Episode 16 Haunted Transport Part 1

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
Hello everyone, my name is Graeme Milne

[00:00:02] - [Speaker 1]
My name is Karen Swanston

[00:00:04] - [Speaker 0]
Welcome to Lights On, Still Scared Today we will be talking about haunted transport How are you, Karen?

[00:01:01] - [Speaker 1]
I'm very well. How are you?

[00:01:02] - [Speaker 0]
I'm not bad at all. Have you been busy? Sort of. Same here. Hiding from the fringe.

[00:01:10] - [Speaker 0]
That's what I've been trying to do.

[00:01:13] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed. Because it is August and the whole of Edinburgh goes well, us locals go into hiding, but yes, the whole world descends.

[00:01:22] - [Speaker 0]
It does descend and Edinburgh is a great time apart from us. So that's why we're here recording this episode for you to enjoy the peace of your homes. So what have you got for us today? Have you got a good story to kick off?

[00:01:35] - [Speaker 1]
I have, yes. Mean we're doing haunted transport, so it's not so much an actual haunted transport, it's more of a haunted racetrack. I thought it's such a good story, need to need to Yes. So we're going to Brooklands.

[00:01:49] - [Speaker 0]
Okay. Where's that?

[00:01:50] - [Speaker 1]
Brooklands is in Surrey.

[00:01:52] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:01:52] - [Speaker 1]
It's in Weybridge, which is not that far from Leatherhead. What a surprise there.

[00:02:01] - [Speaker 0]
Why not?

[00:02:02] - [Speaker 1]
Well, I have got a a very close friend that lives not far from Brooklyn, so I do know the area quite well.

[00:02:08] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:02:09] - [Speaker 1]
So Brooklyn's originally started off as a racetrack, but now it is a museum. So it's a it's actually quite an important site in British motoring and aviation history. So that's what it's more or less known for, but it's also known for all its ghosty stories.

[00:02:29] - [Speaker 0]
Well, it's a little exciting because because actually it's a place I'd never heard of, so a little bit

[00:02:33] - [Speaker 1]
new to me. Well, it's now a museum. So to confirm a little bit of the history, its founder was Hugh F. Lock King and F. Lock King.

[00:02:43] - [Speaker 1]
Mhmm. And it opened in seventeenth of June nineteen o seven. And it was widely recognized as the world's first purpose built motor racing circuit.

[00:02:53] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:02:54] - [Speaker 1]
And basically, the track was a large bank Concrete Circuit, which is approximately two and a half miles long, maybe a little bit more.

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Mhmm.

[00:03:03] - [Speaker 1]
I don't know my mileage. It

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does. It is.

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Nearly three miles long, let's just say. It also has an aviation history as well.

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Right.

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It was an early center for British flying aircraft test and aircraft manufacturing.

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Mhmm.

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So the racing did end in 1939 when the World War started,

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and

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that brought motor racing at Brockland to the end. So that's a shame.

[00:03:28] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:30] - [Speaker 1]
But that's the way it was. Yes. So Hugh Lott King financed the circuit, as I said, with his wife Ethel.

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Mhmm.

[00:03:37] - [Speaker 1]
And they played a crucial role in ensuring that the project was completed when costs rose beyond the original estimate like usually do.

[00:03:44] - [Speaker 0]
They always do, don't they?

[00:03:46] - [Speaker 1]
They always do. So it was a very steep bank, allowed early racing cars to travel at speeds that would have been impossible on all new public roads. Motorcycling and racing and cycling also took place on the circuit. Aviation arrived soon after the circuit opened, and Brooklyn developed into an aerodrome, an important center for aircraft design, manufacturing, and testing.

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Mhmm.

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So it had quite a bit going on there.

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Mhmm. Mhmm.

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And companies associated with the site included Sopwith. Never heard of them.

[00:04:18] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, Sopwith Camel.

[00:04:19] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, do you know that? Oh, it's plain. Okay.

[00:04:21] - [Speaker 0]
It's a very early plain. Vicars.

[00:04:24] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Hawkers. Mhmm. Now now I'm Hawkers. Hawkers is a lane, isn't it?

[00:04:28] - [Speaker 0]
I think so. Yeah. I remember I know Vickers because I think they weren't using those planes in the first war. I could be wrong.

[00:04:34] - [Speaker 1]
And back, b a c's, whatever backs are.

[00:04:40] - [Speaker 0]
I see the back of that one. I'm sure.

[00:04:42] - [Speaker 1]
See that one. Yeah. So during World War the World War, it was surrounded by factories contributing to the military aircraft production, which a lot of places like that was, wasn't it?

[00:04:53] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

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And the site was targeted during World War, which I didn't know that Mhmm. Adding World War danger loss of its early racing history.

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Mhmm.

[00:05:03] - [Speaker 1]
So in 09/04/1940, the Vickers aircraft factory at Brooklyn's was bombed by a Luftwaffe.

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Right.

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Nearly ninety aircraft workers were killed and at least four nineteen people were injured, which I didn't know that because I thought Surrey was a relatively safe place to be. My mum was baby at that point and she wasn't Evacuated. Evacuated. Thank you, Graham. Well, she was evacuated because I think they thought it was relatively safe.

[00:05:33] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I do know who my dad was because he was like South London.

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Right.

[00:05:38] - [Speaker 1]
So I didn't think that actually bombs went that far into Surrey. Yeah. The casualties include ordinary factory workers, engineers, fitters, and support staff whose working clothing may have be relevant for later reports of men in overalls. So there's quite a bit of people in overalls walk about, but I will go

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on to

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that in a minute.

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

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So Brooklyn's casualties were not confined to famous racing drivers. Right. Dropped riding mechanics, spectators, test pilots, aviation mechanics, and factory workers were also exposed to considerable danger. So if you consider the the vehicles at the time, they were all open.

[00:06:19] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm. Mhmm.

[00:06:20] - [Speaker 1]
So and then there was no seatbelts. Yeah. So Edward Ted Allery was the riding mechanic besides a driver called Ewing Rugatti in a toll butcher in the double twelve hour race on the 05/09/1930. Rebecca lost control whilst overtaking. Another Tolbert collided with them.

[00:06:43] - [Speaker 1]
Rebecca Getty's car spun into the spectator's enclosure. Ted Alleroy and one spectator was killed. Approximately 20 other peoples were injured. Yeah. While Real Getty survived but with serious head injuries.

[00:06:56] - [Speaker 1]
The accident became connected with a legal case, Hall, Brooklyn's Auto Racing Club. And warning motor racing is dangerous, subsequently displayed at racing meetings. So they had to obviously put up a sign as if they didn't know that already.

[00:07:12] - [Speaker 0]
I was gonna say that's I mean you think we were introducing them safety equipment, you know, like seat belts and such like would be, you know, derogeres or Yeah, indeed.

[00:07:23] - [Speaker 1]
So Frank W. Sherbet was a Rolls Royce aero engineer mechanic working with Brooklyn's aviation community. And on the 05/16/1929, Sherret accompanied Vickers chief test pilot Edward Shofield for a test flight from Brooklyn's aerodrome and the air cross was off control crossing near Shepperton. Schofield died in the crash where Sherret was killed after apparently attempted to jump from the aircraft.

[00:07:56] - [Speaker 0]
Oh god.

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So whilst he did not occur at the circuit itself, both men and their flight were directly connected Brooklyn. There's a lot going on there.

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Yeah, I know. A bit

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of tragedy

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and all that to connect

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to that place. Incredible. Was another rider called Dario Resta who was killed in September 1924. His riding mechanic, Bill Perkins, was badly injured but survived. So I think you take potluck, don't you?

[00:08:26] - [Speaker 1]
You survived these accidents, aren't you? Yeah. Oh dear. Most famous one was Percy Edgar Lambert. Have you heard of him at all?

[00:08:35] - [Speaker 0]
I have not.

[00:08:36] - [Speaker 1]
You have not? No. He was born in 1881 and became one of the leading British racing drivers in the early twentieth century. On the 02/15/1913, driving a 4.5 liter tollbo at Brooklyn's load, but become the first person to cover more than a 100 miles in a single hour. He traveled approximately a 103 miles and 1,470 yards during the hour, an extraordinary achievement for that period.

[00:09:06] - [Speaker 1]
So yeah. So he broke a record. Mhmm. Mhmm. Unfortunately, his record was later beaten.

[00:09:12] - [Speaker 0]
K.

[00:09:13] - [Speaker 1]
So he returned again to Brooklyn's to attempt to regain it.

[00:09:17] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:09:18] - [Speaker 1]
I do think a few weeks after he went to do this, he was due to get married.

[00:09:24] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:09:25] - [Speaker 1]
And he said to his fiancee that this would be his last race. Yeah. It was his last race, but not before. Oh, no. So on the 10/30/1913, his car crashed at high speed during the world record attempt.

[00:09:42] - [Speaker 1]
And he was thrown from the car and died from his injuries, he was only 32 at the time. So accounts commonly attributed the accident to a tyre failure.

[00:09:53] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:09:53] - [Speaker 1]
It's frequently said that Lambert had intended to retire after the race as I've just said

[00:09:58] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:10:00] - [Speaker 1]
Which I suppose makes his death especially poignant.

[00:10:03] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:10:05] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So now we're going on to the haunties. Do you think there's a lot of haunties there?

[00:10:09] - [Speaker 0]
I think there quite possibly would be, yes. I suspect.

[00:10:14] - [Speaker 1]
Where is now? What I mean, obviously, they've built on part of the the racetrack

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Mhmm.

[00:10:20] - [Speaker 1]
And it's part of a shopping center.

[00:10:23] - [Speaker 0]
Really?

[00:10:24] - [Speaker 1]
Yes. It's my friend's local Tesco's. Oh, very

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nice.

[00:10:27] - [Speaker 1]
And they've got Marks and Spencer's there, so we're going there. But what is weird about the shops is they're on a slope.

[00:10:33] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

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So and it's quite a steep slope as well. When you go in, you think, crikey, I've gotta go all the steep hill to get to the bananas.

[00:10:43] - [Speaker 0]
So made it to reach

[00:10:44] - [Speaker 1]
those bananas. Indeed. So I think what they've have done is they've actually built on top of the racetrack, which is why it slopes so much. Okay. There's also housing there as well, which yeah.

[00:10:57] - [Speaker 0]
It must be a big area then. It's just It

[00:10:59] - [Speaker 1]
is quite a big area. So yes. So it is document and I don't know why I'm laughing because I would be terrified for it. So the sounds of racing engines has allegedly been heard traveling around the old circuit Mhmm. With no racing car at present.

[00:11:13] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:11:14] - [Speaker 1]
And there's several accounts of phantom cars and fast moving shapes appearing briefly and near the surfacing of the track before it disappears. So the cars are coming, then they disappear.

[00:11:25] - [Speaker 0]
Okay. But people are actually seeing the cars.

[00:11:27] - [Speaker 1]
They're yeah. They've seen them. Local stories also claim that spectral cars appeared inside and this is what I find quite terrifying, inside recently built houses on Brooklyn site.

[00:11:38] - [Speaker 0]
That's interesting.

[00:11:39] - [Speaker 1]
So they actually come through the houses. You're just sitting there having your dinner and suddenly tell it. This whole car comes whizzing through.

[00:11:46] - [Speaker 0]
Oh my god.

[00:11:47] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, dear. And some versions of vehicles continue along the route of the former track passing through modern rooms and walls as though the new development didn't exist. So that's a bit scary.

[00:12:00] - [Speaker 0]
Stone tape. Well apart from not stone tapes and grass tape I suppose really, but interesting.

[00:12:06] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah, there's been male figures in period clothing, old fashioned racing attire has been reported being glimpsed around the site. Phantom driver, which is often identified as Percy Right. But there's no reliable evidence suggesting that it is. But anyway, this figure that they say is him walking around the circuit as well. And also what is quite interesting in said Tesco's, they do see a man walking around in ovals.

[00:12:33] - [Speaker 1]
In Tesco's? In Tesco's. In old fashioned ovals.

[00:12:37] - [Speaker 0]
Wow. But no Marky's? Nope. Nope. A pity.

[00:12:40] - [Speaker 0]
It's not just any ghost, it's a Marks and Spencer's ghost.

[00:12:44] - [Speaker 1]
No, no, it's a shame. Very interesting.

[00:12:46] - [Speaker 0]
I think that's fascinating.

[00:12:48] - [Speaker 1]
So yes, that is Brooklyn's.

[00:12:52] - [Speaker 0]
When the cars are seen in people's houses, I'm assuming they're so silent as it were rather than revving.

[00:13:00] - [Speaker 1]
Well, they say revving as well, so I don't know if it is a case of they rev as they are passing through, but either way that would be quite terrifying.

[00:13:10] - [Speaker 0]
It is outrageous.

[00:13:11] - [Speaker 1]
Even so.

[00:13:13] - [Speaker 0]
I find the whole idea of ghost objects like cars and stuff, know, that have not got souls as it were quite interesting. I mean I don't know how that explainable that is. Yeah. I mean I know scientists try and explain away the fact that there's being a ghost is an impossibility, but I think trying to defy, you know, the existence of things like phantom buses and that would be a hell of a lot more challenging to dismiss.

[00:13:40] - [Speaker 1]
Then is it a case of that it's just a residue haunting that's going on or it's just a time slip kind of thing?

[00:13:47] - [Speaker 0]
It's a horrible kind of experiences, horrible accidents or whatever just impacted somehow.

[00:13:53] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah, I think that That's might be another the

[00:13:56] - [Speaker 0]
for me to research further

[00:13:57] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed, research your way

[00:13:59] - [Speaker 0]
Graeme, I will, I've got one which is from Inverness and it's kind of weird, it's in a well it was in a former garage and the garage got knocked down a few years ago but there's stories about phantom cars, potentially phantom cars, phantom horse and a phantom person So it's got a 'transporte' in its broadest sense and it comes from a former garage owned by a favourite, I've heard of them called Macrae and Dick a lot of folk in Scotland will know who these guys are They had quite a few garages dotted around and I know they certainly had one in Aberdeen as far as I remember, but it came to the public's attention in several newspapers dated 1968 and it was actually fascinating to read about because there was three or four actual eyewitness accounts at different points and they were all corroborating each other's stories, but they were also witnessed by people who were very down earth, were like mechanics and things like that. Yeah. So, but yeah, but the actual building was a former stable way, way back in the day.

[00:15:04] - [Speaker 1]
Uh-huh, okay.

[00:15:05] - [Speaker 0]
So the descriptions of a haunted by a phantom horse has been bandied around because they've heard the sound of what describes a large animal clopping about and the breathing and the kind of feeling of this thing there, which had been going on for a long time and also, signs of mysterious dark figure, so whether the figure is attached to the horse, I. E, a stable worker or whatever, I'm not sure, but it all kicked off one evening when a 30 year old pump attendant named John McQueen was on night shift manning the pumps and it was boxing day night and as expected it wasn't particularly busy and the last customer had, I think, arrived about twenty minutes before the event and then it was, you know, nobody else sees it, he was basically just knocking in time and the only thing he had for company was the radio and then his attention was drawn to the sound of a car horn going off from the main garage. So he walked inside and had a look around and noticed it seemed to coming from what was a black MG saloon, and he went across to investigate and it stopped, so he went back to the office and five minutes later, same noise comes back he goes, and this becoming a bit of a habit, and every time he approaches it, it goes, stops dead, and it's rather wary.

[00:16:28] - [Speaker 0]
So he becomes a little anxious, and this goes on over the next few hours, so by which point his nerves are slightly strained, it would start at regular intervals, he described being exasperated and eventually lifted out the bonnet and did a full investigation.

[00:16:43] - [Speaker 1]
Ah, what did he find? Nothing? Nothing? Well,

[00:16:45] - [Speaker 0]
apart from the engine, but it was all working as should be, but there was no reason it should be on, there's no keys in the ignition

[00:16:51] - [Speaker 1]
That's or nothing like strange.

[00:16:53] - [Speaker 0]
So he said later he didn't believe in ghosts, nevertheless he found the experience unsettling, which was further compounded by the fact that on entering his own car to head home he found that the tire was inexplicably flat

[00:17:06] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, okay!

[00:17:07] - [Speaker 0]
Somebody said there you go mate, I'm just gonna let the air out of that! So was it bad timing or something else? Or a car man, know, malfunctioned I suppose But anyway, a few days later on the December 30 another employee, this time 19 year old Paul Gamer, had a much more frightening encounter and when he was interviewed afterwards with the Aberdeen Present Journal he said that, the apparition he saw had made a full blown appearance as he worked on the garage that night, so the young mechanic was shocked to see a figure clad in black gliding across the floor which vanished halfway across. It was as he later discovered the same figure which had been seen earlier by others and when interviewed he admitted that at the time he'd been a little skeptical about the building being haunted but had an open mind afterwards. The garage was securely locked, there's no way MD could have got in, it was on his own, but the figure was there.

[00:18:05] - [Speaker 0]
Self restrainingly, a figure in black doesn't really go into much detail as to what sort of, you know, period of clothing he was wearing

[00:18:11] - [Speaker 1]
No, the fact he was gliding was interesting,

[00:18:16] - [Speaker 0]
he disappeared, so I don't know if he disappeared because perhaps the original building had some sort of slight configuration it vanished. But that was two stories from Macrae and Dick but apparently there was more, and a lot of mechanics there had it was either car malfunctions, flat tires, cold spots was noted, the sound of the horse occasionally and the figure in black which is seen by many people. You see the building's completely demolished now and I did look online and I think if I remember correctly it's just a road now, there's nothing but yeah, interesting.

[00:18:52] - [Speaker 1]
Well it's interesting to see whether he appears on that road there.

[00:18:55] - [Speaker 0]
True. True. True. True. Yes.

[00:18:57] - [Speaker 0]
There you go. That was that. That was that.

[00:19:00] - [Speaker 1]
Lovely. Okay. So next one, we're we're going across the pond.

[00:19:05] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, yeah? Going off

[00:19:07] - [Speaker 1]
to The States. Yes.

[00:19:08] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:19:09] - [Speaker 1]
So we're going discuss the Golden Eagle. So the Golden Eagle was a 1964 Dodge three thirty. It's usually described as a four door saloon.

[00:19:19] - [Speaker 0]
A car then. See my knowledge of cars is very poor. When you said Golden Eagle, said, oh, is

[00:19:24] - [Speaker 1]
that a hotel? Obviously as I said, it's in The United States. Later retellings is often associated with Maine. So Maine, Stephen King

[00:19:39] - [Speaker 0]
Yes, is indeed. This

[00:19:39] - [Speaker 1]
the car that could have possibly

[00:19:42] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, Christine.

[00:19:43] - [Speaker 1]
Made you think, oh, that's a good story. Yes. It allegedly the orange is that it's frequently told that it was a former police car. Although a verified service record was not being readily available, so I couldn't find anything when I was trying to find stuff. But, yeah, you don't know.

[00:19:59] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So it's reported activities that starts to move by itself as unexplained electrical and mechanical activities and apparently hostile towards particular people.

[00:20:10] - [Speaker 0]
Oh.

[00:20:10] - [Speaker 1]
So I could go into her.

[00:20:12] - [Speaker 0]
Well, that's definitely sounding like that book.

[00:20:14] - [Speaker 1]
It does, doesn't it? Yes. The police car history. Now there's been several stories about this, but the main retailer says that the Dodge originally served as a police vehicle, as I've said previously. Sometimes placing it within the Department of Maine, occasionally naming Old Orchard Beach.

[00:20:33] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:20:35] - [Speaker 1]
The legend then links officers who supposedly drove it with violent deaths, including murder, suicides, involved family members. So the story that I I read, there was, like, four or three or four police officers that will use the car regularly. Yeah. And all three or four said officers ended up in murder suicide. So so it's not that great, really.

[00:20:59] - [Speaker 0]
So it's got like a reputation for causing got

[00:21:02] - [Speaker 1]
a reputation. Reputation, yes. Something. Yes, so the engine reportedly starts when no one is sitting in the driver's seat. Car is said to move or roll without a driver.

[00:21:13] - [Speaker 1]
In some versions deliberate tries to strike people, so it's not very friendly car, is it? Doors and electrical equipment allegedly operates without assistance. And visitors report feeling anger, dread, or being watched whilst close to the dodge. And the vehicle supposedly reacts very strongly. People mock, vandalize, or attempt to destroy it.

[00:21:36] - [Speaker 1]
So there is one story where apparently there's some young lads tried to, like, wreck it a bit and vandalize it. Right. And, yeah, it didn't like that at all. Yeah. So it's played for a substantial number of deaths, but the figure changes dramatically between accounts, so they don't know whether it's Okay.

[00:21:57] - [Speaker 1]
How many stories, you know, it's like folklore. They just

[00:22:01] - [Speaker 0]
Yes. They keep gathering arms and yeah.

[00:22:04] - [Speaker 1]
But yeah. The the reoccurring story says that young people damaged the vehicle were later killed or seriously injured in road accidents. Oh. That's not irony at all,

[00:22:13] - [Speaker 0]
is it? No.

[00:22:17] - [Speaker 1]
Yes. So the legend often portrays disrespect as the trigger of the car's retaliation. Vangels are said to suffer accidents soon after attacking the bodywork and interior. And some retelling describes a religious group decided that the car was so evil that they attempted to dismantle and destroy it. And it was the parts were taken taken off to

[00:22:40] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:22:40] - [Speaker 1]
Many different cars

[00:22:41] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:22:42] - [Speaker 1]
Which is very similar to Christine, isn't it? If I can't remember the story of Christine now.

[00:22:47] - [Speaker 0]
I've not seen it.

[00:22:48] - [Speaker 1]
I've not seen it. It's been many,

[00:22:50] - [Speaker 0]
many years. It's weird because like I like Stephen King stories but I don't know, cars don't really like ghost stories about cars and movies, I don't know if I've watched any, I don't know why, maybe because I don't drive. Yeah, maybe could. In that

[00:23:05] - [Speaker 1]
case, yeah. The story of Christine, she was a 1958 Plymouth Fury, So a completely different car, and that's probably why it's saying it has nothing to do with me. Yeah. And, yeah, and apparently, going back to the Christine when there were 24 Plymouths in various conditions Mhmm. That they used on the film.

[00:23:28] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:23:30] - [Speaker 1]
And they were they even stuntmen and people that were using those cars said that there was an eerie feeling with those cars. So it's kinda like a little bit of folklore and a little bit of Yeah. Yeah. One interesting thing is why my brother worked for a car spraying place. Yeah.

[00:23:50] - [Speaker 1]
And that dealt with American cars. And one of the cars on the lot was the Chris one of the Christine cars.

[00:23:54] - [Speaker 0]
Was it?

[00:23:55] - [Speaker 1]
And when I spoke to him about it, I said, oh, do you know about the legend? Like, oh, was it cursed? And he's going, you do know it's not true. He's gonna stop. I said, yes.

[00:24:04] - [Speaker 1]
I did. Anyway

[00:24:05] - [Speaker 0]
Damn. It says one way to kill. Kill a good story.

[00:24:10] - [Speaker 1]
So yes, I'm digressing. So yes, this car, apparently, someone decided to track down all the parts and and remake it again. Okay. So she is still roaming the countryside of of America. And the current owner, apparently, says she she occasionally plays up.

[00:24:29] - [Speaker 1]
And as they're speeding down the road, she opens all the doors by herself. So

[00:24:35] - [Speaker 0]
Why would you? Why why would you? I don't get that. I mean, you know, if it's true, why would you?

[00:24:41] - [Speaker 1]
It's yes.

[00:24:42] - [Speaker 0]
It's a It's a nightmare.

[00:24:44] - [Speaker 1]
It's an interesting story. It is. It's one that's full of like I suppose like with most stories like that, someone like starts one and it kinda like escalates over the years and they add everything on. So but it's interesting that the car is still around.

[00:25:00] - [Speaker 0]
It is, it actually sounds like it should be a museum piece or something.

[00:25:03] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah, but yeah.

[00:25:05] - [Speaker 0]
But I've heard a few stories like that when you know you've got parts of cars end up being sort of cannibalized and put into other vehicles and so these things all start malfunctioning, the curse continues and I mean, I guess if somebody said a car was cursed and you took a piece of it and put a car in an accident, well all these things you're going to think is well it must be the car! Yeah, terrible, terrifying

[00:25:29] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed Okay, you got next one then Graham?

[00:25:33] - [Speaker 0]
Well I have, this one here, he says he's getting spectacles perched on the end of his nose It's quite an interesting one because it comes from Caithness which is in the North Of Scotland obviously and I'm going to credit this one because it's not from me It's a guy called David Atherton who I worked with years ago, he was an arts officer in Aberdeen and at one point he was collecting stories for a book and I don't know if he ever put this book together but this story appeared in the newspapers, the old press and journal we call it in Aberdeen, the pea and ham. Ah! It's a pea and ham and it was an interesting story because it was all about this couple, this family that's seen a coach, like an eighteenth century coach So they were in a place called Ord, I've never been to but it's up near Helmsdale, which I have been to, which is further up on the East Coast, So you the sighting took place while walking on the Ord Road at around 10:31 evening and it was a very calm, clear night and through night their eyes were quickly adjusted to the dark so it wasn't like, you know, they were hardly seeing anything, could pretty much see everything that was going and as they were walking along, an eighteenth century coach started heading towards them but in slow motion and they were just literally stood at the side of the road and watched it graciously go by They had a very clear view sometime while visiting later what's called the Timespan Museum with a friend in the nearby coastal village of Helmsdale she noted a plaque on the wall and the text went on to describe sightings of a phantom coach in the area which is an alleged portent of death So when they contacted the chairman of the museum and her name was Mary Dudgeon she admitted that she herself had seen a similar sight in 1955 when travelling with her late husband and on that occasion they had borrowed a friend's car and were travelling on the road and on their side was a sheer drop to the cliff and they were travelling along there and it was a moonlit night so everything's illuminated and silvery and from out of nowhere a phantom coach then appeared which headed towards him It was described as being bluish in colour yet slightly indistinct, so it wasn't like clear, its outlines blurred and wavering and it passed within inches of their vehicle and a strange feeling accompanied them followed by an immense cold which penetrated the car Oh!

[00:28:05] - [Speaker 0]
And it was assumed that later on that the coach may have plunged over a nearby cliff at some point and that was a natural assumption and it was a kind of ghost coach So the denouement of the story, as it were, as they stopped their car and then getting out discovered that they had quite a bad fault on their front wheel and the nuts had dropped off and it was only barely being held on and had they continued the journey potentially they may have suffered the same fate

[00:28:31] - [Speaker 1]
dear, what had happened

[00:28:33] - [Speaker 0]
to the coach so that is it did the coach save their lives or is it again just one of those apocryphal tales? So that's it, random coach Unfortunately

[00:28:45] - [Speaker 1]
that's all we've got time for Join us again next week for more Haunted Transports Until then, keep the lights on, still scared.