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Creepy Small Villages

WeirdExeter said:
Minor village creepiness.

I grew up in rural North Devon (UK) and spent much of my youth roaming the fields, lanes and woods. I had no fear of being alone or even being out in the dark only own. When I was 16 we moved 15 miles to a village called Chittlehampton, another small rural village not even on a main road and five miles from the nearest town. I set about getting to know the local walks. I'm ashamed to say that one reason for this was that my parents hating me smoking so I developed a short-sh circular walk to allow me to go out for a couple of illicit cigarettes (not much else to do in the 80s...!). My walk took me up a footpath along the church and then across a couple of fields before reaching a back road. Turning left I would follow this until a came to a green lane that doglegs between fields and provides a shortcut back towards this village. I always found this lane extremely creepy whenever I walked it, feeling as if I was being watched. Some big power lines go overhead the entrance that, along with the high hedges, added to the air of foreboding. I would hurry along and be glad to be back on the road. Once a Vulcan bomber* unexpectedly flew low overhead and even that magnificent machine felt menacing.

One summer afternoon in 1985 I set out on this walk and was in the open fields when something caught my eye. Over to my left I could see the hedges that bordered the green lane and there was a large figure in a white, almost silver, suit along with a white/silver head covering. The figure had the proportions of an adult male and was slightly bent over looking at something in the hedge. I'm no good at judging distances but Google maps suggests I was 400-450m away. I stopped and was mesmerised and not a little afraid: this was just eight years after the Welsh UFO wave that had included giant, silver-suited spacemen...! To this day I regret not carrying on towards the lane entrance, but instead a light a cigarette and walked to my left in an attempt to get a better view. This meant losing sight of the figure twice. After seeing it for the second time it had turned away from me and the third time it was no longer there (there is a gate nearby). I lost my nerve and headed home after watching and waiting for about 10 minutes.

It was certainly something I had not seen before, but it did look very human and I've often speculated that it was perhaps a beekeeper going about his business. However, it certainly creeped me out...!

*visiting RAF Chivenor airshow
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Please could you post a Google Street Map link, so we can see the locality? Thanks.
 
Mythopoeika said:
That shows us all the village. If you zoom in on the area and then copy the web address, that should tell us more.
Thanks!
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The location of the figure I saw, near the sharp turn in the green lane but in the field:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0165147,-3.9537717,286m/data=!3m1!1e3

It was that little copse that was the intensely creepy bit, something that used to make me really uneasy.

Entrance to the green lane:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0186672,-3.9553634,3a,75y,266.55h,82.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sRKdx_sRiSjBccEHWa9-
RTQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This image of a bee keeper is very similar to what I saw, and there was no weirdness or craft of any description, just a white/silver suited figure:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/316166836341792010/

It was a bright sunny day which probably made the suit look whiter than what is was, however its certainly not something you see everyday in a random field
 
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hunck said:
No I don't - looks like a lovely spot.
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It is, very quiet and friendly. When I lived there still had a post office, shop, butcher and pub. My parents moved away n 2004 but I pop back there from time to time and pleased to say it still has the shop and pub. The church is very impressive for a small village and has its own saint and holy well:

https://missioncommunity.weebly.com/chittlehampton---the-church-of-st-hieritha.html

As a result the village used to attract pilgrims.

Don't know what it was about that copse on the green lane:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0157681,-3.9540048,71m/data=!3m1!1e3

It used to feel oppressive and I couldn't wait to get past it. It does look as through there may have been some sort of building there in the past, but I have often wondered if perhaps it is the site of an unconsecrated burial. Or it may simply have been the presence of the power lines nearby. The one time I ventured into the fields at this particular spot the farmer shouted at me so I didn't try again...!

I will go back but don't run a car at present and it is 2.5 miles uphill from Umberleigh station.
 
Frideswide said:
ooooh! I love me a good holy well and saint!
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I've posted on here previously about the minor poltergeist activity in our house in this village (I don't claim to have loads of creepy/paranormal experiences, disappointingly few, but these happened in the same location...!)

We lived in old detached house with three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. Quite often at night we we used to hear distant and heavy footsteps from a front upstairs bedroom above our location the sitting room. We had two dogs and two cats but they were never allowed upstairs and anyway would invariably be in the sitting room with us in the evenings. The noise sounded like someone getting out of bed and then perhaps walking to the bedroom door. It would occur over the years and my parents got used to it and would be amused when it spooked me whilst on visits back home. We could rule out plumbing as the bathroom and services were on the opposite end of the house and no evidence of rats or mice were ever found.

The other thing that happened was whilst I lived there from '84 - '86 before moving into my own flat in Barnstaple. I was in a different bedroom but I used to be certain I could hear a man snoring in my room, and this would happen when it was just me in the house. Then on one afternoon I had eaten an orange whilst reading on my bed and in the corner of my vision the orange peel jumped off my plate onto the floor. No windows were open and have never been able to explain it. I won't identify the house as I don't know who lives there now and these incidents aside it was a welcoming place.

So some minor village creepiness :)
 
WeirdExeter said:
I've posted on here previously about the minor poltergeist activity in our house in this village (I don't claim to have loads of creepy/paranormal experiences, disappointingly few, but these happened in the same location...!)

We lived in old detached house with three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. Quite often at night we we used to hear distant and heavy footsteps from a front upstairs bedroom above our location the sitting room. We had two dogs and two cats but they were never allowed upstairs and anyway would invariably be in the sitting room with us in the evenings. The noise sounded like someone getting out of bed and then perhaps walking to the bedroom door. It would occur over the years and my parents got used to it and would be amused when it spooked me whilst on visits back home. We could rule out plumbing as the bathroom and services were on the opposite end of the house and no evidence of rats or mice were ever found.

The other thing that happened was whilst I lived there from '84 - '86 before moving into my own flat in Barnstaple. I was in a different bedroom but I used to be certain I could hear a man snoring in my room, and this would happen when it was just me in the house. Then on one afternoon I had eaten an orange whilst reading on my bed and in the corner of my vision the orange peel jumped off my plate onto the floor. No windows were open and have never been able to explain it. I won't identify the house as I don't know who lives there now and these incidents aside it was a welcoming place.

So some minor village creepiness :)
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Regarding your jumping orange peel, I wonder how many "one off" polt type events happen. If something moved in your house once and nothing else ever happened, you might eventually forget about it or not really pay it much heed - unless it was something pretty spectacular - like something being thrown with force or broken. It sounds like you had the "snoring" too, so this wasn't entirely isolated.
 
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Ogdred Weary said:
Regarding your jumping orange peel, I wonder how many "one off" polt type events happen. If something moved in your house once and nothing else ever happened, you might eventually forget about it or not really pay it much heed - unless it was something pretty spectacular - like something being thrown with force or broken. It sounds like you had the "snoring" too, so this wasn't entirely isolated.
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Sometimes now when I'm drifting off to sleep or half-awake I hear myself snoring. However, I was 16 and as skinny as a rake and very fit so I'm pretty certain I didn't snore, and there was a thin connecting door from my room to another bedroom so I'm sure I would have heard about it from my sister...! The orange peel was so weird, it was large piece as I'm an impatient peeler and it didn't slide or move sideways but jumped up and over the side of the table in one movement as if they had been flicked by someone's finger (I was alone).

I had a similar incident with the cork bottle stopper from a posh bottle of olive oil but years later and in a different home. I came home late one bitterly cold Winter's evening and, after dropping down my shopping, immediately lit my prepared log burner as I didn't have central heating. It was a kitchen/diner room of a small cottage and on the kitchen surface closest to the fire (maybe 8 feet away) was the aforementioned olive oil. As I set about putting away my shopping and warming myself up.

Suddenly as I was sat at my table next to the fire - and in my field of vision - the cork stopper popped out of the top of the bottle and flew several feet in a graceful arc before landing top-first on the floor in front of me...! Didn't even wobble, it was a flawless 'flight' and landing. My blood ran cold but I was also intrigued by what had just happened and picked dup the cork stopper to examine it. Have to say I was puzzled about this for a while and it was a classic setting, what with it being a dark Winter night with a flickering fire, oh and did I mention this took place on Dartmoor,,,? However, my eventual down-to-earth conclusion was that the sudden warmth of the fire - which was pretty fierce when first lit - had warmed the trapped air inside the cold olive oil bottle and the oiled cork stopper resisted the pressure until it was forced out with sufficient momentum to take flight. Doesn't explain the orange peel though...
 
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Sollywos said:
You mentioned it was a large piece so could you have turned it inside in the act of peeling and that after a bit it just righted itself causing the 'flick'?
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That's good point, some sort of kinetic energy being released....? Although we all got through a lot of oranges and I can't recall this ever happening on another occasion. Time to do an experiment :)
 
WeirdExeter said:
The location of the figure I saw, near the sharp turn in the green lane but in the field:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0165147,-3.9537717,286m/data=!3m1!1e3

It was that little copse that was the intensely creepy bit, something that used to make me really uneasy.

Entrance to the green lane:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0186672,-3.9553634,3a,75y,266.55h,82.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sRKdx_sRiSjBccEHWa9-
RTQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This image of a bee keeper is very similar to what I saw, and there was no weirdness or craft of any description, just a white/silver suited figure:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/316166836341792010/

It was a bright sunny day which probably made the suit look whiter than what is was, however its certainly not something you see everyday in a random field
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I just had a look on an old map for any clues, but all I can find is that there was a quarry nearby.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sid...=51.01599&lon=-3.95495&layers=6&right=BingHyb
 
ramonmercado said:
As for my politics I'd be an Anarchist, not one of those bomb throwing ones though, more of a conservative type of Anarchist.
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Me too!

So we're not that far apart politically then, Ramon?

True anarchism (i.e. no government) is the real anti-fascism.

I think a conservative anarchist probably sums me up, as I favour a minimal state, but just enough to provide the essentials.

As for creepy, small villages, can I put in a shout for Long Sutton down in darkest rural Hampshire?

Me and a couple of mates went through a stage where we would go off the beaten track to explore previously unvisited country pubs. Don't think we'd ever been to Long Sutton before and when we entered this particular pub, I know it sounds like a cliché, but there was stony silence and alll the locals (who looked like the Wurzels appreciation society) turned and stared at us.
We felt decidedly uncomfortable and only stayed for the one beer!
This was maybe a decade ago so, perhaps I ought to head back there one day to see iif things have changed.
 
Frideswide said:
ooooh! I love me a good holy well and saint!
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St Winefride's Well at Holywell in North Wales is nice. I've been there several times, very quiet indeed.

Dunno if you remember a TV series with a historian who went swimming in historical holy waters? He tried the pool at St Winefride's.
I'd been there shortly before and thought he was very brave. :chuckle:
 
escargot said:
Dunno if you remember a TV series with a historian who went swimming in historical holy waters? He tried the pool at St Winefride's.
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was it by one of the people who did the Coast series?
 
Frideswide said:
was it by one of the people who did the Coast series?
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Can't remember. It was about 10 years ago and the bloke swam in the various wells and pools where possible. Brrr.
 
escargot said:
the bloke swam in the various wells and pools where possible. Brrr.
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I thought I'd hunt it down. But then I thought of almost naked TV presenters in very cold water and thought again.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Me too!

So we're not that far apart politically then, Ramon?

True anarchism (i.e. no government) is the real anti-fascism.

I think a conservative anarchist probably sums me up, as I favour a minimal state, but just enough to provide the essentials.

As for creepy, small villages, can I put in a shout for Long Sutton down in darkest rural Hampshire?

Me and a couple of mates went through a stage where we would go off the beaten track to explore previously unvisited country pubs. Don't think we'd ever been to Long Sutton before and when we entered this particular pub, I know it sounds like a cliché, but there was stony silence and alll the locals (who looked like the Wurzels appreciation society) turned and stared at us.
We felt decidedly uncomfortable and only stayed for the one beer!
This was maybe a decade ago so, perhaps I ought to head back there one day to see iif things have changed.
Click to expand...

I was quoting Des Brannigan there but I'm a sort of Anarchist Social Democrat.
 
escargot said:
St Winefride's Well at Holywell in North Wales is nice. I've been there several times, very quiet indeed.

Dunno if you remember a TV series with a historian who went swimming in historical holy waters? He tried the pool at St Winefride's.
I'd been there shortly before and thought he was very brave. :chuckle:
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We had our own holy well and saint here in Exeter - St Sidwell. Usual story about somebody cutting her head off and water springing up where it landed.
 
Frideswide said:
I thought I'd hunt it down. But then I thought of almost naked TV presenters in very cold water and thought again.
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It was brilliant. I seem to remember it was the energetic bloke who demonstrated Tudor architecture by abseiling down the buildings.
 
Frideswide said:
I thought I'd hunt it down. But then I thought of almost naked TV presenters in very cold water and thought again.
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It's BBC Four's Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places. Rather earnest but highly enjoyable. I bet you saw it.

Sadly it's not on iPlayer but there's a page on it -
Pagans and Pilgrims
There are clips, including one of the presenter taking a dip at St Winefride's.

There are of course clips on YouTube too.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Me too!

As for creepy, small villages, can I put in a shout for Long Sutton down in darkest rural Hampshire?

Me and a couple of mates went through a stage where we would go off the beaten track to explore previously unvisited country pubs. Don't think we'd ever been to Long Sutton before and when we entered this particular pub, I know it sounds like a cliché, but there was stony silence and alll the locals (who looked like the Wurzels appreciation society) turned and stared at us.
We felt decidedly uncomfortable and only stayed for the one beer!
This was maybe a decade ago so, perhaps I ought to head back there one day to see iif things have changed.
Click to expand...

Pretty certain it was this pub:

pub.JPG


It looked like this - even in the summer...
 
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