Road Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Headless Driver
Location: Oare (Wiltshire) - A345 heading towards Marlborough
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A coach and four driven by a headless figure is said to travel along this road.
Woman in White
Location: Oare (Wiltshire) - Road through the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A bus driver passing through the village was left unnerved after watching a woman dressed in white cross the road ahead of him. She disappeared suddenly.
Soldiers
Location: Oborne (Dorset) - Road heading towards Poyntington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The road between these two villages was avoided at night, as Royalists and Roundheads were thought still to fight.
Horse
Location: Odstock (Wiltshire) - Lane adjoining St Marys Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 June 2017
Further Comments: A woman in the sitting in the passenger side of a car opened her window as the vehicle left the church. Suddenly both the woman and driver heard a horse trotting alongside the vehicle, even though no animal could be seen. As the vehicle reached the main road, the trotting ceased.
Road Block
Location: Offerton (Derbyshire) - Road to village from Shatton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: A traveller along this road reported that his path was blocked by a Boggart, which refused to allow him to pass. Frightened, the man returned the way he came.
White Woman
Location: Old Catton (Norfolk) - White Woman Lane, and George Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Doomed to repeat her actions for reasons unknown, the woman in white has been seen on countless occasions in the area. A lad out on his early morning paper round saw her crossing a field, vanishing without warning.
Roman Legion
Location: Oldbury Camp (Wiltshire) - Roman road near the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: This band of Roman troops is reported to march along roads heading towards the old Iron Age camp, a standard bearer leading the way.
Headless Horseman
Location: Onecote (Staffordshire) - Road from Leek to Onecote, and Butterton Moor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This headless horseman is said to either be a murdered pedlar or a knight killed in combat with the Scots. Either way, the figure is said to be unlucky (with witnesses either dying or losing livestock) and an exorcism once performed on the phantom horseman by seven preachers failed.
Lord Wolfage
Location: Orlingbury (Northamptonshire) - Roads in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Recklessly driving his coach around the country roads, Lord Wolfage vanishes once he reaches the bridge.
Old Hitchhiker
Location: Ormskirk (Lancashire) - Road between Ormskirk and Southport, Halsall Moss area - Gregory's Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: At least two drivers along this road have looked at their rear-view mirrors and seen an old man sitting in the back of the car. The uninvited guest was described as in his seventies and wearing a flat cap.
Grey Woman
Location: Orsett (Essex) - Blacksmiths Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered by a highwayman, the woman's ghost now occasionally appears.
Vanishing Car
Location: Orston (Nottinghamshire) - A52
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 23 January 2014, 21:00h
Further Comments: An unlit car heading towards a driver and his passenger after dusk vanished just before collision. The driver said that he first thought it was his imagination, but the passenger had also witnessed the other vehicle.
Voices
Location: Otterbourne (Hampshire) - Old Forge (now a public house) and road outside
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1978-1979
Further Comments: One of the homes which was eventually converted into the pub was said to be haunted by a woman killed by a horse and coach on the road outside. A witness recalled hearing raised voices in an empty part of the building, and when a baby came into the home, crying would be heard in other parts of the site. Motorists would occasionally see a ghostly woman run across the road outside.
Johnson
Location: Outer London: Barnet (Greater London) - Road between Barnet and Enfield Chase
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man by the name of Johnson was said to have been murdered along this road, and the spot where the crime occurred was thought to be haunted for many years after the event. The same road was also said to be haunted by another man, a Mr Danby, who on at least one occasion, caused a horse pulling a carriage with two occupants to bolt. The ghost continued to run alongside the panicked horse until stopping by a gate - it was only then that the horse calmed.
Airmen
Location: Outer London: Bexley (Greater London) - A2 London-bound between Heath turn-off and Black Prince turn-off
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s, and 2008
Further Comments: Several witnesses were said to have seen a couple of airmen standing on the hard shoulder of the A2. One wore a leather flying helmet while the other appeared to have a medal or piece of metal near his throat. A local tale says that a Heinkel bomber crashed nearby, killing the crew who could not bail out in time, and it has been speculated that the figures belong to this aircraft.
The Ghosts' Promenade
Location: Outer London: East Barnet (Greater London) - Church Hill Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: So many phantom encounters along this road led to a Justice of the Peace to name it 'The Ghosts' Promenade'. The ghosts were said to include headless humans and dogs, and phantoms in the trees.
Black Coach
Location: Outer London: Enfield (Greater London) - Bell Lane, Enfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Varies: weeks leading up to Christmas (reoccurring), last seen November 1961
Further Comments: A popular local story tells of the Phantom Coach of Enfield, flying two metres off the ground where the road once lay. Seen a couple of times in the twentieth century, the ghostly passengers are said to be quite clear and distinct. A 14 year old boy cycling close to Albany Park School claimed to have passed through the apparition.
Old Witch
Location: Outer London: Enfield (Greater London) - Hadley Road, Enfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Cold, misty nights
Further Comments: An old woman who once lived along this stretch of road was executed in 1622 for being a witch - on cold misty nights, her ghostly form now returns.
Mr Danby
Location: Outer London: Enfield (Greater London) - Road between Enfield and Barnet
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Mr Danby died on the road in 1832, his throat slashed by an unknown assassin. A few years later his ghost returned and gave chase to a passing horse-drawn carriage (much to the horror of the occupants).
Monk with No Legs
Location: Outer London: Havering (Greater London) - St Mary's Lane, Cranham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (Reoccurring) - last reported 1970s
Further Comments: This phantom monk is said to float silently across the road.
Man walking Dog
Location: Outer London: Stanmore (Greater London) - A41
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 13 October 1985
Further Comments: A driver reported to the police that he had just run over a man walking a dog - both pedestrian and animal had gone over his car bonnet in the collision, but when the driver stopped and climbed out of his vehicle, he could not find either man or dog, nor damage to his car.
Sounds of a Tornado
Location: Outer London: Stanmore (Greater London) - Honeypot Lane area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nobody has been able to fully describe the entity that races around the area on cold dark nights, sounding like high wind and just as cold. It is speculated that the haunting is connected to a battle in which Roman soldiers fought.
Napier
Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - Banbury Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Found guilty of heinous crimes, Napier was executed, and his body cut into segments that were scattered around the city boundaries. Napier's ghost has found all his body but not his head, and now travels along Banbury Road searching for the missing piece.
Phantom Coach
Location: Oxnead (Norfolk) - Oxnead Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A ghostly coach and four passes over this bridge once a year. It is said to be driven by a headless Sir Thomas Boleyn and is one of eleven bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution.
Grey Lady
Location: Oxney Bottom (Kent) - Road between town and Dover
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973?
Further Comments: This figure in a dark grey cloak is said to look so real that people have tried to speak to her, not realising what she is. The entity has also been blamed for causing several accidents as she drifts in front of incoming traffic. A bus conductor once saw her climb on board his vehicle and walk up the stairs - when he went up to collect the fare, she had vanished.
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