Uncanny experiences in England’s woods and forests
In a special extract from his new book, PETER A MCCUE examines reports of people having strange experiences in the woods and forests of England – from seeing strange lights and hearing phantom hoofbeats to encountering Bigfoot-like monsters just outside Sheffield
My recently published book Britain’s Paranormal Forests: Encounters in the Woods examines reports of people having strange experiences in wooded areas of Great Britain. Sadly, with population growth and development, Britain has lost much of its natural woodland over the years, and threats continue. So far as paranormal and UFO events are concerned, I can’t say that our woods and forests attract a disproportionate amount of activity, although it wouldn’t surprise me if that turned out to be the case. While much of the book consists of in-depth case studies of the woods and forests most often associated with anomalous activity (like Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk), this article focuses on lesser-known wooded areas that have allegedly hosted strange phenomena, presented in a more-or-less north to south order. In respect of South Yorkshire, two reports of interest came to my attention too late to be mentioned in the book. But they’re discussed below.
BOLAM LAKE COUNTRY PARK, NORTHUMBERLAND
Bolam Lake Country Park is about nine miles (14km) west of Morpeth and covers an area of some 65 acres (26ha). The lake itself is surrounded by woods. In his book ManMonkey (pp121-6), Nick Redfern explains that members of the Devon-based Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) visited the area in January 2003 to investigate sightings of a Bigfoot-like entity.1 At one point, the CFZ team found that nearly all of their electronic equipment was suffering from a loss of power, even though they’d tested it the previous night and had charged up or replaced batteries where necessary. The witnesses they interviewed included a mother and her son who had seen a huge creature only days before. It had stood motionless in the woods, near a car park they were crossing at the time. They had felt intense fear and quickly left the area. On the afternoon of the second day of their investigation, the CFZ team liaised with members of a South Shields-based investigative group called Twilight Worlds (TW). Around 5pm, with the help of car headlights, five of them saw an enormous humanoid figure run from right to left. It disappeared for a few moments, and then ran back again.
Of course, one might wonder whether at least some of the sightings were generated by hoaxers. Nick Redfern explains that an article in the local press in February 2003 mentioned that two sixth formers at Gosforth High School had roamed about in a hired gorilla costume in Kielder Forest, Northumberland, in the summer of 2002; it turned out that this was in connection with an arts project at their school. 2 They were adamant that none of their activities had occurred at Bolam Lake, but he speculates that perhaps someone else – possibly another student at the school – had secretly hired the same costume and paraded about in it at Bolam Lake. Irrespective of whether some of the earlier sightings had been hoaxed, Redfern suggests that what the CFZ and TW members observed in January 2003 was a ‘thought-form’, born out of belief and expectation. He contends that the encounter couldn’t, in any circumstances, be blamed on the antics of a student at the school, particularly given the utterly ‘flat’, huge and shadow-like nature of what was seen.
JUDY WOODS, NEAR BRADFORD, WEST YORKSHIRE
Between Bradford and Brighouse, there’s a small complex of woodland known as Judy Woods. Paul Devereux notes that the woodland lies near a reservoir and power lines, and that it was the setting for a small UFO flap in the autumn of 1981. Initially, bright streaks of light, similar to lightning, were seen. Then, over a period of weeks, lights were seen flashing and hovering above the woods. Blobs of light appeared. They split into smaller pieces, which hovered and floated down. Humming sounds and odours (resembling that of rotten eggs) reportedly accompanied some of the sightings.
Lights were seen flashing and hovering above the woods
‘SPOOKY WOODS’, NEAR STOCKSBRIDGE, SOUTH YORKSHIRE
Jenny Randles relates a story, told to her by Jane Hayes (pseudonym), about an incident in 1948. 4 Along with three others, Hayes was camping in a small wood, known locally as ‘Spooky Woods’. 5 Hayes and her companions were in their tent when they heard what sounded like a horse galloping towards them; the noise stopped when it reached the tent. When the campers went out to look, there were no hoofmarks in the soft earth. Regarding this wood, Hayes subsequently learned from local farmers that they’d often seen lights there, but found nothing when they went to investigate. It’s not clear whether these lights were seen among the trees, above them, or both. Some 10 years after she heard the ghostly galloping sounds, Hayes and her young son reportedly saw a circle of lights hovering over a reservoir behind the woods. The lights winked out, although it’s not clear how long they remained in view.
BROOMHEAD RESERVOIR, SOUTH YORKSHIRE
Recently, I was contacted by Sheffield resident Robin Ellis, who reported something he’d experienced one evening in August 2003 while walking along a path on the south side of Broomhead Reservoir: “At one point, I walked into a powerful atmosphere. I looked into the [nearby] wood and saw, sitting on a fallen tree trunk bridging a stream, a curious figure. It was about three feet [19cm] high, with pricked ears rising above its head. In the gloaming, it was impossible to make out details, just the shape. I observed it for two to three minutes from the path, [and] then tried to get closer. Instantly, it seemed to ‘pop’ out of existence…”
WHARNCLIFFE WOODS, SOUTH YORKSHIRE
Researcher Paul Sinclair cites an account given to him in 2017 by Jason Jones concerning Wharncliffe Woods, about two miles east of Broomhead Reservoir.6 The events in question had allegedly occurred some 30 years earlier, when Jones was 18. He and two older friends, Scott and Mark, were camping out in the wood, although not in tents. They lit a fire and eventually drifted off to sleep. Jason woke at around 2am, feeling something wasn’t right. This was followed by an overwhelming sense of fear. He heard a twig snap, and very
soon after “all hell broke loose”, with trees and branches cracking and breaking everywhere. It’s not clear whether this was purely a matter of sounds being heard, or whether trees and branches really were breaking. Then, Jason heard Scott screaming: he was suspended, upside down, two or three feet above the ground, being held by a big, black, fur-covered arm! Suddenly, the entity let go of Scott and ran off, with the men hearing the breaking of trees and plants. As the creature seemed to get further away, there was a sound like a gunshot followed by silence.
Instead of leaving immediately, the men built up the fire and waited for daylight. They reportedly experienced a succession of further ‘attacks’, which were similar to the first, although no one was lifted into the air, and no entity was seen. Between each episode there was a quiet period of about half an hour. During the second ‘attack’, Jason inferred that two creatures were involved, because he could hear movement from more than one direction.
I’ve found no other reports of a similar nature concerning Wharncliffe Woods. What Jason described is reminiscent of Bigfoot activity; however, it’s hard to believe that this relatively small area of woodland next to Sheffield is home to flesh-and-blood Bigfoot-like creatures. If the story is true, could it be that the manifestations were orchestrated by a genius loci that regarded the lighting of a campfire as a threat to the wood or as an act of desecration?
He was suspended upside down, held by a big, black, fur-covered arm
BUXTON COUNTRY PARK, DERBYSHIRE
At a conference I attended in 2018, speaker Brian Sterling-Vete referred to strange lights he’d seen in a wooded area near the spa town of Buxton many years before. He kindly sent me further information about his experiences.
The woodland in question is in Buxton Country Park. Sterling-Vete noticed the lights while making evening and late-night trips in and around the area in the late 1970s. Initially, he didn’t give them much thought. Eventually, though, he asked some of the older locals about them. Their response was to warn him about becoming too curious or venturing into the area where the lights were at night. It was as if they’d become irrationally superstitious – unless, of course, they knew something that they didn’t want to admit to. Some people even spoke of witchcraft and of local covens using the area for rituals after dark. Again, Sterling-Vete was cautioned to forget what he’d seen; but he wasn’t disposed to take such advice.
The next time he saw the lights, he stopped his car and went to investigate them, accompanied by a friend. They walked towards the woods without lighting a torch, which would have given away their presence. The lights were among the trees, but not above them. As the men got much closer, they still couldn’t clearly discern what the lights were. But curiously, they seemed to be more like an aurora. When the pair arrived at the treeline, the lights were still ahead, but they suddenly dispersed as the men walked on. The witnesses then found themselves surrounded by lights, which seemed to be under intelligent control and trying to usher them out of the area. They had a strong sense that they were being watched by hundreds of eyes. Before long, they left the woods, never to return.
BAGOT’S WOOD, NEAR ABBOTS BROMLEY, STAFFORDSHIRE
Nick Redfern describes an experience that a 10-year-old boy, Alfred Tipton, allegedly had in the summer of 1937 with four friends in Bagot’s Wood (sometimes spelled without an apostrophe and also known as ‘Bagot’s Forest’ or ‘Bagots Forest’; see FT336:31). 7 It’s located to the north of Abbots Bromley (home of the Horn Dance; see FT336:26-33), and is a remnant of what was once a much larger area of woodland, Needwood Forest.
After playing for several hours, Tipton and his friends were taking a break, sitting on the warm, dry grass in the sunshine. Suddenly, they heard a shrill screeching sound coming from the trees above them. Looking up, they saw a large, black creature sitting on its haunches in a particularly tall and very old tree. With its claws tightened around a branch, it was shaking it up and down. According to Tipton, it reminded him of a devil. It peered down at the five friends for a few moments and then suddenly opened up its large, shiny wings.
Their span was easily 12ft (3.7m). The creature took to the air in a way that could be described as a mixture of flying and gliding, and was out of sight in some 15-20 seconds. Tipton was subsequently shown pictures, photographs and drawings of a wide variety of large-winged creatures from the present day and the past. The one that most resembled what he and his friends had seen was a pterodactyl. Redfern also discusses the case in an Internet article, 8 but doesn’t specify his source for the report (whether, for example, he was personally in touch with Tipton); and he makes no reference to any corroborating testimony from Tipton’s friends.
BRIDGE 39 ON THE SHROPSHIRE UNION CANAL, STAFFORDSHIRE
In Man-Monkey (pp3 and 15), Nick Redfern quotes a story from a 19th century source about what allegedly befell the driver of a horse and cart as he was approaching a bridge over the Birmingham and Liverpool Canal (also known as the Shropshire Union Canal) at 10pm on 21 January 1879.9 A strange black creature with great white eyes sprang out of a plantation by the roadside on to the horse’s back. When the man tried to dislodge it with his whip, it went through the entity. The rider dropped the whip in fright, and the horse broke into a canter. At some point subsequently, the ghostly creature vanished.
Redfern identifies the site of the supposed encounter as what’s known as Bridge
39, which crosses the canal about a mile to the south-west of the village of Woodseaves in Staffordshire. The road in question is the A519. The banks of the canal are heavily wooded in that area. Judging from Redfern’s research, there may be some truth in the story cited above, because he’s obtained first-hand testimony from people who claim to have had strange encounters in the locality. For example, an informant called Bob Carroll related an incident that occurred in the early hours of the morning in what was probably January or February of 1972 or 1973 (pp87-8). He was working as a lorry driver at the time, and heading for a place where he was due to make a delivery. He slowed down as he approached the bridge, and was shocked to see a “hairy man” storm through the trees and disappear down toward the direction of the canal. The figure looked well built, but no more than five feet (1.5m) tall. Carroll stopped, turned on his lorry’s hazard warning lights, and ran back to where he’d seen the figure. Looking over both sides of the bridge, he couldn’t see anything, although he heard what sounded like a baby crying, but a lot louder. When he got back to his lorry, it seemed that the battery was flat for a minute or two, but then it ‘kicked in’.
Another of Redfern’s informants, Paul Bell, related having had two odd experiences while fishing in the canal, but Redfern doesn’t specify how close Bell was to the bridge. On a Saturday afternoon in the hot summer of 1976, he saw a large, dark-coloured eel or snake-like creature in the water, moving slowly (pp92-3). Its head resembled that of a black sheep, and was flicking from side to side rapidly. Bell estimated that the creature may have been 10ft (3m) long, if not slightly longer. Although he had a Polaroid camera with him, he didn’t think to take a snap of it. Therefore we’ll never know whether the experience was objective or hallucinatory. The second experience occurred on the
following Saturday (p95). Bell was fishing at virtually the same spot when he sensed that he was being watched. Looking across the canal, he was horrified to see a dark, hairy face staring at him from thick bushes. It had both human and monkeylike features. But the sighting was very brief, with the creature running into the trees and out of sight. In terms of size, it resembled a large monkey.
Reported sightings of this type haven’t been confined to the immediate vicinity of the bridge. For example, a man referred to as Simon informed Redfern about an experience that he’d had in the summer of 1982 while walking beside the canal with a girlfriend (pp57-9). They were about three quarters of a mile from the bridge. He saw dozens of birds noisily flying away, and heard a sudden, loud screaming noise from the other side of the canal. Then, he saw a large, muscular and agile creature get up and leave. He estimated that its height was, at most, five and a half feet (1.7m). It looked like a gorilla face-on, but when it turned sideways, Simon noticed that it had a very long muzzle, like a werewolf. His girlfriend was apparently traumatised by the incident. (See Nick Redfern, ‘In Search of the Man Monkey’, FT251:36-40).
LEIGH WOODS, BRISTOL
Press reports in 2014 related a story about two women who’d abandoned a camping trip after having some disturbing experiences in Leigh Woods, near the Clifton Suspension Bridge on the western outskirts of Bristol. According to the Daily Mail, the campers were 34-year-old Kate
Channon and 28-year-old Lola Swan 10 (the Huffington Post gave Channon’s age as 24).11
The women erected their tent during daylight, and their hammer went missing. As night fell, they began to hear strange noises, and they felt as if they were being watched. At one point, Channon whistled and something whistled back. The ‘final straw’ came at 1am, when they heard a child’s voice. Feeling panicky, they packed up their tent and left. The next day, Swan flicked through some photographs taken the previous night. She noticed an image of what she assumed to have been a ghostly figure watching them. However, to me, it’s amorphous, and it seems speculative to attribute it to something paranormal. Similarly, it’s unclear whether the noises that the women heard were of a paranormal origin. It’s conceivable
that they were caused by animals, or by other people (possibly pranksters) who happened to be in the wood that night.
DERING WOOD, PLUCKLEY, KENT
Multiple ghostly happenings have supposedly occurred in and around the village of Pluckley, near Ashford in Kent (see FT87:53, 308:70, 386:35). Whether the area has seen more than its fair share of truly paranormal events might be questioned [and will be, in a future issue of FT – Ed]. However, in the mid-1990s, in an episode of the television series Strange but True? several witnesses testified to having had ghostly experiences there. For example, Peggy Theobald reported an occasion when she and her husband had seen a coach and horses, which then disappeared.
One of the supposedly haunted locations in the Pluckley area is Dering Wood, colloquially known as ‘Screaming Woods’. It’s about a mile and a half west-south-west of Pluckley, and most of it is now owned by the Woodland Trust, which manages it for conservation, small-scale timber production, and public access. The main entrance is on the north side of the wood, at the Woodland Trust’s car park beside the minor road between Pluckley and Smarden. I visited the wood on a sunny day in October 2018 and found it to be a pleasant spot, and not at all creepy. Sadly, though, it seems that the wood’s reputation for being haunted may have attracted sensation-seekers with a lack of respect for the environment.
In a slim book lacking references,