Phantom Hitchhikers & Road Ghosts

[RuthRoperWylde]

I had a really unsettling experience in the mid 1990s which I am not sure fits into road ghosts, but it was near a road.
I was going through quite a stressful period at the time and went out quite late at night in my van to just have drive around and clear my head a bit.
I drove around for an hour or so and decided to pull into a small grass carpark a few miles from home just to sit and have a bit of peace and quiet before going home. It was a small parking area just off a country lane which I knew quite well and was used in the daytime by walkers and for fisherman as it was quite close to the canal.
It was around 1am and obviously empty and I parked and switched off the ignition. It was a light night with clear skies and the moon out so not too dark and once I had got used to it I could see quite clearly around me. There was no passing traffic and I was just sitting enjoying the absolute silence when, after a few minutes I heard a weird kind of heavy breathing which seemed to be coming from behind. I thought it might be some animal approaching the van but couldn't see anything in the mirrors and within seconds the noise seemed to get very loud and seemed all around the van, although I couldn't see anything at all. Within seconds it passed and everything was silent as before.
Needless to say I was scared stiff but it all happened, and ended, so quickly I was more stunned I suppose.
I wasn't asleep as I had only stopped for a short time unless it was a micro sleep and I've never told anyone about it as I couldn't compute it myself really. As it was so brief I have struggled to try and understand what it could have been, the closest I could describe is maybe like a herd of cows moving past the vehicle but there was nothing around at all to produce such a loud noise. It is hard to convey how loud the noise was, but only for a very brief period and there was certainly nothing visible moving around me.

Where exactly was it, and I'll have a look on my database and see if I have any other reports from there?

 

[Giant R]

It was somewhere near Marsworth in Bucks. I haven't been that way in years now but it was quite near the canal but not a main road, just a country lane.

 

[Giant R]

I just found this on the Fox narrowboats website under ' 7 chilling canal ghost stories'

1. Manifestation in Marsworth

Interested to find out more, I read a book called ‘Ghosts of Tring’ that reported that a child was once walking along the towpath in Marsworth with her grandmother “off the barges”.

“The child was tugging her hand; the grandmother turned to look. At the little girl’s other hand was a character half-man, half-goat.”

Short and sweet I am afraid and probably not relevant.

 

[RuthRoperWylde]

It was somewhere near Marsworth in Bucks. I haven't been that way in years now but it was quite near the canal but not a main road, just a country lane.

The car park for anglers off the B489, maybe? There is the ghost of a lady in white around there.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Hi Ruth

Have posted the following on the UK Paranormal Database. In the early-90s I worked at Passford House Hotel near Lymington in Hampshire and on the edge of the New Forest. This is a rural area and a back road called North Common Lane connected the hotel with the main Lymington - Sway road. We used this lane a lot at night as it its as the quickest way to the Wheel Inn, our nearest pub when we managed to get out of work before 11pm. The main part of the lane is pretty much straight, which is of relevance below

We had a long-serving porter called Ron who was in the 50s and made good use of the pub. One Winter's night in the late-80s he was walking alone to the pub at about 10pm. He became aware of the sound of a "fast" horse approaching along the road from behind him. This area is full of riding stables and he spun around expecting a horse and rider to be approaching but there was nothing other than the sound which, as it passed through him also manifested as a quite violent gust of wind. The sound then diminished as it moved ahead of him.

He told us it was a classic case of arriving at the pub "as white as a ghost" and to be honest he took a lot of stick for it over the years from the locals in the pub and us co-workers, however he always stuck by what happened and sadly died of cancer in 1994. I have fond memories of him and my time there and would love to know if anyone else has experienced this or if this area has any other hauntings (Passford House Hotel is reputed to have a 'grey lady' ghost)

 

[Giant R]

The car park for anglers off the B489, maybe? There is the ghost of a lady in white around there.

No that is quite a well used road and a biggish car park. I reckon it might have been the car park marked near Cooks wharf on the small road that goes off the B489 between Marsworth and Pitstone towards Cheddington.

 

[RuthRoperWylde]

Hi Ruth

Have posted the following on the UK Paranormal Database. In the early-90s I worked at Passford House Hotel near Lymington in Hampshire and on the edge of the New Forest. This is a rural area and a back road called North Common Lane connected the hotel with the main Lymington - Sway road. We used this lane a lot at night as it its as the quickest way to the Wheel Inn, our nearest pub when we managed to get out of work before 11pm. The main part of the lane is pretty much straight, which is of relevance below

We had a long-serving porter called Ron who was in the 50s and made good use of the pub. One Winter's night in the late-80s he was walking alone to the pub at about 10pm. He became aware of the sound of a "fast" horse approaching along the road from behind him. This area is full of riding stables and he spun around expecting a horse and rider to be approaching but there was nothing of than the sound which, as it passed through him also manifested as a quite violent gust of wind. The sound then diminished as it moved ahead of him.

He told us it was a classic case of arriving at the pub "as white as a ghost" and to be honest he took a lot of stick for it over the years from the locals in the pub and us co-workers, however he always stuck by what happened and sadly died of cancer in 1994. I have fond memories of him and my time there and would love to know if anyone else has experienced this or if this area has any other hauntings (Passford House Hotel is reputed to have a 'grey lady' ghost)

I haven't got anything for along there, so I've added it to my database to see if I can find anything

 

[Paul_Exeter]

As regards the grey lady of Passford House Hotel, there was an amateurish oil painting hanging in the back office (behind reception) whilst I worked there and the hotel was owned by the Heritage family. It was date 1955 or thereabouts a showed a slightly ethereal elderly lady standing in the doorway to one of the oak-pannelled lounges. She was wearing in a grey/white nightdress and and her face and body language was one of surprise. I was told that she was painted by a Doctor who was staying as a guest and who saw her appear and then dematerialise in front of his eyes. He was so shocked by the experience that he painted the scene.

I was there four years and whilst the place had an atmosphere I sadly saw nothing although one member of staff claimed to have seen her coming out of an upstairs bedroom, although I was never sure about his account.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Edit:

On reflection, I may have been too dismissive of the worker who witnessed this 'grey lady' upstairs. His name was Ramos and he was a Portuguese restaurant manager who worked two separate stints for the owners who adored him. He also fancied himself a bit and told some tall stories about his sexual conquests on occasions, hence my reluctance to accept his sighting. To be fair, he always stuck to his story that he was upstairs very early in the morning in the original old house - and above the lounges - when he saw this ghost in connection with a bedroom door (either going in or coming out, can't remember now) and which then disappeared. This would have been in the 1980s.

 

[lordmongrove]

Mike Hallowell with a road ghost tale

 

[SimonBurchell]

I thought I would give this thread a kick - does anyone know if there have been any recent reports out of Blue Bell Hill over the last 5 years or so since Sean Tudor published his excellent book? And I don't mean the snowstorm photo from 2019, which is obviously just a road sign. I have just finished re-reading his book, again, (it really is well researched and fantastically creepy), and wondered if the place was still actively generating reports.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I thought I would give this thread a kick - does anyone know if there have been any recent reports out of Blue Bell Hill over the last 5 years or so since Sean Tudor published his excellent book? And I don't mean the snowstorm photo from 2019, which is obviously just a road sign. I have just finished re-reading his book, again, (it really is well researched and fantastically creepy), and wondered if the place was still actively generating reports.

Always worth a browse here:

https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/kent/kentdata.php

You could also contact Dr Rob Gandy, road ghosts expert, who is pretty easy to find online (or ask Lord Mongrove)

 

[Quercus]

Funny, I've just been rereading Sean Tudor's book too, and was also wondering if there'd been anything more reported in the area since the book was written.

According to his (recently set up) blog, he's been writing some fiction for younger readers since finishing the Bluebell Hill book, but has 'two new projects' in the pipeline - so might be interesting to see if he's exploring this area of study any further.

https://seantudor.net/about/

I seem to recall stumbling on quite a comprehensive website on the Bluebell Hill legend, including submissions of supposed odd phenomena experienced, which I thought was curated by Sean - possibly before, or maybe just after, the book was published - but I can't seem to find any trace of it online now.

I'll try some more Google-fu another time and see if I can find anything more - it'd be a shame if the plug had been pulled on this particular resource.

 

[Quercus]

Just had a trawl through my browser bookmarks in case I'd been smart enough to tab it, but of course I hadn't.

I did find quite an interesting article I'd saved about the Stocksbridge Bypass incidents, though.

https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/urban-legendary/road-ghosts/

Dunno it it's previously been referenced on this thread?

 

[Quercus]

Oh yes, and I just found this link too, on a case which I don't think has been mentioned on here before, but is a well-known legend locally - the M1 Phantom Hitchhiker.

https://digitalfilmarchive.net/media/the-m1-ghost-story-2136

That's the M1 between Belfast and Lisburn - not the M1 between London and Leeds.

Might be of interest, as I think someone had commented upthread that the thing with phantom hitchhiker tales was that they always seemed to happen to the archetypal 'friend of a friend' - never the speaker themselves.

Well, the above link's an archived local news interview with a man who claimed to have picked up a hitchhiker on the motorway one night, and who then vanished from his car moments later.

I transcribed the interview a while ago; there's a few discrepancies about dates (which seems to relate to the archive?) but it's quite interesting nonetheless.

The M1 Ghost Story

Location: M1 Motorway, outside Belfast

Date: 1962 stated [but M1 opened July 1962, and sighting reportedly occurred on 31 December – description claims ‘two years after opening’ – so 1964/65?]

Interviewer: Charles Witherspoon (CW) – News Reporter, Ulster Television (UTV)

Interviewee: William Nesbitt (WN)

Duration: 5m 14s

DFA Description:

Restrain your hearty laughter and hear a sober tale of a ghost that hitchhikes on Northern Ireland’s new motorway.

Just two years after the opening of Northern Ireland’s first motorway legends have already begun to take root. Join Charles Witherspoon on the M1 flyover as he interviews William Nesbitt for Ulster Television news about his roadside psychic experience. This encounter with a ghostly hitchhiker is not Mr Nesbitt’s only tale of telekinesis, judge for yourself as he testifies to the viewers at home.

DFA Notes:

The M1 is Northern Ireland’s first and longest motorway. An urban myth was circulated that the straight sections of the M1 were built so that the US Air Force could use them as supplementary runways if war broke out with the Soviet Union. Plans for the motorway were announced in 1946 but work only began in 1959. The first stretch opened without ceremony on 10th July 1962. The RUC instigated a vigorous campaign to educate people on how to use the new motorway. Northern Ireland remained free for years from the 70 mph speed limit that was introduced in the UK. This material is courtesy of the UTV Archive.

Transcript:

CW (voiceover):

The M1 – Ulster’s new, or fairly new, motorway. A quick way of getting from Belfast to Lisburn and, in time to come, to the heart of our province.

CW (to camera):

But, new as it is, legends have already begun to spring up about the M1. For the past month, there has been a legend about a ghost appearing on this road. Now is that true, or is it false?

Well, Mr William Nesbitt is one of the most sensible, down-to-earth people I know, and on New Year’s Eve he was driving along this road. Now, to restrain your hearty laughter, let me tell you that Mr Nesbitt is a teetotaller.

CW (turning to WN):

Mr Nesbitt, what happened?

WN:

It was just about a quarter to twelve and I was coming down on – you can see it from here, about a quarter mile up the road – and a girl was walking on the hardcore. I pulled in knowing that she shouldn’t have been on, hoping to give her a lift. She got into the car with me. I didn’t speak to her until I got back onto the… the M-way again, and when she got in to the… or, when I spoke to her, I asked if she wanted a lift, if she wanted a telephone. She made no reply. I glanced round at her – but she wasn’t there.

CW:

Well now, you opened the door, and she got into the car?

WN:

Yes.

CW:

And you felt nothing unusual about it?

WN:

Nothing unusual, no – except the car got very cold at that stage. And remained cold, until she disappeared.

CW:

How long would you say this girl was in the car with you, altogether?

WN:

I would say approximately two to three minutes.

CW:

And what age would she be, roughly?

WN:

Between eight – late teens, early twenties. Quite an attractive looking girl she was, from what I could see – absolutely full, there was no ghostly look about her. Not transparent or anything, absolutely full.

CW:

Well, did you sense anything unusual at the time?

WN:

Not at that time, with the exception of the intense coldness in the car, at that stage.

CW:

How long did you say she was with you?

WN:

Say, about two to three minutes.

CW:

Could you see her all the time she was there?

WN:

Oh yes. Yes I could. I could even – I could even distinguish that she had on a grey-green suit and like a dark coat, while she was sitting beside me in the car.

CW:

Well, how did you know that, with the car being dark?

WN:

Well, I had the dashlight – was on, I could see from the dashlight what she had on.

CW (nodding):

Well you had no – she didn’t ask you to stop?

WN:

No, she didn’t ask me to stop; she was more walking along a road, with a view of looking around as if she – as if she knew somebody was coming, or somebody was behind, going to lift her. More the type of, say: well, if you know me, give me a lift; and if you don’t, go on ahead, type of thing. If you wish to stop, stop; if you don’t… [nod of head].

CW:

When she got into the car, did she shut the car door?

WN:

No, I shut the car door. She didn’t make any attempt to shut - to close the door, and I had to reach over and pull the door closed.

CW:

And there was no possibility during that time of her getting out of the car in a natural way?

WN:

None – none whatsoever.

CW:

How did you feel, after it?

WN:

Well, I was shocked I suppose, after it. Very much so. I - only one thing I wished, I had have had wings on the car rather than just having four wheels!

CW:

Um – have you had any other psychic experiences, at all?

WN:

Yes, one or two, which I pass no remarks on. One was in 1948 in South Africa – uh, my father appeared to me on board the ship that I was on. I learned about a week or so after that he had just passed away at that particular time; about five past midnight when he appeared; spoke; spoke back… that was one of them. Other one was on the High Donaghadee [to] Bangor Road; that can be verified by a witness. We were motoring home from Donaghadee one Sunday evening, just about half past eleven, and this friend suddenly said, “look out, there’s a man in front of the car” – but I knew it wasn’t, because I – because I’d already seen that man before.

CW:

He’d appeared to you a number of times?

WN:

He had, yes. Twice before.

CW:

So the experience doesn’t alarm you now?

WN:

Not now, not any more, no.

CW (turning back to camera):

Well, there it is. Mr Nesbitt, I think you’ll agree, is a solid, sensible man. Now, I’ve been talking to the psychic research people about this and they tell me that this form of what they call telekinesis – someone appearing – is quite common. And they have also assured me that in this kind of manifestation, there is absolutely nothing to be frightened of. These are very gentle ghosts indeed. They are not the malicious poltergeists, who bang doors and throw furniture and crockery about. So if you should be driving along the M1; you should pick anyone up; they should disappear – don’t be frightened, because there’s nothing to be frightened of.

https://digitalfilmarchive.net/media/the-m1-ghost-story-2136

 

[SimonBurchell]

Funny, I've just been rereading Sean Tudor's book too, and was also wondering if there'd been anything more reported in the area since the book was written.

According to his (recently set up) blog, he's been writing some fiction for younger readers since finishing the Bluebell Hill book, but has 'two new projects' in the pipeline - so might be interesting to see if he's exploring this area of study any further.

https://seantudor.net/about/

I seem to recall stumbling on quite a comprehensive website on the Bluebell Hill legend, including submissions of supposed odd phenomena experienced, which I thought was curated by Sean - possibly before, or maybe just after, the book was published - but I can't seem to find any trace of it online now.

I'll try some more Google-fu another time and see if I can find anything more - it'd be a shame if the plug had been pulled on this particular resource.

Sean Tudor used to have the website www.roadghosts.com but unfortunately the website is now defunct. If my memory serves me right, it is available via the wayback machine internet archive.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Just had a trawl through my browser bookmarks in case I'd been smart enough to tab it, but of course I hadn't.

I did find quite an interesting article I'd saved about the Stocksbridge Bypass incidents, though.

https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/urban-legendary/road-ghosts/

Dunno it it's previously been referenced on this thread?

You can listen to him discuss his work on the Stocksbridge bypass here:

https://audioboom.com/posts/7883192...e-37-stocksbridge-bypass-with-dr-david-clarke

He investigated this case in person was able to tape an interview with the two Police officers and despite being rather sceptical by nature he can’t explain what happened to them.

 

[CALGACUS03]

Sean Tudor, of course, is a forum member under the name @Hermes. I'm sorry that his website is gone - it was a wonderful resource, not just for the Blue Bell Hill sitings but for road ghosts nation-wide.
Hopefully he can get his marvellous material back online sometime soon.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

One thought I have had as regards phantom hitchhikers is linked to some folklore Jon Downes of the CFZ wrote about which in turn links into folklore about bridges.

Downes related how when Devon farmers were herding farm animals across a bridge, for example sheep, they would notice a creature masquerading as a sheep (but that on closer inspection evidently was not) and that would follow the flock across (or attempt to). I can't find the article online (any thoughts, Lord Mongrove?), however it is part of wider folklore about bridges and in particular the 'far folk/little people", for example:

"The Fairy Bridge can be found in the Isle of Man. It is a small bridge located between Santon and Malew. Superstition says that you should greet the fairies before crossing the bridge and it is considered unlucky not to greet them. Buses even make an announcement as they pass the bridge telling their passengers to honour tradition and say hi to the fairies."

https://www.tonywardfurniture.co.uk/blog/garden-bridges-in-myths-and-legends

"The humanlike troll maidens are drawn to bridges and spend much time sitting or standing on a bridge if there is one close to where they dwell. Bridges are places of transition. They span a stream or a river but also the air itself. When a troll maiden sits on a bridge, she is in a place particularly suited to her own state of being -- a link between the worlds. Water rushes under a bridge, flowing away to unknown places, speeding by even faster than a troll maiden's time in the world, and when she sits still with her feet above the flowing water, she can feel still and safe, serene and eternal."

https://www.terriwindling.com/blog/dartmoor/page/2/

[my bold]

So my thought was, is there a link between where phantom hitchhikers manifest and disappear and bridges? That is, is some 'other' using the vehicle in order to transit across the liminality presented by a bridge? Just a thought...

 

[Earthly oddity]

Sean Tudor used to have the website www.roadghosts.com but unfortunately the website is now defunct. If my memory serves me right, it is available via the wayback machine internet archive.

Weridly and randomly enough, someone I know on facebook posted that they had been to Bluebell Hill for a walk. They were freaked out when someone told them about the ghostly goings on....Another person I know posted photos from the book by Sean Tudor and said there are ghost walks in the area!

I don't know why the person chose to go there - I just think they picked it out as a nice place to go....

 

[SimonBurchell]

Weridly and randomly enough, someone I know on facebook posted that they had been to Bluebell Hill for a walk. They were freaked out when someone told them about the ghostly goings on....Another person I know posted photos from the book by Sean Tudor and said there are ghost walks in the area!

I don't know why the person chose to go there - I just think they picked it out as a nice place to go....

It is an interesting place to take a walk... one of the few places in the southeast with megaliths.

 

[Quercus]

So my thought was, is there a link between where phantom hitchhikers manifest and disappear and bridges? That is, is some 'other' using the vehicle in order to transit across the liminality presented by a bridge? Just a thought...

That is an interesting concept...

With regard to the Belfast M1 hitchhiker above, I'm still trying to work out exactly whereabouts along the motorway the 'passenger' was picked up, and where they disappeared.

But from the information I've gathered so far, both from the recorded account above and other sources, it seems that the pick-up and disappearance points could have spanned the M1 bridge across the upper reaches of the River Lagan.

Worth doing some more digging here, I think...

 

[Quercus]

Sean Tudor used to have the website www.roadghosts.com but unfortunately the website is now defunct. If my memory serves me right, it is available via the wayback machine internet archive.

Sean Tudor, of course, is a forum member under the name @Hermes. I'm sorry that his website is gone - it was a wonderful resource, not just for the Blue Bell Hill sitings but for road ghosts nation-wide.
Hopefully he can get his marvellous material back online sometime soon.

That's sad that the site seems to have been taken down - I remember it as being a very well-organised site, including numerous accounts from eyewitnesses to this sort of phenomena.

Wayback Machine seems to have last archived the title page on 12th August last year, so it hasn't been down a very long time.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210812150813/http://www.roadghosts.com/

This reminds me of why, long ago, I obsessively copy-pasted text from websites like this into Word documents, and then printed them out - so there would be some physical way of accessing the information, should the website suddenly vanish with a wet pop.

Unfortunately, these paper files didn't survive a major clearout some years back, and the digital files ended up corrupted on a faulty USB drive...

Here's hoping Roadghosts.com reappears in revamped form before too long.

 

[RuthRoperWylde]

I thought I would give this thread a kick - does anyone know if there have been any recent reports out of Blue Bell Hill over the last 5 years or so since Sean Tudor published his excellent book? And I don't mean the snowstorm photo from 2019, which is obviously just a road sign. I have just finished re-reading his book, again, (it really is well researched and fantastically creepy), and wondered if the place was still actively generating reports.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who looked at that photo in the snow and thought - for god's sake people, it's clearly a road sign!

 

[RuthRoperWylde]

I have a tale to add to this thread. I think it counts as a road ghost (just)

This happened sometime in the 1950s. My father’s older brother, My uncle John, was cycling home on a push bike after visiting his girlfriend at the time. She lived in Knighton in Leicester and he lived not far away at Wigston fields. It was evening but not terribly late. As he pedalled up the road next to St Mary’s church an elderly gentleman came out of the church gates and started crossing the road. My uncle had to brake hard to avoid hitting him. As the elderly chap reached the middle of the road my Uncle, stationary waiting for him to cross, muttered under his breath something like “Come on you silly old sod. I want to get home tonight”
The elderly bloke looked right at him, as if he had heard what my Uncle said, and then promptly vanished.
My Uncle almost shat his pants. he raced off home and almost came a cropper a couple of times.
This tale is the stuff of legend in our family. My Grandma was able to confirm the condition of my Uncle when he came home that night. He was pale and shaking. when he walked in she immediately knew something was wrong and when she asked him he just said “I think I’ve just seen a ghost“

A few years ago I asked my Uncle about what he saw that evening, and he described the gent as being “old and doddery, bent over like he had a bad back. He wore a flat cap.“

My Uncle is still with us, elderly himself now. I’ve no doubt if I asked it he could tell me about it again.

I’m presuming this is the gateway….


View attachment 42435

Hi - would you be willing to let me use this account in the latest book? I never use people's real names unless they specifically ask me to - I normally just say a witness if that's Ok with you?

 

[EnolaGaia]

Hi - would you be willing to let me use this account in the latest book? I never use people's real names unless they specifically ask me to - I normally just say a witness if that's Ok with you?

It's been a month since psychomania1973 last logged onto the forum. It may be a good idea to send a PM to prompt her that someone's posted something directed at her.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Some really interesting thoughts on what has to be my favourite Fortean phenomenon.

Genuine time-slips are of course frustratingly rare and that makes their study difficult to say the least. Forum member Ruth Roper-Wylde uncovered quite a recent case from the North of England that involved a mother driving at night and her son as a passenger, so a precious multiple witness account to begin with. For me the most intriguing aspect ofd the time-slip or glitch was that the light of the moon, carriageway lights and car headlights each became very defined and arced towards the ground in a manner akin to a rainbow, which for me is highly suggestive of a gravitational force at work.

[just having a look to see which of Ruth's books this appeared in...]

Edit: sorry posted on wrong thread

 

[Sabresonic]

Some really interesting thoughts on what has to be my favourite Fortean phenomenon.

Genuine time-slips are of course frustratingly rare and that makes their study difficult to say the least. Forum member Ruth Roper-Wylde uncovered quite a recent case from the North of England that involved a mother driving at night and her son as a passenger, so a precious multiple witness account to begin with. For me the most intriguing aspect ofd the time-slip or glitch was that the light of the moon, carriageway lights and car headlights each became very defined and arced towards the ground in a manner akin to a rainbow, which for me is highly suggestive of a gravitational force at work.

[just having a look to see which of Ruth's books this appeared in...]

Edit: sorry posted on wrong thread

I wonder what causes them.

 

[Floyd]

Hi Ruth. I'm not sure if you know of this one;

'There are the ghostly phantoms of Shady Lane, near Great Longstone (Derbyshire) who frighten the life out people, literally it seems. At twilight or just before dawn, travellers might be faced with 12 headless men who carry an empty coffin. The story goes, if you see the grim procession, you will be the next person to occupy the coffin'.

 

[RuthRoperWylde]

Hi Ruth. I'm not sure if you know of this one;

'There are the ghostly phantoms of Shady Lane, near Great Longstone (Derbyshire) who frighten the life out people, literally it seems. At twilight or just before dawn, travellers might be faced with 12 headless men who carry an empty coffin. The story goes, if you see the grim procession, you will be the next person to occupy the coffin'.

View attachment 57689

I have heard of that one, yes. I haven't heard of any recent sightings down there though, so I think it is a much older tale.