Sprinting Spooks? (Swift-Running Ghosts / Entities / Figures)

[Spookdaddy]

...He was driving along, he says, going about 35 MPH, past the Casa Del Rio apartment complex. As he was passing the front parking lot, a girl appeared just at the edge of the curb, running straight for his car. He barely had time to register this and started to hit his brakes, when she appeared to run straight into the passenger side window. Then - nothing. She was just gone. He turned the car around and drove back to check, but there was no sign of the girl or anyone...

Thanks for the story, Ulalume.

I'd be interested to know if your husband remembers hearing anything during the incident. I was once standing right next to someone who absent mindedly stepped off the kerb into the side of a moving van, and, despite him being uninjured, it made one hell of a noise. (I've also seen someone do it in central Manchester - this time I was quite a way away, but the sound was still impressive.)

 

[Ulalume]

Thanks for the story, Ulalume.

I'd be interested to know if your husband remembers hearing anything during the incident. I was once standing right next to someone who absent mindedly stepped off the kerb into the side of a moving van, and, despite him being uninjured, it made one hell of a noise. (I've also seen someone do it in central Manchester - this time I was quite a way away, but the sound was still impressive.)

To the best of his recollection, he says, there was no noise. At least nothing that impressed itself on his memory.

As you say, it would no doubt have made a racket if someone had actually run into the side of his car. A thump if nothing else. But he can't remember any sound out of the ordinary.

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

Old friend of mine - and he is the most un-woo, sceptical, frighteningly intelligent person I ever knew - saw the Stocksbridge ghost, or ghosts in his case as there were 2 of them. Interesting thing is, he had no idea he'd even seen a 'ghost' until years later when he watched a documentary and saw mention of it. He saw a monk and a boy and thought it was odd so it stuck in his mind, but no mention of moving quickly or anything that marked them out as anything other than solid, real people, at the time. It was years later he saw about it on TV. He was brought up catholic, and he reckoned that's why he took it in his stride when he saw a random monk at the roadside!

The fast moving thing though puts me in mind of Spring Heeled Jack. Something about the sheer speed of it is what makes it so terrifying. Ridley Scott realised this with his sped-up fights in Gladiator. Something extra unsettling about things you have seen a million times, at a different speed..?

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

Just re-reading this old post of mine and I went to have a quick look up of the Stocksbridge ghosts. Accounts I can find with an admittedly quick online search may not be the most comprehensive but what it appears to be is - either a group of kids playing or a monk on his own. But my old friend - who lived in Sheffield at the time - said he saw a monk with a boy. I wonder if anyone else has seen that?

He would never have realised he saw "ghosts" if he hadn't seen a documentary about it some years later. He thought it was maybe unusual to see a monk by the road at night-time but didn't think for a second he was looking at anything other than solid, real people.

I'll try and find more info, to see if I can find anyone else mentioning a monk and a boy seen together.

Lost contact with friend years ago. He has quite a distinctive name but I can't find him on social media, and am in contact with one or two old mutual friends on FB but they also lost contact with him. So I can't just FB message him and ask about this. Would be very interested to know if he was the only person to see the monk not alone.

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

Update: Just went to check online and my old friend is still invisible. I'd dearly love to find him again and am certain I could find him if he had a overt social media presence as his name was unusual. He was adopted though and used the surname of his adoptive family at that time, so I'm wondering if he reverted back to his birthname (which I can't remember now, as I last saw him around 20 years ago and he maybe only told me it once or twice). Only have 2 mutual old friends I still have on FB and neither have him or anyone who could be him, in their FB friends.

Wish I'd not lost contact as we were such good friends, years ago, we could finish eachother's sentences (despite the fact he was born the wrong side of the Pennines. He was a Manc living in Sheffield at the time he saw the monk and boy and IIRC, said he'd made that journey numerous times).

Have still never seen another public version of his account of what he saw at Stocksbridge or anyone else with a similar account. I remember him saying he didn't even think he'd seen a "ghost" til years later when he saw a documentary. Makes you wonder how many other good accounts of this one(or any one) are out there, that haven't come to light as the person didn't realise the true nature of what they'd seen.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Update: Just went to check online and my old friend is still invisible. I'd dearly love to find him again and am certain I could find him if he had a overt social media presence as his name was unusual. He was adopted though and used the surname of his adoptive family at that time, so I'm wondering if he reverted back to his birthname (which I can't remember now, as I last saw him around 20 years ago and he maybe only told me it once or twice). Only have 2 mutual old friends I still have on FB and neither have him or anyone who could be him, in their FB friends.

Wish I'd not lost contact as we were such good friends, years ago, we could finish eachother's sentences (despite the fact he was born the wrong side of the Pennines. He was a Manc living in Sheffield at the time he saw the monk and boy and IIRC, said he'd made that journey numerous times).

Have still never seen another public version of his account of what he saw at Stocksbridge or anyone else with a similar account. I remember him saying he didn't even think he'd seen a "ghost" til years later when he saw a documentary. Makes you wonder how many other good accounts of this one(or any one) are out there, that haven't come to light as the person didn't realise the true nature of what they'd seen.

Hope you can find him

The best account of the Stocksbridge ghosts saga is from Dr David Clarke who was quickly on the scene and interviewed the Police officers who experienced the ghost/s and banging on there patrol car:

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

Normally skeptical on paranormal matters, Clarke remains open-minded about what went on but does dispel some of the later 'urban legends' that grew up around these incidents. You can listen to the Police officers being interviewed at the end of the podcast.

His blog post on Stocksbridge here:

"Today the story of the Stocksbridge bypass ghost is an established part of the living folklore of the area. Pearoyd Bridge, where the sightings of the security guards and PC Ellis were made, is known as ‘the Ghost Bridge’ and has become the scene of regular ghost-hunts by local enthusiasts. Stocksbridge and its haunted bypass has already entered the lists of haunted locations spawned by the ghost-hunting literature and many people have visited the road and had ‘experiences’ of their own. How many of these are ‘real’ and how many are the products of imagination, fed by what has been read or heard, is impossible to say."

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

Some high-strangeness accounts in the comments:

"Nothing as good as other comments, but last year (2012) September I think, me and my adult son Martin were on our way home from Sheffield speedway. It would be around 10 pm. We live in Millhouse Green to the west of Penistone and use the lanes from Stocksbridge whiich takes us up Pearoyd Lane and over the bypass. On this particular evening,(it was dark), as we wemt round the bend heading uphill, I saw what appeared to be a shipping container blocking the road over the bridge. I instictively let go of the accelerator, then it was gone. Before I had time to say anything, my son said ‘what the f was that?’ Who knows? Definitely something "

And this:

"Hi,
My name is Mick Lee, I am quoted in the article above. I am still MD of Constant Security. I just thought I would confirm that what is written about the security guards is perfectly true. I have never personally experienced any phenomena. What I can say is that the experiences of my colleagues who did has been life changing and negative to them.

Whatever happened, it effectively wrecked their lives for a number of years. I appreciate the cynicism such events engender, I would normally share it. In this case however, something happened that was and remains inexplicable."

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

Hope you can find him

The best account of the Stocksbridge ghosts saga is from Dr David Clarke who was quickly on the scene and interviewed the Police officers who experienced the ghost/s and banging on there patrol car:

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

Normally skeptical on paranormal matters, Clarke remains open-minded about what went on but does dispel some of the later 'urban legends' that grew up around these incidents. You can listen to the Police officers being interviewed at the end of the podcast.

His blog post on Stocksbridge here:

"Today the story of the Stocksbridge bypass ghost is an established part of the living folklore of the area. Pearoyd Bridge, where the sightings of the security guards and PC Ellis were made, is known as ‘the Ghost Bridge’ and has become the scene of regular ghost-hunts by local enthusiasts. Stocksbridge and its haunted bypass has already entered the lists of haunted locations spawned by the ghost-hunting literature and many people have visited the road and had ‘experiences’ of their own. How many of these are ‘real’ and how many are the products of imagination, fed by what has been read or heard, is impossible to say."

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

Some high-strangeness accounts in the comments:

"Nothing as good as other comments, but last year (2012) September I think, me and my adult son Martin were on our way home from Sheffield speedway. It would be around 10 pm. We live in Millhouse Green to the west of Penistone and use the lanes from Stocksbridge whiich takes us up Pearoyd Lane and over the bypass. On this particular evening,(it was dark), as we wemt round the bend heading uphill, I saw what appeared to be a shipping container blocking the road over the bridge. I instictively let go of the accelerator, then it was gone. Before I had time to say anything, my son said ‘what the f was that?’ Who knows? Definitely something "

And this:

"Hi,
My name is Mick Lee, I am quoted in the article above. I am still MD of Constant Security. I just thought I would confirm that what is written about the security guards is perfectly true. I have never personally experienced any phenomena. What I can say is that the experiences of my colleagues who did has been life changing and negative to them.

Whatever happened, it effectively wrecked their lives for a number of years. I appreciate the cynicism such events engender, I would normally share it. In this case however, something happened that was and remains inexplicable."

Fascinating links, thank you!

I'd forgotten the bypass opened in the late 80s, which narrows down the timeframe a bit as I was first told this story somewhere round 1998 or 9. And I forget when my friend had lived in Sheffield (it was before I knew him) but it would have been a few years before he told me the story, maybe even the back end of the 80s. But anyway, a comparatively new road when he had his experience and he hadn't heard any local lore as he didn't grow up round there and only heard the story a few years after he'd seen what he'd seen. But anyway, interesting because I think in my head I'd assumed the road was a bit older at the point people had their experiences.

Mr Lee's quote is so interesting and lends more credibility. I can vouch for my old mate. He was a logical thinker (programmer IRL), not prone to flights of fancy, very down to earth and also very credible. His mind didn't immediately rush to a supernatural explanation for the weird (night-time IIRC) sighting. He was one of a handful of people I have ever known whose word I'd believe.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Fascinating links, thank you!

I'd forgotten the bypass opened in the late 80s, which narrows down the timeframe a bit as I was first told this story somewhere round 1998 or 9. And I forget when my friend had lived in Sheffield (it was before I knew him) but it would have been a few years before he told me the story, maybe even the back end of the 80s. But anyway, a comparatively new road when he had his experience and he hadn't heard any local lore as he didn't grow up round there and only heard the story a few years after he'd seen what he'd seen. But anyway, interesting because I think in my head I'd assumed the road was a bit older at the point people had their experiences.

Mr Lee's quote is so interesting and lends more credibility. I can vouch for my old mate. He was a logical thinker (programmer IRL), not prone to flights of fancy, very down to earth and also very credible. His mind didn't immediately rush to a supernatural explanation for the weird (night-time IIRC) sighting. He was one of a handful of people I have ever known whose word I'd believe.

David Clarke couldn't find evidence of there ever having being a monastery in the area of the encounters, however author and researcher @RuthRoperWylde has made the point that people in the past wore outer clothing that resembles a monk's habit and therefore a ghost sighting of a monk isn't necessarily a monk but rather it could be someone wearing a long, hooded, cloak-like garment.

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

David Clarke couldn't find evidence of there ever having being a monastery in the area of the encounters, however author and researcher @RuthRoperWylde has made the point that people in the past wore outer clothing that resembles a monk's habit and therefore a ghost sighting of a monk isn't necessarily a monk but rather it could be someone wearing a long, hooded, cloak-like garment.

True. And my mate was brought up catholic so monks might be the first thing to spring to mind when he saw whatever he saw.

Would be a standard medieval outfit (and undyed, like a monk's, if you were poor). Country people still wore cloaks well into the 19thc too, if they were working class (did a load of research about the 19thc trope of the pedlar/countrywoman in a red hooded cloak, long after urban people were just wearing overcoats. Men's cloaks might have been less colourful).

ETA: Might be no monasteries/minsters etc nearby but it could also be on the route of a monk's trod? The monks were seriously involved in the medieval wool industry in the North of England especially and routinely travelled between monasteries, far flung grange farms (often owning farms maybe 100 miles away thanks to bequests) and to their woolhouses in cities. There was, for example, a big woolhouse in York where the wool from many Yorkshire Cistercian monasteries was sent to be processed and sold all over Europe. Some monasteries owned taverns in cities where the wool business was conducted - and large amoiunts of raw wool were bought and sold in Yorkshire pubs, a whole network of them, right down into the 19thc, following on from the medieval pattern. Although many orders were strict and monks were (meant to) stay within the confines of the monastery, certain amongst them would be allowed to travel widely to conduct trade or ensure the safe passage of their wool. I think some monks' paths are well known but others, now forgotten. Some may have gone along the line of roads that still exist and others, not..? So it could be that this area was on the route between monasteries or monastery and farms/patrons/customers..?

 

[Fanari_Lloyd]

certain amongst them would be allowed to travel widely to conduct trade or ensure the safe passage of their wool. I think some monks' paths are well known but others, now forgotten. Some may have gone along the line of roads that still exist and others, not..? So it could be that this area was on the route between monasteries or monastery and farms/patrons/customers..?

Possibly lay brothers?
They might accompany the abbot or another member of the community on a journey, travel to markets and fairs to buy or sell produce on the community’s behalf, negotiate with merchants – especially regarding the sale of the abbey’s wool – and mediate in other ways between the monastery and the outside world.

From here

 

[Steven]

What is key to many effective scenes in numerous, good ghost stories? Arguably, it is tension (and our deep unease regarding the continuance and/or resolution of such tension). It's the reason why the apparition in the famous Oh, Whistle...adaptation is so unsettling: its movement is almost taunting in its effect, and the victim's illogic and uncertainty - and ours as viewers - disturbs and bewilders. There's the unresolved feeling that the apparition is somehow forever on the brink of capturing the witness, and yet the tension remains; and this irrational element, this bizarre pursuit is suggestive of nightmare more than reality. So, are the (apparent) ghost's or ghosts' movements in true-life accounts also significant? Are these appearances witnessed in dream-like states, unrecognised by the experiencers at the time of the incidents?

 

[Spookdaddy]

I probably kind of muddied the water myself here.

I brought up Stocksbridge bypass on this thread in relation to a specific encounter which allegedly included the elements of odd and rapid movements.

For more general Stocksbridge related stuff there's a dedicated Stocksbridge Bypass Ghost.

I'm not being pernickety for it's own sake - I just think the Stocksbridge events, whatever they were, deserve regular revisiting, and it would be nice the keep the thread oxygenated.

 

[SimonBurchell]

I'm not being pernickety for it's own sake - I just think the Stocksbridge events, whatever they were, deserve regular revisiting, and it would be nice the keep the thread oxygenated.

Yep, like Blue Bell Hill.

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

Possibly lay brothers?
They might accompany the abbot or another member of the community on a journey, travel to markets and fairs to buy or sell produce on the community’s behalf, negotiate with merchants – especially regarding the sale of the abbey’s wool – and mediate in other ways between the monastery and the outside world.

From here

Yes, lay and the actual ones, I think. Although only those who worked with the wool trade or co-ordinated it would leave some orders, to travel about. Also, differed at different times - as time went on and some orders or monasteries got less strict to the rule of St Benedict, I think, they started roaming around outside the confines a bit more. The Byland monks got in trouble for being out in the surrounding hills hunting, for example. I think with Cistercians, at least, whoever worked in the gatehouse would be most likely to interface with the outside world, the grange farms and wool merchants from all over Europe (much of the wool went to Flanders and Italy). They'd certainly have travelled routinely along certain paths from monasteries across to places where they met with merchants, etc, or went to nearby towns or cities if it was a monastery in a remoter place. Also on church business, I guess. So, seeing a monk in the landscape walking along may not have been an unusual sight, if you were on a path/track between a monastery and some place they regularly needed to go.

I've seen (perfectly real) monks wandering around Ampleforth village, when driving through. You do notice it's a man in medieval-ish dress kind of thing but you also don't give it a second glance as you know they're "meant" to be there.

It would be interesting to see on a map where the closest monasteries were and whether the route between them, or them and a place they might have had grange farms, mills or woolhouses, or, say a minster or cathedral, might be..? My area of knowledge starts and ends with the North Yorks Cistercians and the odd foray into smaller orders in the same kind of area - Roche is the only South Yorks one I know, but I'm guessing this place might be in the path of something. I don't know if anyone has ever done extensive research on the trods - I guess they may have used older roads and green trackways? You can occasionally find what looks like the start of a possible path, close by some monasteries, if you look hard enough. Would be fascinating to know more.

ETA: Could also have once been crossed by summat like a coffin road like they had in North Yorks and Cumbria? I just remembered accounts of a coffin, floating mid-air, seen on a lane not far from here and sure enough, it would have been the main route between two churches that were small but important in medieval times... (One being by the former site of the original palace of the Archbishop of York).

Should also add, I don't recall my mate saying anything about the monk and boy moving unusually quickly or weirdly - and that's not likely as he actually assumed they were solid, real people at the time. Interesting to realise, though, his version had elements of both the existing separate tropes - children have been heard singing and playing there and also "monks" have been seen..? But not the two together, in the canonical (sorry) accounts..?

Hopefully one day he will go somewhere online and recount it, firsthand.

 

[catseye]

I think there were small settlements of monks all over the place. There used to be some kind of monastic presence in Sinnington (outside Pickering). Sometimes I walk the old footpath that goes up out of the village up over the hill towards Pickering and can almost 'feel' the presence of monks passing alongside me (it's a very old track, the 'old way' to Pickering' and would have been walked by all those in villages to the West, heading to Pickering).