Scary but supposedly true local legends.....

[joefish]

I used to read all these big-cat stories in the Fortean Times. They were all ridiculously obscure images with exaggerated claims about the size of features in the picture, and if anyone says it's just a cat, out comes a photo of some weedy house-cat. They just called them 'Alien Big Cats' as it abbreviates to 'ABC'.

I've seen a pretty big black cat on a Surrey road embankment as I drove past but from its movement I was in no doubt that it wasn't anything more than a particularly large domestic cat. I've seen some well-fed big ones (and not just fat) before. I did write on their website as a reply, but the suggestion it was just a 'Domestically Enlarged Feline' ('DEF') didn't seem to catch on amongst the conspiracy nuts on there.

[ootini]

There was one from the area I grew up, that my own Mother insisted was true. The existence of a subterranean passage that led from the mainland to a small island just off the coast. There was even tales of there being a shrine midway with a statue of Mary or Jebus in it. Story goes it collapsed in at some stage in the 1950's and forgotten about. Further credence was given to this story by the existence of an actual entrance-way down by the sea at an old convent school on the coast near the island that was purported to be the entrance to this tunnel. However I tried to look for stories on this recently and it turns out that the entrance was indeed the way into an underground tunnel, but was for a former stately home for the servants to use when leaving the lord would not have scruffy commoners seen on his land. The story is further debunked by the fact that the sound between the mainland and island is unusually deep making the excavation of a tunnel highly impractical.

Also… A few months back I attended a session in a local pub with my countries foremost folklore specialist. The man has been collecting and recording local tall tales and stories from old folk about the county since the 60's I believe. Absolutely excellent story teller and a great night out all round. The man is an encyclopedia of these local legends, folklore and the likes.

One tale he told was pretty quirky, apparently near one of the rural air strips there is a field with two ways into it, no more than a few acres, but when entered at night is impossible to exit until dawn. Now most of these people who reported getting lost in it were using said field as a shortcut on the way home from the pub - so take form that what you will.

Another tale he told was about a reputed cure for a tooth ache which involves stealing a skull from a cemetery at midnight and pulling one of its teeth out with your own. Story goes about a large burly local from some rural town who after complaining of an ache with some friends down the pub was dared to go to the local cemetery and bring back a skull to test the tale. He left and returned later with the skull only to chicken out of actually pulling out the tooth. The man died the next day. Apparently something about going into a cemetery at midnight, stealing a skull and NOT biting out one of the teeth.

[greenberet79]

I met Purple AKi a few years ago - he asked my mate if he could feel his bicep as we'd just come out of a body building/sports nutrition shop. My mate had no idea who he was and let him

There was a rumour round ours when i was little about the "Oxo twins" - two brothers who'd get you and play Oxo (noughts and crosses) on your ar*e! Don't think it was true.

As for the others - I'm afraid there's no such things as ghosts.

[themightymartin]

Found this. Bizarre but it made me chuckle. http://youtu.be/3YAL4QFXDRI

[SJ_Sathanas]

I can recall ghost stories relating to the A666 between Bolton and Blackburn. Can't remember the specifics tho.

[JetSetWilly]

There were a couple from were i used to live. One was that a certain time of year at midnight, you can hear a horse and carriage go down the road that I used to live down. As well as that, you can hear a womans footsteps, supposedly the woman was being chased by said carriage, and fell into the river at the bottom. Another is of a supposed underground passage between the Kings Head and Queens Head pubs in North Weald. One other one, is on the backroads is a tree that used to be used for hanging, and at a certain time of night, you can see a body swinging from said tree.

[themightymartin]

I can recall ghost stories relating to the A666 between Bolton and Blackburn. Can't remember the specifics tho.

I've read about that. Strange shadows along the roadside, drivers inexplicably losing control of their cars, people reporting time loss and not remembering any of their journey and an unusually high suicide rate on a couple of the bridges.

[joefish]

The existence of a subterranean passage that led from the mainland to a small island just off the coast. ...

Whereabouts in the country?
Down in Cornwall, tin mines on the coast used to go so far down they would then extend out under the sea. It's where the first steam-powered beam engines were invented, to pump the mines dry.

[ootini]

The existence of a subterranean passage that led from the mainland to a small island just off the coast. ...

Whereabouts in the country?
Down in Cornwall, tin mines on the coast used to go so far down they would then extend out under the sea. It's where the first steam-powered beam engines were invented, to pump the mines dry.

The existence of a subterranean passage that led from the mainland to a small island just off the coast. ...

Whereabouts in the country?
Down in Cornwall, tin mines on the coast used to go so far down they would then extend out under the sea. It's where the first steam-powered beam engines were invented, to pump the mines dry.

Cool. Cornwall is a spot I really must get round to visiting.

The area I'm referring to is actually an Island off the coast of Dublin in Ireland called Dalkey Island. Its just off the coast in a pretty well-to-do area in the south end of Dublin Bay. A few days after I typed the first post up up I quizzed my mother on it as she went to school beside where the supposed entrance was and claims her friends used to dare each other to go into it and see how far into it they'd go. She insists that there was a religious statue of some sort in there. But at that stage the tunnel had collapsed in midway through. Going to quiz my Grandad next time I see him as he also went to school nearby back in the 1930's.

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On an aside the little island with the lighthouse thing on it behind the main one is called The Muglins and was apparently a spot where the maratime authorities used to hang pirates back in the day. The island itself has a Martello tower and Gun battery on it which were built in case Napolean Invaded and there is also the remains of a church from the 9th century.

[joefish]

There are student rumours of passageways between buildings under Southampton Uni - as far as I know, there are service tunnels for pipework but they're all understandably kept off limits to students.

Our church, Woodford, with the ghost at the altar, had two mysterious passageways.

One was the remains of some steps that start level with one of the wider window ledges and used to go up to a small study over the main porch. The porch was re-modelled with a higher entrance, eliminating the room, though some of the stairs are still visible from inside the church.

The second is a spiral staircase set in one peculiarly thicker wall, where we used to pinch old candle stubs and explore as kids. A long time ago there was a decorated wooden screen separating the two halves of the church, with a balcony along the top for lighting candles or possibly to send a few choirboys up there. The screen was dismantled and the top of the stairs bricked up. There's now an iron gate across the bottom, too. Probably too many parents wondering why their kids were coming back from church covered in dust and dripped wax.

There's also a huge stone casket outside the main entrance. The dare is always to shift the stone lid and look inside for a skeleton. In actual fact it's empty - it's just a monument. The body is buried six feet beneath it like everyone else.

[Katzkatz]

From where I grew up, the Bluebell Hill ghost

http://www.hauntedkent.net/x0003a.aspx

Yep, my mother actually saw this. It got on a bus and sat next to her. My mother claims that she tried to talk to it, but it didn't respond. Afterwards she told the bus driver about it - and he never saw the lady in question come on the bus!

[Liamh1982]

There was one here about 20 years ago, apparently kids were being offered transfer tattoos laced with acid. There were letters from the police pinned on noticeboards stating "if your child applies one of these tattoos, they could suffer a fatal trip."

Obviously b0llocks, but we don't really deal with big cats, ghosts and touchy-feely pervs round here.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

And here I was thinking that everyone in Wales lived in fear of dragons coming after them.

[joefish]

And here I was thinking that everyone in Wales lived in fear of dragons coming after them.

Is that what they're calling DWP investigators nowadays?

[Liamh1982]

And here I was thinking that everyone in Wales lived in fear of dragons coming after them.

I can't vouch for much of the rest of the country, but Wrexham folk are a cynical bunch...