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Strangeness In Pennines

A

Anonymous

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I was walking today in Edale and beyond, across the snowy hills when we got a little lost. So, we looked for other people's tracks to see if there was a path, and we started to follow what we assumed were a guy's footprints (by the size of boot and depth) and a fairly large dog. We must have followed them for about a mile, with no clear line of descent (we missed it), when we found ourselves in the frozen peat bogs and lost again. We found the tracks for a bit, but after a quarter of a mile, they just seemed to disappear. No idea if it was a ghost, but it was pretty damn strange.

Also, it might be related or not, but we kept hearing a horn every now and again, that we passed off as a train. But, it sounded nothing like a train horn. The best way I can describe it is quite deep and resonating, but sounding far off (which could just be the distance).

It might be nothing, but I thought I'd throw this at ya and see what came up! :)
 
Dunno about the footprints, but the horn sound reminds me of the Hound of the Baskervilles, where it is suggested that the baying noise heard sometimes across the moors is the sound of a bittern.

Of course, that or the Wild Hunt ;)
 
It would be interesting to know if there are any legends in that area, Walks-All-Paths, or if anyone else has experienced something similar, especially since you weren't expecting to see/hear something which was possibly strange . . .

Carole
 
BTW, welcome to the FT board, W-A-P!:hello:

Carole
 
Walks-All-Paths
Grey

Registered: Jan 2002
But I'm sure the sentiment still holds carole ;)

I know what you mean WAP, last sunday we were walking across Ruabon Mountain following another pair by about 300m, but their footprints kept on appearing and reappearing, I figured that they were jumping across the boggy little bits so their feet didn't get wet

:)
 
Oh, bugger, and here was I congratulating myself on not having typed 2002 instead of 2003 yet . . .

:blush:

Could the disappearance of the footprints be explained by melting snow, WAP?

And if it were a calm day maybe the 'horn' sound could be a car horn, carried over a long distance on the still air?

Carole
 
Well, the snow wasn't falling heavily enough to cover tracks, and the snow that had already fallen was crisp and clean enough to see any deviations like jumps etc. We were in the peat bogs, and there was no where to deviate to! It was just a big expanse of virgin snow covered ground, that's what made it so odd. No rocks, no small gulleys, just a plain of snow. That's why I couldn't see it being because it had melted, as if it wasn't for the tracks we'd be forging the path so to speak.


Hound? *gulp* That thought ran through my head. Is there a beast up there?

I know that pretty nearby there are aircraft hauntings, and supposedly one guy was killed walking his dog by a crashing plane. Saddlebole I think that was. Need to do more research unless anyone can turn anything up.
 
Walks-All-Paths said:
I know that pretty nearby there are aircraft hauntings, and supposedly one guy was killed walking his dog by a crashing plane. Saddlebole I think that was. Need to do more research unless anyone can turn anything up.

:eek!!!!: WELL, THERE YOU ARE THEN . . . !!!!

Carole
 
My first thought: Red Bull. It gives you wings.

My second:



Exactly.

Um, could this guy and his dog trod in a really deep slushy part of bog, and on lifting the feet, pulled up a load of mud with them so no indentation was made. Thus the new snow settled on top as if nothing had passed?

Yeah I agree, second thought was a better explaination wannit?
 
The best things I could find were about the ghost planes, no phantom walkers.

http://www.demon.co.uk/dayco/ghost.html

And also someone has a website with a cam focusing on the valley:


http://www.hauntedvalley.com.

So, its a mystery so far. The ground was completely covered in virgin, untouched snow all around where we were walking along this person's trail. No boggy bits (they were iced over) that could use that explanation. I was out all day and it didn't snow until the late afternoon, after we lost the trail, and it wasn't enough to cover a trail that quickly. I guess it will remain a mystery unless someone has a similar experience.

Oh and Carole, thanks for the belated yet very appreciated welcome!
 
hmm

Thats pretty spooky! I take it you found your way home...
 
Yeah, after much wandering about trying to pick up the trail we found a trig point and got our bearings. Then we tried to make our way downhill as quickly as possible as the snow was coming in. True, most of the descent was done on my backside as it was so uneven, but it was quite funny after what we had just experienced.


In truth, I think the horn was the spookiest thing. All the way up and across we were joking about being chased by orcs or ringwraiths, and "what would you do if a horn rang out?". Looks like I should be careful what I say! o_O

It could have been a horn from a factory or something, but although that sounded plausible, that didn't sound like that sort of thing.
 
Maybe isolated snowfall covered up parts of the trail (talk to StClair about the unevenness of precipitation :) ). As for the horn, do you get many hunts in that area? Those horns can carry quite well.
 
reminds me of the 'jumping jack' story. of the demon type thing that would leave tracks in the snow from roof top to roof top. one of the old UL in liverpool parents use to frighten their kids into behaving. read in a book in school (can't remember which one sorry) that this UL is all over the place (i remember new york being mentioned) and stemmed from (i think) i circus performer going crazy and killing some folk.
i know it's a bit off the mark but it just reminded me.
 
You took a trig bearing WAP what was the map ref? There are stories about Black Dogs in the Pennines, there is even a pub of that name in Belmont.
 
*Smacks himself in head*

I never thought of that! My friend was the mapreader, as he's been up there before, so I never thought to ask. I could see if he had an idea though. Thing is, we were lost at that point, having over run our descent by about four miles, so I'm not too sure.

Black Dogs eh? Are any associated with having walkers with em?
 
Walks-All-Paths said:
...we kept hearing a horn every now and again, that we passed off as a train. But, it sounded nothing like a train horn. The best way I can describe it is quite deep and resonating, but sounding far off (which could just be the distance).

The Edale, Kinder Scout area is riddled with legends - including stories of black dogs and some fairly recent credible reports of ABC's. On top of that you've got ghostly Roman soldiers, phantom aircraft and earthlights. It was also the site of a decisive 7th century battle between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria.

It's also pretty dangerous. The tops of Kinder Scout and Bleaklow are very boggy in places and with a covering of snow can be pretty lethal. I once had the joy of having to extricate myself and its amazing how lonely the place gets when your up to your waist in shite and there's not a single solitary soul in sight. (If you do get stuck in such a situation, take your pack off, bring it around to your front and kind of push yourself up using it as a platform. Drop back down and push the pack forward repeating the process - you'll move forward slowly. He said patronisingly and digressing completely from the subect - like you wouldn't know what to do in such a situation).

Er, what were we on about? Oh aye. With reference to your horn (if you'll excuse the expression) there was a report in 1925 which stated that farmers in the Edale area were hunting an animal "of enormous size, black in colour and possessing a howl like a foghorn".

Ooh, er!
 
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To quote myself from elsewhere:

(Now, I'm going to have to think hard about where that 1925 story comes from - I see I didn't indicate a source.)

From David Clarke's, Supernatural Peak District - quoting the London Daily Express.

(Five minutes to trace a 16 year old reference - come on, someone throw me a bloody biscuit.)
 
someone throw me a bloody biscuit.
Catch!
jaffacake.jpg
 
According to this site:

https://worldofwolfson.co.uk/2016/03/04/mystery-beasts-of-the-peak-part-one/

... Fort himself mentioned the 1920's-era Edale business in Lo! as follows...

London Daily Express, Oct.14 1925 – the district of Edale, Derbyshire. Something “black in colour and of enormous size” was slaughtering sheep at night and “leaving the carcasses strewn about with legs, shoulders, and heads torn off; broken backs and pieces of flesh ripped off.” Many hunting parties had gone out but had been unable to track the animal. “People in many places refuse to leave their homes after dark, and keep their children safe in the house.” If something had mysteriously appeared, it then quite mysteriously disappeared.
 
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