and in doing so it tends to mask or obscure the higher frequencies. In extreme cases only the lower / lowest frequencies can be heard at a distance. This is why fog horns use deep low-pitched tones. I've experienced sound attenuation in heavy fog so extreme as to mask otherwise clearly audible (and even relatively loud) sounds originating from as little as a few yards away.

One final note ... The only mention of color in the documented story is the red color of the lights the policeman perceived as emanating from the tank. Longer-wavelength red light is visible through fog at a greater distance than any other color, and (in the glory-out-front scenario) could have been distant red lights or beams of light showing through a projected shadow.

Bottom line ... If the sighting were an optical illusion I suspect it was something more along these lines than a fata bromosa.
 
If there is a mundane explanation, the fog conditions are certainly a key component. I think you were on the right track in seeking a known fog visual effect, but I don't believe a fata bromosa fits the bill. A fata bromosa is a superior mirage giving the appearance of a fog or fog bank seen at a distance. It's not an illusion one sees when immediately surrounded by heavy fog - it's an illusion of a substantial fog seen through clear air far away (on the horizon). Having said that ...

Magnified shadows seen projected onto / into substantial fog or cloudy (water-saturated) air are the essence of a Brocken Spectre (aka a glory). The canonical form of a glory is seen when there's a light source behind the observer casting his / her own distorted shadow onto fog out front. However ...

If the observer is immersed in fog it's possible for glory-style shadows to be back-projected onto the fog by a light source / shadow-casting object out front. Figuratively speaking, it's as if the observer is standing behind a translucent screen onto which a distant person's canonical glory is being projected by a light source even farther away. This version (glory from the front) is rare, rarely mentioned, and apparently lacks a specific label (I can't find one).

I've witnessed it a couple of times. This version seems to be most likely to occur when there are different fog densities (and clear air gaps) in the direction of view. It causes ghostly shadows / silhouettes of other persons or objects which are magnified in size. The actual persons or objects casting the shadows are farther away than the visible shadows (taken as objects) appear to be.

The policeman's story doesn't specify the time of year or the exact time. All we know is that it was at or just past sunset, when rush hour was beginning. However ... The text does indicate the policeman was standing at Charing Cross and perceived the rumbling sound to be coming from Grange Road West. Assuming he turned in the direction of the noise, he would have been facing westward (i.e., the direction of the sunset and / or any residual solar illumination).

As to the sound aspect ... Fog attenuates sound, and in doing so it tends to mask or obscure the higher frequencies. In extreme cases only the lower / lowest frequencies can be heard at a distance. This is why fog horns use deep low-pitched tones. I've experienced sound attenuation in heavy fog so extreme as to mask otherwise clearly audible (and even relatively loud) sounds originating from as little as a few yards away.

One final note ... The only mention of color in the documented story is the red color of the lights the policeman perceived as emanating from the tank. Longer-wavelength red light is visible through fog at a greater distance than any other color, and (in the glory-out-front scenario) could have been distant red lights or beams of light showing through a projected shadow.

Bottom line ... If the sighting were an optical illusion I suspect it was something more along these lines than a fata bromosa.

Very possibly.
It does look like a Fata Bromosa has somewhat different properties, but fog in general can obviously distort objects. If you are backlit, even your own shadow can appear huge when projected onto a bank of fog.
Still, I would love this story to be a genuine timeslip account!
 
fog in general can obviously distort objects. If you are backlit, even your own shadow can appear huge when projected onto a bank of fog.
This exactly. I lived in a suburban area of West Yorkshire in the north of the UK, in the 60's 70's and 80's. Very dense fog was common from November through to March. Industry and coal fires were widespread still and contributed to the problem. When I say dense I mean you couldn't see the house across the quite narrow street. I clearly remember being scared as a young child holding on to my mother of normal lighting, cars and other buildings taking on a very weird appearance when any sort of light appeared. I must have been about 6 when walking home slowly from the local shop on one such fog bound day, the air raid siren went off, and being terrified, although I was used to the sound. (Air raid sirens were still tested in the early 70's where I lived) . Very brutal fogs do indeed produce weird effects. Thankfully very rarely seen where I now live.
 
Maybe they were flying a Bone-In 747?



(See, I said 'Bone-In' cos it sounds like 'Boeing'.....)
 
This is an odd one. Don't really know what to make of it, but putting it in the 'time slips' thread may be appropriate. In the 1960's my parents lived in Ghana, West Africa, for 3 years whilst my Dad worked on setting up the accountancy systems for the Akosombo dam. They were housed in a small settlement of large, stilted houses - raised to keep them above the jungle/brush that was native to that location (but which was kept clear). The houses all homed ex-pats (of various nationalities) so you can imagine they had quite a social life. Typically, most Saturday nights, someone would host a party. One of the times my parents were hosts something strange happened, which my parents told me about a handful of times over the years, in a very matter-of-fact way. Neither of them were in any way prone to exaggeration, or making things up, and the story never changed with each retelling. Due to the warmth, most parties would be held on the wide balcony that ran around the exterior of each house. From the balcony, most of the other houses in the settlement could be seen quite clearly - they were no more than around 100 yards apart. On this particular night, long after the sun had set, someone (not one of my parents) became quite alarmed and shouted for the others to look and pointed to the view from one of the corners of the balcony. Where there should have been a few other stilted houses there was only high jungle/brush and a large fire was visible around 100-200 yards distant. Around the fire was reportedly a group of Africans dancing in what looked like tribal clothing. My parents reported that everyone present (20-odd people?) rushed to that side of the balcony and saw this, for a period of perhaps 30-40 seconds. As one of the guests (I think I recall it was a Dutch man) walked down the exterior steps to head towards the scene, it 'faded' and the usual view became visible once more. They said there was no sense of a mist, the view returned to normal over a second or so. This apparition apparently caused much confusion and concern amongst the group, and they spent some time that evening talking about what it may have been. Strangely, my parents always said that it was only ever mentioned once or twice by anyone in the months / years after that, as if the event had become taboo. Both my parents are now dead so I can't question them about the event (convenient, hey). I have often thought about this strangeness over the years but only now do I find myself writing it down as it seems too bizarre to be believed. I should reiterate - my Dad was an accountant, pretty conservative and straight laced and my Mum was never one to tell any tall tales. They did talk about this to my brothers and I a few times when we were all together and there was never any sense of a shared confabulation going on. It was always at our request and there was always a sense of "oh, if we have to". There were a couple of other strange events associated with that hose, but I'll leave it there for now. Thoughts - time slip? Shared hallucination? Totally made up?
 
This is an odd one. Don't really know what to make of it, but putting it in the 'time slips' thread may be appropriate. In the 1960's my parents lived in Ghana, West Africa, for 3 years whilst my Dad worked on setting up the accountancy systems for the Akosombo dam. They were housed in a small settlement of large, stilted houses - raised to keep them above the jungle/brush that was native to that location (but which was kept clear). The houses all homed ex-pats (of various nationalities) so you can imagine they had quite a social life. Typically, most Saturday nights, someone would host a party. One of the times my parents were hosts something strange happened, which my parents told me about a handful of times over the years, in a very matter-of-fact way. Neither of them were in any way prone to exaggeration, or making things up, and the story never changed with each retelling. Due to the warmth, most parties would be held on the wide balcony that ran around the exterior of each house. From the balcony, most of the other houses in the settlement could be seen quite clearly - they were no more than around 100 yards apart. On this particular night, long after the sun had set, someone (not one of my parents) became quite alarmed and shouted for the others to look and pointed to the view from one of the corners of the balcony. Where there should have been a few other stilted houses there was only high jungle/brush and a large fire was visible around 100-200 yards distant. Around the fire was reportedly a group of Africans dancing in what looked like tribal clothing. My parents reported that everyone present (20-odd people?) rushed to that side of the balcony and saw this, for a period of perhaps 30-40 seconds. As one of the guests (I think I recall it was a Dutch man) walked down the exterior steps to head towards the scene, it 'faded' and the usual view became visible once more. They said there was no sense of a mist, the view returned to normal over a second or so. This apparition apparently caused much confusion and concern amongst the group, and they spent some time that evening talking about what it may have been. Strangely, my parents always said that it was only ever mentioned once or twice by anyone in the months / years after that, as if the event had become taboo. Both my parents are now dead so I can't question them about the event (convenient, hey). I have often thought about this strangeness over the years but only now do I find myself writing it down as it seems too bizarre to be believed. I should reiterate - my Dad was an accountant, pretty conservative and straight laced and my Mum was never one to tell any tall tales. They did talk about this to my brothers and I a few times when we were all together and there was never any sense of a shared confabulation going on. It was always at our request and there was always a sense of "oh, if we have to". There were a couple of other strange events associated with that hose, but I'll leave it there for now. Thoughts - time slip? Shared hallucination? Totally made up?


Hi evanspa. And thanks for sharing! It certainly sounds like the kind of experience which could fit into bracket of a plausible timeslip. And somewhat rare, in as much as a group of people appeared to be experiencing this?

Do you know how many people collectively experienced this (believed that they were seeing the same thing)?
 
Hi evanspa. And thanks for sharing! It certainly sounds like the kind of experience which could fit into bracket of a plausible timeslip. And somewhat rare, in as much as a group of people appeared to be experiencing this?

Do you know how many people collectively experienced this (believed that they were seeing the same thing)?
In the post, I wrote '20-odd', but this is merely my recollection of conversations with my parents. I know this took place during a party, and I also know that these were not huge events so that number is probably right-ish.
 
This is an odd one. Don't really know what to make of it, but putting it in the 'time slips' thread may be appropriate. In the 1960's my parents lived in Ghana, West Africa, for 3 years whilst my Dad worked on setting up the accountancy systems for the Akosombo dam. They were housed in a small settlement of large, stilted houses - raised to keep them above the jungle/brush that was native to that location (but which was kept clear). The houses all homed ex-pats (of various nationalities) so you can imagine they had quite a social life. Typically, most Saturday nights, someone would host a party. One of the times my parents were hosts something strange happened, which my parents told me about a handful of times over the years, in a very matter-of-fact way. Neither of them were in any way prone to exaggeration, or making things up, and the story never changed with each retelling. Due to the warmth, most parties would be held on the wide balcony that ran around the exterior of each house. From the balcony, most of the other houses in the settlement could be seen quite clearly - they were no more than around 100 yards apart. On this particular night, long after the sun had set, someone (not one of my parents) became quite alarmed and shouted for the others to look and pointed to the view from one of the corners of the balcony. Where there should have been a few other stilted houses there was only high jungle/brush and a large fire was visible around 100-200 yards distant. Around the fire was reportedly a group of Africans dancing in what looked like tribal clothing. My parents reported that everyone present (20-odd people?) rushed to that side of the balcony and saw this, for a period of perhaps 30-40 seconds. As one of the guests (I think I recall it was a Dutch man) walked down the exterior steps to head towards the scene, it 'faded' and the usual view became visible once more. They said there was no sense of a mist, the view returned to normal over a second or so. This apparition apparently caused much confusion and concern amongst the group, and they spent some time that evening talking about what it may have been. Strangely, my parents always said that it was only ever mentioned once or twice by anyone in the months / years after that, as if the event had become taboo. Both my parents are now dead so I can't question them about the event (convenient, hey). I have often thought about this strangeness over the years but only now do I find myself writing it down as it seems too bizarre to be believed. I should reiterate - my Dad was an accountant, pretty conservative and straight laced and my Mum was never one to tell any tall tales. They did talk about this to my brothers and I a few times when we were all together and there was never any sense of a shared confabulation going on. It was always at our request and there was always a sense of "oh, if we have to". There were a couple of other strange events associated with that hose, but I'll leave it there for now. Thoughts - time slip? Shared hallucination? Totally made up?
This sounds to me like a very convincing time slip, presumably to the past. I imagine that nobody thought to question the locals about whether they once had tribal gatherings at the location where the fire was seen. Impressive number of witnesses! I have found that other puzzling events happen in areas where time slips are reported, so the other events associated with the house that you mention might well be relevant.
Also interesting that after that first night nobody wanted to discuss the experience!
 
In the post, I wrote '20-odd', but this is merely my recollection of conversations with my parents. I know this took place during a party, and I also know that these were not huge events so that number is probably right-ish.


Great. I think that it's a lot more difficult to write-off a large group of people seeing something unusual as some kind of group hallucination. Everybody's brain chemistry is different, and if some unseen substance were causing a group to hallucinate the likelihood of everybody seeing the same thing is not high. And while you cannot 100% rule out one person saying 'look over there! I'm seeing <X, Y or Z>' and others backing them up purely because they are caught up in the moment, I would be reluctant to jump directly to such a conclusion.

I find it interesting that you mention this being a story that you had heard relayed a number of times. I think most of us have some kind of story from their past which our Parents repeat over the years. But that the details didn't change (claims inflating, or points exaggerated for the effect of telling a well-honed story) is promising.

We've spoken before in this thread of familiar traits of a timeslip experience. More commonly people talk of walking into a timeslip and noticing the conditions around them change as they do. This doesn't appear to be the case with your example above. In fact arguably the experience ended hen the Dutch gentleman tried to walk out towards it. I think this has more in common with the Norfolk based story of the Furious Coachman in which those who experienced the event found that rather than walking into a timeslip, it passed over them.

Can you recall your parents ever having mentioned any other sensations leading up to or during the experience? Feelings? Sounds? Smells?
 
This sounds to me like a very convincing time slip, presumably to the past. I imagine that nobody thought to question the locals about whether they once had tribal gatherings at the location where the fire was seen. Impressive number of witnesses! I have found that other puzzling events happen in areas where time slips are reported, so the other events associated with the house that you mention might well be relevant.
Also interesting that after that first night nobody wanted to discuss the experience!
Carl - I don't know whether anyone spoke to locals about the event, or even whether these conversations would have been possible there and then. The other (similar-ish) event was that my Dad was having a solitary late-night smoke on the balcony (well before the incident relayed above) and he saw a Sikh gentleman (evidenced by a turban) on the balcony, looking quite distressed. My Dad called out and the gentleman just vanished, which was obviously shocking. Dad claimed that the image was 100% solid, moving and that it disappeared in an instant (i.e. not around a corner or anything like). My Dad subsequently mentioned it to one of his ex-pat neighbours and was told that one of the previous occupants of the property had been a Sikh gentleman who had taken his own life. I don't know whether that happened at the property or elsewhere. The third event is not related to these two in any way.
 
Great. I think that it's a lot more difficult to write-off a large group of people seeing something unusual as some kind of group hallucination. Everybody's brain chemistry is different, and if some unseen substance were causing a group to hallucinate the likelihood of everybody seeing the same thing is not high. And while you cannot 100% rule out one person saying 'look over there! I'm seeing <X, Y or Z>' and others backing them up purely because they are caught up in the moment, I would be reluctant to jump directly to such a conclusion.

I find it interesting that you mention this being a story that you had heard relayed a number of times. I think most of us have some kind of story from their past which our Parents repeat over the years. But that the details didn't change (claims inflating, or points exaggerated for the effect of telling a well-honed story) is promising.

We've spoken before in this thread of familiar traits of a timeslip experience. More commonly people talk of walking into a timeslip and noticing the conditions around them change as they do. This doesn't appear to be the case with your example above. In fact arguably the experience ended hen the Dutch gentleman tried to walk out towards it. I think this has more in common with the Norfolk based story of the Furious Coachman in which those who experienced the event found that rather than walking into a timeslip, it passed over them.

Can you recall your parents ever having mentioned any other sensations leading up to or during the experience? Feelings? Sounds? Smells?
I don't believe they did. It was always a very matter-of-fact conversation about it and, not having delved into the Fortean at that stage / age, I didn't really think to ask sensible questions like that! They just always described the whole event as 'weird' and just sort of wrote it off as 'one of those things'. They certainly did not dismiss it as a hallucination or attempt to explain it rationally - I guess some things are too far beyond that.
 
Carl - I don't know whether anyone spoke to locals about the event, or even whether these conversations would have been possible there and then. The other (similar-ish) event was that my Dad was having a solitary late-night smoke on the balcony (well before the incident relayed above) and he saw a Sikh gentleman (evidenced by a turban) on the balcony, looking quite distressed. My Dad called out and the gentleman just vanished, which was obviously shocking. Dad claimed that the image was 100% solid, moving and that it disappeared in an instant (i.e. not around a corner or anything like). My Dad subsequently mentioned it to one of his ex-pat neighbours and was told that one of the previous occupants of the property had been a Sikh gentleman who had taken his own life. I don't know whether that happened at the property or elsewhere. The third event is not related to these two in any way.
Thanks for the extra info. The sighting of the Sikh gentleman could also, of course, have been a time slip (I think some, but not all, ghost sightings can be explained that way). "Primitive" people usually perform their ritual dances in areas of high energy, so that could be a factor.
 
Carl - I don't know whether anyone spoke to locals about the event, or even whether these conversations would have been possible there and then. The other (similar-ish) event was that my Dad was having a solitary late-night smoke on the balcony (well before the incident relayed above) and he saw a Sikh gentleman (evidenced by a turban) on the balcony, looking quite distressed. My Dad called out and the gentleman just vanished, which was obviously shocking. Dad claimed that the image was 100% solid, moving and that it disappeared in an instant (i.e. not around a corner or anything like). My Dad subsequently mentioned it to one of his ex-pat neighbours and was told that one of the previous occupants of the property had been a Sikh gentleman who had taken his own life. I don't know whether that happened at the property or elsewhere. The third event is not related to these two in any way.


Interesting. Two strange events in experience from the same location. These kind of things fascinate me. It would be interesting to find out if any previous or later occupants of the property had experienced similar things.
 
Interesting. Two strange events in experience from the same location. These kind of things fascinate me. It would be interesting to find out if any previous or later occupants of the property had experienced similar things.
The older I get the more these things tickle my brain also. Unfortunately, time, distance and death prevent further enquiry.
 
I rather prefer the parallel dimensions theory, things seem to be similar but with slight differences, a bit like much of the past life regression tapes, think of the Bridey Murphy case, it sounded so compelling but there were small differences
 
I rather prefer the parallel dimensions theory, things seem to be similar but with slight differences, a bit like much of the past life regression tapes, think of the Bridey Murphy case, it sounded so compelling but there were small differences

Maybe that’s why some regression seem to be wrong. They were in a slightly different universe.

And maybe that’s why some people have different memories of things.
 
I know that Berry Pomeroy castle has figured in several ghost-related threads here over the years, but I couldn't find any reference to this classic time-slip account that was reported to have occurred in its vicinity, as related by a Miss E Beveridge.
The month of the experience is quoted as May, but I could not find any reference to year, which clearly diminishes the validity of the account. Still, I found it an interesting enough tale and thought it was worth adding to this thread. The South Devon website it was posted on was last edited in May 2019.

"A South African friend was staying with me, and going out late one afternoon we turned down a lane… leading to the Castle Mill of which I knew nothing. Half a mile or so along this lane my friend’s easy flow of chatter died away and an uncomfortable silence ensued which I found impossible to break.
We had both simultaneously become aware of something strange and oddly disquieting in the atmosphere; then I was struck by something unusual in our immediate surroundings which I could not at first identify. I puzzled over it for a moment before I realised that the fowls scratching in a sloping field beside the track were of a breed I had never before encountered, scraggy, long-necked creatures, and in lieu of ordinary chicken houses were rough shelters of turves and branches, while certain domes of plaited straw like old fashioned bee-skeps apparently housed a few broody hens sitting on their eggs.
It was perfect afternoon in May, no breath of air stirred, sunlight lay warm and golden (but) there was something very eerie in the atmosphere. The silence was profound, uncannily so, for the environs of a mill even so remote and small as this.
Suddenly we rounded a corner and found ourselves in a tiny farmyard, the house to one side, some ramshackle sheds on the other side and before us a swiftly flowing stream.
The house was small, low and incredibly shabby, with small, deep set windows overhanging with ragged thatch. The only living creature… was a little girl of eleven or twelve who was sitting on the low wall which partly enclosed the yard next to the pool or stream. I never saw such a little savage – dirty and unkempt, with swarthy skin and coarse black hair which looked as if it had never known a brush or comb, and smouldering black eyes which were fixed on us in an unwinking stare of such intense malignity that we felt ourselves more than ever intruders where we had no right to be. Her dress looked like nothing on earth but a filthy sack with holes but in it for head and arms, and a piece of rope loosely tied about her waist. She was sitting hunched with chin on hands and elbows on knees, bare legs drawn up so that the soles of her feet were pressed vertically against the wall. Without moving a muscle she crouched there, glaring at us in a deadly silence that could be felt.
Feeling uneasy, the ladies reversed their car and fled. A fortnight later Miss Beveridge visited the Mill again, “The strange fowls and the rude shelter had vanished, and in their place were wooden henhouses of the usual type.
When the mill house came in sight, I noticed at once that it had been completely rethatched. The roof appeared much higher too, to provide a second story… the windows seemed larger, the leaded panes winking in the evening light where before had been dark gaping holes… innocent of glass. A new wing had been added… there was no dark, malevolent little damsel crouching on the wall and the atmosphere was perfectly normal and serene…”

https://wearesouthdevon.com/berry-pomeroy-timeslip-ghost/
 
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