The Hanging Tree
My primary school had a large L-shaped playing field looking onto farmland. The smaller arm of the L was hidden from the school buildings by a tall line of trees so natually had the advantage that we little tinkers could get into mischief there without being seen. But... only the very brave would ever venture very far into the area because from there you could see The Hanging Tree on the neighbouring farm - a dead and blackened tree which stood alone in the middle of the field.
The legend was that the farmer hanged babies and children from the branches and now their ghosts haunted the area and anyone caught looking at the tree would suffer the same fate... scared me silly as a child and I never did manage to walk to the end of the field (despite many dares). Funnily enough, the tree was clearly visible from the road, but that didn't count - you had to be in the school field for the curse to work!
Sadly (?) the farm has long since been over taken by a housing estate and by-pass so the tree is no longer there.
J.
Afterthought: the building of the by-pass (part of the A40) was apparently delayed when bodies were unearthed....hmmmm.
My primary school had a large L-shaped playing field looking onto farmland. The smaller arm of the L was hidden from the school buildings by a tall line of trees so natually had the advantage that we little tinkers could get into mischief there without being seen. But... only the very brave would ever venture very far into the area because from there you could see The Hanging Tree on the neighbouring farm - a dead and blackened tree which stood alone in the middle of the field.
The legend was that the farmer hanged babies and children from the branches and now their ghosts haunted the area and anyone caught looking at the tree would suffer the same fate... scared me silly as a child and I never did manage to walk to the end of the field (despite many dares). Funnily enough, the tree was clearly visible from the road, but that didn't count - you had to be in the school field for the curse to work!
Sadly (?) the farm has long since been over taken by a housing estate and by-pass so the tree is no longer there.
J.
Afterthought: the building of the by-pass (part of the A40) was apparently delayed when bodies were unearthed....hmmmm.