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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.
 
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...
 
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
 
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...
 
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...
 
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.

Given that Johnson Matthey who now have the chemicals site is a pharmaceutical company who produce the first two stages required to make Methadone, you're probably right! We're I being cruel I might add "not that you'd notice any difference if they were testing on the locals in Annan" but you never know who lives where on the message boards and I have to drive past Annan every day
 
"not that you'd notice any difference if they were testing on the locals in Annan"

That's my neck of the woods! In Glasgow these days though.

The places seem to get odder as you head west and get to, for example Whithorn and Port Glasgow William. I'd happily live in both of them but....

Edit to get the name right :rolleyes:
 
That's my neck of the woods! In Glasgow these days though.

The places seem to get odder as you head west and get to, for example Whithorn and Port Glasgow William. I'd happily live in both of them but....

Edit to get the name right :rolleyes:
I do know what you mean. Stranraer feels like the place that time forgot. It's one of those places where you can't imagine an outsider moving to. Dumfries and Galloway in general is lovely what with its' coastline and forests but Stranraer has a "Straw Dogs" feel to it.
 
Stranraer feels like the place that time forgot. It's one of those places where you can't imagine an outsider moving to. Dumfries and Galloway in general is lovely what with its' coastline and forests but Stranraer has a "Straw Dogs" feel to it.

It got more like that after the Seacats stopped...
 
Today we did a tour of old churches and we came in some small villages. Not very creepy, but old and different.
This was here: 20 Ring - Google Maps

face1.jpg face2.jpg
 
Although probably more a town than a village, I find Alston in Cumbria a bit... odd. We decided to stop there for lunch one day and I swear people were looking at us like 'mmm... outsiders' :wear: The place had a very strange feel about it, and we didn't stay for long!
 
As a former resident of Stranraer I’m sorry to report it’s a pretty dull place. Not much of a Fortean nature I’m afraid.
 
Going back to the photo of Newbie, not being from the UK this looks to me like a company-planned town with all the houses looking the same. Would it have been planned and built and then the factory closed, leaving really disgruntled inhabitants?
 
Going back to the photo of Newbie, not being from the UK this looks to me like a company-planned town with all the houses looking the same. Would it have been planned and built and then the factory closed, leaving really disgruntled inhabitants?
It's bog-standard council housing. Looks completely normal to be but you probably have to be there to get the vibe!

Tornagrain near Inverness is a place I find strange even though I try not to. The buildings have been done in a sort of Georgian style which should be attractive. I mean it is attractive. But because they are so new it just looks odd. There never seems to be anyone around either. I guess they all just get in their cars and drive to Inverness despite the businesses and services promised by the developer.

https://www.tornagrain.com
 
Although probably more a town than a village, I find Alston in Cumbria a bit... odd. We decided to stop there for lunch one day and I swear people were looking at us like 'mmm... outsiders' :wear: The place had a very strange feel about it, and we didn't stay for long!

I believe Alston was also subject to a campaign - probably 15 years ago - where they appealed for young ladies to go and live there so the farmers could find wives!
 
Hmm this advertising campaign has a certain creepiness about it, it mentions that the census shows there are just as many women as men so the issue is obviously the type of men who like to, to paraphrase 'work hard and play hard' maybe the pub culture there is too laddish for most of the women of the village, and who can blame them, i can imagine any lone single woman frequenting the pubs there getting continually bombarded with unwanted attention from the 'sad singletons', one 'lonely heart' requests "Looking for a woman who is "a good cook and who doesn't mind a bit of hard work round the house like cutting logs and gardening". Comes across as a bit misogynistic IMO.
 
Well... I'm becoming less inclined to revisit by the minute!

However I can recommend Allendale Town which is nearby (although situated in Northumberland). It's not exactly bustling but there's a pleasant cafe and art gallery full of work from local artists, and there are also some decent moderate walks around the area. I seem to remember there was one unusual shop there, a bit of an aladdins cave from memory. I've only been in once and I can't remember what it's called (might not be there anymore).
 
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Going back to the photo of Newbie, not being from the UK this looks to me like a company-planned town with all the houses looking the same. Would it have been planned and built and then the factory closed, leaving really disgruntled inhabitants?
The houses were built close to a boiler works, which I think is still there. It's possible they were originally houses for workers. Newbie is only a mile or so from Annan, so there are plenty of facilities and services nearby. I've always found that area of the Solway Firth quite bleak for some reason, possibly due to the mudflats and quicksand which make parts of it quite dangerous.
 
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I seem to remember there was one unusual shop there, a bit of an aladdins cave from memory. I've only been in once and I can't remember what it's called (might not be there anymore).

Was it Mithras next to The Hotspur Inn? Both long gone, alas.

Ochone Ochone!
 
Was it Mithras next to The Hotspur Inn? Both long gone, alas.

Ochone Ochone!

I'm not sure, although this was only a few years ago?

Maybe I'm talking about the sci fi museum?? If so I don't think I realised it was a museum! Maybe I'm the odd one... perhaps I should move to Alston. :hahazebs:

Edit: Just had a look and I can confirm it's not the sci fi museum! See attachment, found it on Google maps although don't know whether it's still there. Looks like it's a gift shop. :)
 

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