Creepy Small Villages

[Naughty_Felid]

Wonder if the running water noise could have been an underground stream, land drain or hidden culvert? Mum was clearly spooked!

There's a stream that goes under my local cycle track - but you wouldn't know it's there. However, you can just about hear it on quite nights and it has a marked temperature drop. That used to freak me out until I found the stream.

 

[IbisNibs]

People may have been closing the shutters to keep their houses cool during the heat of the afternoon. Maybe your mother had never seen anything like that before. She had three small children, so it makes sense to me that she would be on hyper alert after experiencing an anomaly. Mothers are much more tuned in to potential dangers when their children are involved.

the garden is much more overgrown now, with the bottom right-hand window being boarded up.

Obviously you had a better view of the place than I, Marksourbutts, but the bottom window looks like it has a shutter up, a la the windows in the French village that Little_grey_lady visited as a child. At least, it looks similar French shutters I've seen.
I like trees too, but the tall yews, or whatever they are, in the first photo of the house make it look like the house is confined and unwelcoming. I find the house more open and friendly looking without those trees.

 

[NomDeGuerre]

I've really enjoyed going through this thread!

The village of Llangynog did it for me. Think it would make a great setting for a folk horror movie (although perhaps I'd watched An American Werewolf... too recently before passing through).

We were passing through on the way to North Wales and it was just getting dark. The combination of the very austere looking chapel in the centre and the rapidly darkening mountain pass that hangs over the village (and the complete lack of people) certainly made it in an atmospheric visit.

 

[Peripart]

I've really enjoyed going through this thread!

The village of Llangynog did it for me. Think it would make a great setting for a folk horror movie (although perhaps I'd watched An American Werewolf... too recently before passing through).

We were passing through on the way to North Wales and it was just getting dark. The combination of the very austere looking chapel in the centre and the rapidly darkening mountain pass that hangs over the village (and the complete lack of people) certainly made it in an atmospheric visit.

I know what you mean. A lot of those remote villages look pretty bleak in anything but perfect weather, and Llangynog really does feel like the middle of nowhere. That said, I once spent a pleasant few days' holiday in a caravan just down the road, and it's actually quite a nice area to explore.

 

[NomDeGuerre]

I know what you mean. A lot of those remote villages look pretty bleak in anything but perfect weather, and Llangynog really does feel like the middle of nowhere. That said, I once spent a pleasant few days' holiday in a caravan just down the road, and it's actually quite a nice area to explore.

Yes, would love to go back! There’s a real bleak beauty to that area... and enough to get Forteana senses tingling.

Plus, the pub in the village looked pretty good from afar!

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

I

MMW: Is this the 'Darned house' by any chance? - http://g.co/maps/hrszm

If not, could you link to the location?

I have an old (now ornamental) milepost/stone in my back garden with 'Duns' and 'Exomh' written on it. Any idea where Exomh is? The 'h' at the end end is in lower case so it may be a longer place name that ends with an 'h'.

I know account retired and poster is now amongst the wraiths of the forum, but I saw this and my first thought was "Exmouth". That random 'o" is a very 18thc thing to do. So I looked up Exmouth and there's a place nearby called "Dunsford".

9 years on and maybe someone else came along in the intervening pages to solve the question but yes, my money's on that.

Talking of creepy places, we used to go to Devon a fair bit in the 1980s for re-enactments at Powderham Castle - became a firm favourite. A few years later we even went on holiday for a week in Starcross, when our kids were little.

Not a village but small seaside town (creepy at best of times). Last year, I had to go down there for work for a couple of days. We were excited as we'd loved it down there in the 80s and 90s. We were staying in Dawlish where we'd had a few happy days out many years before.

Something really forlorn about it now. Husband went on the cool railway along the coast in the day whilst I had to work. He said it was eerie. Whether that was the cumulative effect of returning to a place we'd last seen when our 29 year old was 2... and the sort of mix of memories and reality. Or whether something else I dunno. I was sort of happy/sad to leave. It was odd.

Have been asked back next year. Am defo going because the people were outstanding - but the place I once only had really fun memories of is now sort of tarnished a little by that indefinable weirdness we both felt.

 

[Stillill]

I lived in the area for 53 years and moved away in 2016. The first time I went to the Black Horse was last year (gloriously sunny evening) with my brother. I'd heard of the Pubs but only went to a handful, unlike my brother who was a member of 3 local darts leagues and my elder sister who was a lush.

Just wondered if you know or have been to a place called Jordans near Chalfont st.Giles? My granddaughter goes to nursery there. William Penn is buried there. There is also a Friends meeting house there.
I’ve always found this place creepy,it reminds me of a filming location where somebody takes a wrong turn on a road and ends up in a forgotten village.
It’s very picturesque and looks idyllic but still gives me the fear.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Just wondered if you know or have been to a place called Jordans near Chalfont st.Giles? My granddaughter goes to nursery there. William Penn is buried there. There is also a Friends meeting house there.
I’ve always found this place creepy,it reminds me of a filming location where somebody takes a wrong turn on a road and ends up in a forgotten village.
It’s very picturesque and looks idyllic but still gives me the fear.

It seems that the whole village was set up by the Quakers and many of the properties are owned and managed by a non-profit society.
So, many of the residents may be Quakers.


Oh yeah... and the Prince of Darkness himself owns a mansion nearby.

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

<- can't remember who the Prince of Darkness is.

 

[Mythopoeika]

<- can't remember who the Prince of Darkness is.

Ozzy.

 

[Bad Bungle]

Just wondered if you know or have been to a place called Jordans near Chalfont st.Giles? My granddaughter goes to nursery there. William Penn is buried there. There is also a Friends meeting house there.
I’ve always found this place creepy,it reminds me of a filming location where somebody takes a wrong turn on a road and ends up in a forgotten village.
It’s very picturesque and looks idyllic but still gives me the fear.

I've only been once about three years ago, when the Friends meeting house was used for an Open Day by the local branch of the British Dowsing Society. I don't think the C of E would have been so accommodating - the wife of the vicar in Amersham refused to let Yoga Classes to be held in the Church hall some years back because it was non-Christian. The Chesham vicar in 1974 prayed for the souls of the audience watching The Exorcist in the Embassy cinema. Anyway, dowsing with rods was brilliant, found the Mains pipes with no trouble and at the end of the session we were instructed to find (dowse) the resting place for William Penn in the graveyard. I couldn't do it but some did - or rather what they found was his grave stone, I believe no-one knows where his body is actually buried. Probably somewhere in Pennsylvania.

 

[Spudrick68]

A Catholic Priest from our local church as a kid went to see the Excorcist. I think that he was qualified to perform an excorcism if my memory serves me well, but he never talked about them.

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

Ozzy.

He can't remember either.

 

[Spudrick68]

One of my favourite quotes of his:

Sharon "I got you purple and black balloons Ozzy."

Ozzy "Balloons... balloons... I'm the Prince of fucking Darkness."

 

[Krepostnoi]

One of my favourite quotes of his:

Sharon "I got you purple and black balloons Ozzy."

Ozzy "Balloons... balloons... I'm the Prince of fucking Darkness."

Somewhat off-topic, although it does - tangentially - implicate another elder statesman of the British music scene. I just found out what balloon is in Vietnamese: (quả) bong bóng. The -ng at the end is pronounced more like -m, and the accent on the ó in the second bong indicates a rising tone. So, hum the Frog Chorus to yourself. You know: bom bom-bom bayeeyah. The second and third syllables give you both pronunciation and tone.

(And the quả is a determiner which indicates something round. You also use it for, inter alia, eggs and apples.)

This knowledge delights me.

 

[Marsha Klein]

There's a village called Newbie, near Annan in Dumfriesshire. I don't know if you'd even call it a village as such as it appears to have no local amenities. I was working at a nearby facility and took a wrong turn leaving one day but I figured that I could pick up the main road further along. That's how I discovered that Newbie comes to a dead end. As I executed a three point turn I was filled with a deep sense of uneasiness, the place seemed unnaturally still and silent for a hot, sunny day during the school holidays. The houses were uniform, red brick 50s/60s style and they just felt "wrong" and unsettling. I was aware that I was probably being irrational but I locked my car doors, wound the windows up and got the hell out. The very memory of the place give me the judders. I was talking to a guy at work the other day and I mentioned this experience and he agreed that Newbie has a very weird vibe, just something you can't quite place. I did think about going back there but......naaaah.

 

[maximus otter]

There's a village called Newbie, near Annan in Dumfriesshire. I don't know if you'd even call it a village as such as it appears to have no local amenities. I was working at a nearby facility and took a wrong turn leaving one day but I figured that I could pick up the main road further along. That's how I discovered that Newbie comes to a dead end. As I executed a three point turn I was filled with a deep sense of uneasiness, the place seemed unnaturally still and silent for a hot, sunny day during the school holidays. The houses were uniform, red brick 50s/60s style and they just felt "wrong" and unsettling. I was aware that I was probably being irrational but I locked my car doors, wound the windows up and got the hell out. The very memory of the place give me the judders. I was talking to a guy at work the other day and I mentioned this experience and he agreed that Newbie has a very weird vibe, just something you can't quite place. I did think about going back there but......naaaah.

Looking back from the “dead end”, or - as locals call it - Muirbeck Road, Newbie:

maximus otter

 

[Marsha Klein]

Looking back from the “dead end”, or - as locals call it - Muirbeck Road, Newbie:

View attachment 37635

maximus otter

I was working at the nearby Johnson Matthey plant at the time. There was no obvious reason for the unsettling feeling but I couldn't wait to get away

 

[maximus otter]

I was working at the nearby Johnson Matthey plant at the time. There was no obvious reason for the unsettling feeling but I couldn't wait to get away

Love the av BTW: "Fancy a bourbon?"

maximus otter

 

[Marsha Klein]

Love the av BTW: "Fancy a bourbon?"

maximus otter

No time, I'm off down Threshers to do the weekly shop!

 

[catseye]

There's a village called Newbie, near Annan in Dumfriesshire. I don't know if you'd even call it a village as such as it appears to have no local amenities. I was working at a nearby facility and took a wrong turn leaving one day but I figured that I could pick up the main road further along. That's how I discovered that Newbie comes to a dead end. As I executed a three point turn I was filled with a deep sense of uneasiness, the place seemed unnaturally still and silent for a hot, sunny day during the school holidays. The houses were uniform, red brick 50s/60s style and they just felt "wrong" and unsettling. I was aware that I was probably being irrational but I locked my car doors, wound the windows up and got the hell out. The very memory of the place give me the judders. I was talking to a guy at work the other day and I mentioned this experience and he agreed that Newbie has a very weird vibe, just something you can't quite place. I did think about going back there but......naaaah.

You don't need to have amenities to be a village. This is a mistake made by people who think a 'village' is 10,000 people, two shops, a school and doctor's surgery.

My village has nothing. No shops, no pub, nothing. Well, we've got a church, but that's not a lot of use on a Friday night when you want a bottle of wine and some chips.

 

[ramonmercado]

My village has nothing. No shops, no pub, nothing. Well, we've got a church, but that's not a lot of use on a Friday night when you want a bottle of wine and some chips.

Well you could break in and get wine and wafers.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Well you could break in and get wine and wafers.

Wine from a church? There'd be something missing. Even the mice won't touch that.

 

[Frideswide]

I did think about going back there

do it! do it! make a field trip of it and live stream

 

[PeteByrdie]

There's a village called Newbie, near Annan in Dumfriesshire. I don't know if you'd even call it a village as such as it appears to have no local amenities. I was working at a nearby facility and took a wrong turn leaving one day but I figured that I could pick up the main road further along. That's how I discovered that Newbie comes to a dead end. As I executed a three point turn I was filled with a deep sense of uneasiness, the place seemed unnaturally still and silent for a hot, sunny day during the school holidays. The houses were uniform, red brick 50s/60s style and they just felt "wrong" and unsettling. I was aware that I was probably being irrational but I locked my car doors, wound the windows up and got the hell out. The very memory of the place give me the judders. I was talking to a guy at work the other day and I mentioned this experience and he agreed that Newbie has a very weird vibe, just something you can't quite place. I did think about going back there but......naaaah.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbie,_Dumfries_and_Galloway

Newbie is a populated place in Annandale South, near Annan. It is home to a pharmaceutics plant belonging to Phoenix Chemicals of Liverpool.

The Great Trail, the Annandale Way, has a trailhead at Newbie Barns, a small collection of dwellings in Newbie.

Well, this place has everything a British b-movie setting needs for a story about the effects of an accident or illicit testing on an unsuspecting, small population.

 

[SimonBurchell]

My brother and I passed through the village of Insch in the mid-1990s. That was a creepy place. All the locals stopped talking and turned to stare as we drove through. We really thought it was the wicker man for us...

 

[Souleater]

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbie,_Dumfries_and_Galloway



Well, this place has everything a British b-movie setting needs for a story about the effects of an accident or illicit testing on an unsuspecting, small population.

Bit like the short film from Stephen Kings' 'nightmares and dreamscapes' series 'Crouch End'

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1251207/

 

[maximus otter]

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbie,_Dumfries_and_Galloway



Well, this place has everything a British b-movie setting needs for a story about the effects of an accident or illicit testing on an unsuspecting, small population.

*coughcoughQuatermass2cough*

"Otterised" from the Wikipedia plot summary:

"Professor Bernard Quatermass's interest focuses on [the small hamlet of] Newbie Winnerden Flats.

...veil of secrecy surrounding Winnerden Flats and the organization and deliverance of massive quantities of material supplies and manpower without any real explanation as to what it is for or whom. Quatermass [goes] on an official tour of the complex, which he is told has been built to manufacture artificial food.

...Winnerden Flats. At the local community centre, they receive a hostile reception from locals employed to do heavy construction and other work at the complex but told anything more than they need to know. The villagers form a mob that marches on the complex.

The individual aliens combine their small bodies to create huge 150-foot tall creatures that soon burst from the domes..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatermass_2#Plot

maximus otter

 

[bugmum]

As I executed a three point turn I was filled with a deep sense of uneasiness, the place seemed unnaturally still and silent for a hot, sunny day during the school holidays.

We went to Chagford yesterday and it was particularly still and silent. This is mostly due to lockdown, else it would have been crawling with grackles, but it was enough to unnerve the In House GP...

 

[catseye]

We went to Chagford yesterday and it was particularly still and silent. This is mostly due to lockdown, else it would have been crawling with grackles, but it was enough to unnerve the In House GP...

Do you mean 'grockles', Bugmum? As far as I am aware, grackles are a complicated noseband to stop a horse evading the bit... Of course, your villages could be a little different to ours...