Road Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Victorian Road Crossers
Location: Whittlesford (Cambridgeshire) - Whittlesford Road to Cambridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1980s, 04 January 2005
Further Comments: In 2005, a driver reported three male figures dressed in Victorian clothing which walked across the road in front of his car. The vehicle went straight through them, leaving the witness cold, sick, and very shaken. A few years prior to this, a man was thrown from his horse after he briefly spotted three Victorian men on the road. After the rider picked himself up, the men had vanished, although the horse refused to walk in the direction they were heading.
Vanishing Dog Walker
Location: Wicken (Cambridgeshire) - Wicken Road, between Wicken and Deanshanger
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 2016
Further Comments: A driver passing along this road with high banks slowed as he approached a person walking their dog. The driver checked the mirror as they braked, and upon looking ahead again, the figure had vanished, although there was no side roads or paths.
Young Girl Thumbing Lift
Location: Wickford (Essex) - Roundabout on Southend Bypass
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Probably local urban mythology, the ghost of a girl who died in a motorcycle accident is reported to thumb a lift here, wanting to go to Southend - her destination before dying.
Coach and Horses
Location: Wickford (Essex) - Runwell Hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: After a spectral horse and carriage stops at the top of the driveway, a woman climbs out and walks to the hall's door to be met by a long dead butler. A similar story says that Anne Boleyn travels in a coach along the roads surrounding the Hall around the same time of year.
Horse
Location: Wickham (Hampshire) - Road heading towards Droxford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2017
Further Comments: A driver spotted a white horse crossing the road ahead and commented to her passenger, who said she could not see anything. As the driver reached the spot the horse crossed, she realised there was nowhere the horse could have gone.
Traffic Dodger
Location: Wigglesworth (Yorkshire) - Road leading to Tosside
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early winter mornings (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A couple of car accidents that occurred along this road were blamed on a flitting female form which ran out in front of the vehicle before disappearing. Locals say it is a girl who drowned nearby.
Former Witch
Location: Wilden (Bedfordshire) - Road between Wilden and Ravensden
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1873
Further Comments: This phantom old woman, dressed in black clothing, haunts the road between her former village and the neighbouring one. Her face is said to be pure malevolence.
Ghastly Woman in Black
Location: Willesden (Bedfordshire) - Road connecting Willesden & Ravensden
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1870s
Further Comments: Seen by a mother and daughter, this figure glided along the grass verge; dressed in heavy black clothing, the figure was said to look more like a man than a woman.
Rabbit-sized Demon
Location: Willoughton (Lincolnshire) - Country lane
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This sober witness stated that, while cycling, a small bipedal creature with horns ran out in front of him, travelling just as fast as the bicycle. It disappeared as it hopped on a grass verge.
Coffin
Location: Wimborne (Dorset) - B3078, close to Clapgate Junction
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A coffin has been spotted on the roadside here, though it disappears if looked at closely. Some believe it belongs to someone who committed suicide, denying them the right to be buried in a churchyard, being buried close to this spot instead. A phantom black horse is also said to haunt this area.
Annie
Location: Wimborne (Dorset) - Mill Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: A former mill worker, Annie drowned in the River Allen while running away from the mill. Employees at the Riverside Cafe reported seeing the ghostly figure of a woman wearing a long dress in the area.
Monk with No Legs
Location: Winchcombe (Gloucestershire) - Cowl Lane, Pike Bank area, and Old Corner Cupboard Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1993
Further Comments: Reports of a ghostly black monk coming from these areas are not uncommon, some saying that the figure looked as if he sunk slightly into the ground, others saying he floats two foot above the path.
Man in Overcoat
Location: Winsford (Cheshire) - Bostock Road, Wharton Green
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 18 November 2010, 00:20h
Further Comments: While cycling home, this witness spotted a man drifting along the road. The phantom wore a heavy long coat with a hat not too dissimilar to that which a cowboy would wear. The figure's legs were not visible. The witness watched the figure for around ten seconds and when eye contact was made, the apparition vanished.
Coach
Location: Winterborne Monkton (Dorset) - Pool of water off the A354 near Winterborne Monkton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An accident resulted in a coach, passengers and a team of horses all drowning in this pool. The accident is said to periodically reoccur.
Strange Woman
Location: Wissett (Suffolk) - Rumburgh Road, Cole's Arch
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This spooky figure was seen sitting on the bridge before disappearing.
Cavalier
Location: Woodborough (Wiltshire) - Road between village and Allington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1971
Further Comments: Returning home one night, a driver encountered a man wearing Cavalier-style clothing. The figure was accompanied by a large black dog. The driver sped away, rather than investigate further.
Young Airman
Location: Woodford (Essex) - M11 Southbound
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghostly German airman has not been seen since the road layout changed and the M11 now joins the A406. Prior to this, a witness reported seeing the figure a half dozen times standing on the hard shoulder.
Talking Shuck
Location: Woolpit (Suffolk) - Road approaching the village
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: The shuck in this yarn caught a man and spoke, informing the unfortunate gentleman that he would be dead within a week. Not surprisingly, he died the following night.
Suicide
Location: Wootton Rivers (Wiltshire) - Crossroad in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown - early to mid twentieth century?
Further Comments: Horses were said to be startled at the location where a suicide was buried. The phantom was said to be heard on a nightly basis; on the hour of his death, ghostly swinging could be heard.
Motorcyclist
Location: Worlingworth (Suffolk) - Roads in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s, November, early hours of the morning
Further Comments: While driving to work, one witness reported seeing in his rear view mirror a motorcycle which disappeared. Others have also seen the phantom motorbike.
Turpin
Location: Woughton (Buckinghamshire) - Bury Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a highwayman, thought to be Dick Turpin, haunts the Bury Lane approach towards the Old Swan Inn that once acted as one of his many hideouts.
Tall Figure
Location: Wrexham (Clwyd) - Oak Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999, early evening
Further Comments: A driver and passenger driving along this road watched a tall dark figure cross the road ahead of them. The figure appeared to be hovering.
Turpin
Location: Wroughton on the Green (Buckinghamshire) - Road through the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This figure wearing a tricorn hat appears to be pacing along the roadside, as if waiting for someone to join him.
Phantom Coach
Location: Wroxham (Norfolk) - 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.
Hitchhiker in Leather
Location: Wybunbury (Cheshire) - A51 near to the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 20 October 1996
Further Comments: A driver picked up a male hitchhiker wearing old style motorbike leathers - a short while into the journey, driver realised that the hitcher had vanished, though the seatbelt was still in place and the door was locked.
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