Episode 26 Haunted Landscapes & Scary Bothies Part 1

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
Hello everyone, my name is Graeme. My name is Karen. Welcome to Lights On, Still Scared. On today's episode we'll be talking about landscapes, Bothys and the great outdoors. How are you, Karen?

[00:01:03] - [Speaker 1]
I'm very well. How are you?

[00:01:05] - [Speaker 0]
I am fine. What's been happening?

[00:01:08] - [Speaker 1]
Not a lot.

[00:01:09] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, same here. This is a recurring theme. This is our highlight of the week.

[00:01:16] - [Speaker 1]
Thank you, mate. Isn't it? Dear, mate. We need better better lives, lives. I think.

[00:01:23] - [Speaker 0]
Today's stories, unlike the last two episodes, are somewhat creepier, I would say, but some genuinely disturbing fear for you this time. Talking of lonely places, lots of first hand reports of people who've seen or felt creepy and unknown presences with no help in sight for around 50 miles in each direction.

[00:01:51] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, dear.

[00:01:52] - [Speaker 0]
I know. The horror of lonely places.

[00:01:55] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed. That can make your imagination go a little bit wild as well, couldn't it? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:02:01] - [Speaker 0]
Some of the stories are still debated whether they are real genuine hauntings or is the imagination. But put it one way, none of have been proven so far have been faked. So that makes them a little bit more interesting. So what have you got for us today to kick off with, Karen?

[00:02:18] - [Speaker 1]
Well, I have a battlefield which apparently has a bleeding ground.

[00:02:24] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, okay. So

[00:02:27] - [Speaker 1]
this is in Senlac Hill at battle in East Sussex Mhmm. Which is... The battle of Hastings was fought there on 10/14/1066.

[00:02:37] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:02:37] - [Speaker 1]
William Normandy defeated King Harold's army, and Harold was killed. William later founded Battle Abbey at the battlefield. So the abbey is there at the moment. Mhmm. So according to the legend, rain brings the blood of the fallen back to the surface and a reddish water appears as though the earth is still bleeding from the wounds of the battle.

[00:03:02] - [Speaker 1]
So this has been a long literal history. In his earlier seventeenth century poet Polly Alban, Michael Drayton described soil beside the local Aston Watercourse turning red when it wetted by rain as they remembering those killed. So this passage concerns the wider landscape. It's poetry rather than an eyewitness report of blood emerging from the Senlech Hill. So more concrete descriptions in Charles G Harper's book, The Hastings Rose, published in 1906.

[00:03:41] - [Speaker 1]
Harper described a wooded ravine near Powder Mill House at battle where rocky legends dripped red. He connected the site with the old legend of the soil weeping blood. He also gave a natural explanation that the ground is rich in iron. Iron and the local rocks and soil can account for the rusty red staying in the water.

[00:04:06] - [Speaker 0]
I did kind of think that might be a potential at least.

[00:04:10] - [Speaker 1]
So yeah, so that's a possibility and the battlefield is also has a tradition of a phantom knight on horseback. The writer appears on the October 14, which, oh, that wasn't that long ago. The anniversary of the battle traveling across the battlefield. In some versions, describing as a a Norman knight. His identity is unknown.

[00:04:36] - [Speaker 1]
So, I mean, they they they do not establish that he is William Harold or any other particular historical No. But he's just a random a random phantom knight running across the field.

[00:04:47] - [Speaker 0]
Was Harold shot in the eye with an arrow?

[00:04:50] - [Speaker 1]
I think that was the Harold.

[00:04:52] - [Speaker 0]
Yes. Was the Harold.

[00:04:53] - [Speaker 1]
Yep. I think that's him.

[00:04:54] - [Speaker 0]
Can't remember. It's like history. Oh, it's been a long time. But... Yeah.

[00:04:58] - [Speaker 0]
This one here is from West Of Ross in the Highlands and it's a Bothy story and for those who are not aware of what a Bothy is, Bothy's are essentially small structures, usually stone cottages that have been derelict that are now done up as a brief stopping point or shelter for those undertaking long walks or hill climbs, and since the 1940s have been open to the public, which is obviously truly helpful if you're doing a massive walk and you get caught in a rainstorm. It's one of these situations where you're meant to kinda look after the space while you're in it. And, obviously, there's no guarantee if you do come across a border, you'll be the only occupant. So it can be something people enjoy because they might like the company of, you know, whoever's there or, you know, maybe not because you might want a nice quiet evening and suddenly you find a big party going on in your vicinity. But there are lots of them and now here I come to try and pronounce this.

[00:06:06] - [Speaker 1]
Good luck then.

[00:06:07] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. So it's Achna Cleric. Oh. I think.

[00:06:10] - [Speaker 1]
You would have done better than that of me.

[00:06:14] - [Speaker 0]
So in the mid 1950s, three young Glaswegians had a very unnerving encounter and having completed their studies, the two agreed that a short break in the hills would be the perfect antidote to what was a stressful time. A nearby crofter had kindly offered them the use of a disused bothy to bed down, which was perfect for their needs, despite it being rough and ready. Once inside and with the fire blazing and the door shut for the night, a feeling of earthly homeliness descended upon them. Soon after, the warmth of the rustic setting acted as a sedative and the companion slowly drifted off to sleep sometimes later when their slumbers were broken by the sound of loud knocking on the door. Stirring in their sleep, the bleary travelers were dragged back to reality by a loud volley of knocks.

[00:07:09] - [Speaker 0]
Hurdly going to the door, they expected to find someone in crisis but found nothing, and so in the aftermath, it took some time to fall back to sleep again. The next day, they set off to explore and on their return, found themselves in a similar situation, only this time hearing footsteps within the building. They again found nothing but convinced that a trick was being played, decided to stretch some thread across the threshold of the door. Again, the sounds of the footsteps were heard in the lobby. Throne investigating found that the thread had been unbroken.

[00:07:44] - [Speaker 0]
A serious debate followed on whether to leave or not, so they eventually agreed to stay just one more night. This time they were woken by a light tapping at the window, but unlike before, all three were horrified to see a young ashen faced boy with wild unkempt hair looking in at them. He was noted as having a shy smile, but his eyes appeared to be vacant. Despite not knowing who he was, he was obviously the perpetrator of the prank and the three wasted no time in running out to apprehend him, but again found no one. After suffering a sleepless night, they rose early and spoke to the crofter's wife, who appeared somewhat taken aback by the story.

[00:08:26] - [Speaker 0]
She then told them that some years ago a widow had stayed in the Bothy but passed away and her son, described as a wayward sort, apparently took his life soon after drowning himself in the nearby dirry water. One wonders if the Bothy still stands the day and if so if the ghost of the young boy is still drawn to the company of the living. That's a true story, originally, from the 1950s. I would... Yes.

[00:08:54] - [Speaker 0]
I found... I would have found that quite creepy, I think.

[00:08:57] - [Speaker 1]
Sounds a bit creepy.

[00:08:58] - [Speaker 0]
It's a bit creepy, isn't it?

[00:08:59] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Yeah.

[00:09:02] - [Speaker 0]
Are similar themes with these stories, I have to I'm not very happy stories.

[00:09:07] - [Speaker 1]
Well, I I didn't find many bothys down past the border,

[00:09:12] - [Speaker 0]
but that's true.

[00:09:13] - [Speaker 1]
It's mainly a Scottish thing, isn't it? But I have found a couple in Wales.

[00:09:19] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, yes.

[00:09:19] - [Speaker 1]
So I have got a story of a Bothy. So this is... I probably pronounced it wrong. Nance Sidden, which is in the Cumbrian Mountains Mhmm. 15 miles from Aberystwyth.

[00:09:34] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm. Aberystwyth? Aberystwyth. There. There.

[00:09:39] - [Speaker 1]
There, indeed. So this is a former family home, became both used by walkers seeking basic shelter. Yeah. And the Hughes family lived there. We're going back to the eighteen hundreds I do believe.

[00:09:57] - [Speaker 1]
Isaac and Margaret Hughes lived there with their children

[00:10:01] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:10:01] - [Speaker 1]
In February 1856. See, if I read my notes a bit further, I would know the a. So, yes, so in February 1856, Margaret gave birth to quadruplets. Reported to be the first recorded in Wales. The baby's names were Margaret, Elizabeth, Catherine and Isaac, and they already had two old children, Hugh and Hannah.

[00:10:24] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, they would have been busy, wouldn't they?

[00:10:26] - [Speaker 0]
They would have, they've been a very old household to look after.

[00:10:29] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed the published account says that illness spread through the household. Within weeks all six children and their father had died, leaving Margaret without her husband and children. Her neighbors reportedly left food and money nearby, dipping offerings in vinegar in attempt to prevent infection. Mhmm. So they they report that within four days, the babies were dead.

[00:10:55] - [Speaker 1]
Mhmm. And then a few days later, the rest of the children, the father died as well. Think Hannah was the last one to die. Mhmm. So, yes, so some...

[00:11:04] - [Speaker 1]
The haunting accounts is that some walkers reportedly describe a motherly presence or a sensation of being fussed over while staying overnight.

[00:11:14] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:11:15] - [Speaker 1]
In the visitors book describes accounts of an apparition or presence in the bothy. Mhmm. And the name Margaret was written in candle wax on the wall. So so she's writing her name. Mhmm.

[00:11:28] - [Speaker 1]
Mhmm. So the cause of the illness is probably typhoid or influenza.

[00:11:33] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm. Mhmm.

[00:11:34] - [Speaker 1]
So I mean that... If you've got typhoid that spreads quite quickly, doesn't it? Mhmm. So... Yes.

[00:11:40] - [Speaker 1]
So you've got a lot of deaths in there. So possibly it's Margaret. So so would a motherly presence feel like in another, it's empty mountain shelter. Would you find that comforting? Or would you find it

[00:11:58] - [Speaker 0]
I don't know. Unsettling. Probably unsettling, but I suppose it would be better than a presence that was violent and aggressive, I suppose.

[00:12:09] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Sounds like she's just wanted to tuck you into bed. Yeah.

[00:12:13] - [Speaker 0]
In a few places I've stayed in the past when I've been on my own at night and, you know, your your imagination does run right without a doubt. It's the easiest thing to do. In the countryside, when it's quiet, I mean, we're we're used to sort of a lot of town noises, creeks, and what have you, but you go somewhere in the countryside, like deathly silence.

[00:12:34] - [Speaker 1]
If you're not used to it. No.

[00:12:36] - [Speaker 0]
You can really move. You can move. Every every little something's a something. This is sort of an outdoorsy story as opposed to an insidy story.

[00:12:47] - [Speaker 1]
Okey dokey. Go on the outdoorsy story.

[00:12:49] - [Speaker 0]
It's nearby Pitlockery.

[00:12:52] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, Pitlockery is nice.

[00:12:53] - [Speaker 0]
It is nice.

[00:12:54] - [Speaker 1]
It's very pretty.

[00:12:55] - [Speaker 0]
Well, is Killy Cranky area.

[00:12:59] - [Speaker 1]
Sorry. Say Cranky.

[00:13:00] - [Speaker 0]
Van Dabby Dozy. Nothing to do with them, by the Kelly Cranky where there is a creepy story connected to a lonely glen and this is described in a book called Ghosts and Apparitions by Terence Whittaker.

[00:13:13] - [Speaker 1]
Have you ever

[00:13:13] - [Speaker 0]
read it?

[00:13:14] - [Speaker 1]
I have not, no.

[00:13:15] - [Speaker 0]
It's quite a good book actually, it's interesting, yeah it's good stories, I enjoyed reading it actually, it's very good, but apparently according to the story and local tradition it was the site of a dreadful murder. So it was thought to have taken place some three hundred years ago and the barbarity of the crime was said to have left an indelible stain at the scene, so I must admit the typically hard facts are a bit thin on the ground, but you know, we have to go with what we get. The victim described as Mrs Hayes was according to the count murdered by person or persons unknown whilst out walking. Moving forward to 1886, another young woman walking the same area called Elizabeth Grant had a very frightening experience. She was enjoying a peaceful evening stroll in the same location, however the location had changed in the preceding three hundred years, so there was a bit of a road there at the time.

[00:14:17] - [Speaker 0]
And she was walking along it, and as she approached on her right, there was a dry stained dike which you could see running parallel to where she was walking. It was upon this road that Elizabeth was walking. The evening was serene, it was getting slightly dark but good bit of light, when our attention was drawn to the strange round object in the distance. It was voluminous, somewhat like a melon, and appeared to be bubbling along the top of the dike. Cautiously approaching, she noticed her horror that it was the head of a corpse, sallow, putrefied with long dark hair and reason lines it was something not of this earth, she broke into a run.

[00:15:04] - [Speaker 0]
However, to her horror, the head kept the pace bobbling along like a hideous balloon.

[00:15:10] - [Speaker 1]
Oh. Hideous balloon. A hideous balloon. That sounds quite hideous.

[00:15:15] - [Speaker 0]
I know. So in reaching the gap of the dike, she then realized that the head was not a head on its own, but was actually attached to the body by a little flimsy but flesh.

[00:15:24] - [Speaker 1]
Oh yeah, ugh.

[00:15:25] - [Speaker 0]
I know. So this filmy Wraithen drifted towards her and she stood frozen in the middle of the road. And I'm saying road, but it'd been a small road. It's not gonna be like a big road like today. But it drifted towards her, and as it neared her, it raised its eyelids to reveal dull, lifeless pupils.

[00:15:44] - [Speaker 0]
It was then she fainted. On wakening, the certified woman ran, vowing never to take the same path again. Another similar encounter later occurred in the 1930s apparently, when a local man returning home along the route encountered the very same ghastly vision.

[00:16:02] - [Speaker 1]
Now

[00:16:03] - [Speaker 0]
I try to find out a little bit more about this because I was quite curious, the fact that was was a fairly contemporary report, but I haven't found nothing.

[00:16:12] - [Speaker 1]
Mhmm.

[00:16:13] - [Speaker 0]
But, you know, it's not to say it didn't happen, but just haven't found no evidence to back it up. So the details of the experience have been lost in the midst of time as of the present, but not to say it'll turn up eventually. But yeah, that's what it's meant to be. 300 old murderer and a floating, purified head, which is terrifying. And I mean, if it's a genuine sighting, yeah, that's kind of thing you don't really wanna have to Yeah.

[00:16:42] - [Speaker 1]
You don't wanna

[00:16:43] - [Speaker 0]
You don't wanna really.

[00:16:44] - [Speaker 1]
Want that. No.

[00:16:45] - [Speaker 0]
No. No. No. In the dark running away.

[00:16:47] - [Speaker 1]
No. Following you at your pace as well.

[00:16:50] - [Speaker 0]
At your pace?

[00:16:51] - [Speaker 1]
No. No.

[00:16:52] - [Speaker 0]
No chance.

[00:16:53] - [Speaker 1]
I mean, it must have been at my pace. It won't be going very fast.

[00:16:57] - [Speaker 0]
Either way. I didn't know. I'm sure if you saw that, it would pick up a pace. I'm sure it'd be

[00:17:03] - [Speaker 1]
I'll probably be Usain Bolt. I'll be off.

[00:17:05] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. Heads left standing at the starting line.

[00:17:10] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, dear. Right. Well, my next story is another battlefield. So I do hope there's a theme, isn't there? Battlefields do seem to bring quite They they do.

[00:17:21] - [Speaker 1]
Ghosties out. So we're going to Freezing Hill between Bristol and Bath, which has a reputation of a civil war apparitions.

[00:17:29] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm. Mhmm.

[00:17:31] - [Speaker 1]
It's ghost stories centred around figures in old clothes and encounter that seems to bring the sounds of battle back to the hill side.

[00:17:39] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:17:40] - [Speaker 1]
So the historical connection is the battle of Lansdowne Mhmm. Which was fought on the 07/05/1643. Royalist forces led by a Ralph Hop ton faced parliamentary troops commanded by sir William Waller. And Freezing Hill formed part of the landscape involved in the fighting. So I'm trying to think what...

[00:18:06] - [Speaker 1]
I know it's about Watson, but what would that be? Would that be James the six second?

[00:18:13] - [Speaker 0]
For the... About Charles the first.

[00:18:17] - [Speaker 1]
Charles the first.

[00:18:18] - [Speaker 0]
Charles the first.

[00:18:19] - [Speaker 1]
Charles the first.

[00:18:20] - [Speaker 0]
I think. Oh, okay. My knowledge of that. I'm shameful. Shamefully.

[00:18:25] - [Speaker 1]
That's terrible.

[00:18:26] - [Speaker 0]
My ignorance is is is is is exposed to the masses here.

[00:18:31] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed. Dear indeed.

[00:18:32] - [Speaker 0]
Might be Charles the first.

[00:18:33] - [Speaker 1]
Charles the first. That would that would make sense, wouldn't it, with the rulers? So... Yeah. I I was just thinking of the round heads.

[00:18:42] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. That's true. That's

[00:18:43] - [Speaker 1]
true. Anyway Blimey.

[00:18:45] - [Speaker 0]
We'll have to do some research on that. We'll get back we'll get back to you on that folks. Oh,

[00:18:51] - [Speaker 1]
So, yes. So Mysterious Britain records a tradition of figures in seventeenth century clothing being seen on Freezing Hill. So there is more detailed personal stories associated with the earthworks earthworks in this area as well. In October 2017, a visitor posted an account on the megalithic portal website, signing it Andrew Williams. He described going into earthworks off the main road late one afternoon.

[00:19:25] - [Speaker 1]
As evening approached, he become uncomfortable and felt as though someone was watching him. Oh, I don't like that feeling. Yeah. Then he thought he heard the sounds of fighting, battle cries, muskets, cannons.

[00:19:40] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:19:40] - [Speaker 1]
Mist began to gather. Oh, that's not a good sign, is it? And within it, thought he he could see ghostly figures moving around. William describes a cold feeling passing over him. He wanted to leave, but he said he could not do so until the mist cleared a little.

[00:19:57] - [Speaker 1]
To him, the spirit felt more like a scene from the Battle of Lonsdale being replayed in front of him.

[00:20:04] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:20:05] - [Speaker 1]
Now he also mentioned watching a real sealed knot battle reenactment in the area in 1993. So this was several years beforehand. Yeah. When we saw this, I remember how realistic it had been. However, he described the strange account as happening on another occasion.

[00:20:24] - [Speaker 1]
For William, the hillside appeared to contain an echo of its violent past. Yeah. So was he seeing something unusual or interpreting an unfamiliar evening landscape through his knowledge of battle? So...

[00:20:44] - [Speaker 0]
Even if you were an expert in battles and you'd studied, you'd probably wouldn't hallucinate that.

[00:20:51] - [Speaker 1]
No. You wouldn't have thought so, would you?

[00:20:53] - [Speaker 0]
Well, wouldn't have thought so.

[00:20:54] - [Speaker 1]
Just thought I would add that. You know? Could it it been here?

[00:20:58] - [Speaker 0]
Could it been... I... See, this is... We... The...

[00:21:01] - [Speaker 0]
All these things are up for debate. We have to to chat about these things, don't we?

[00:21:05] - [Speaker 1]
We do.

[00:21:06] - [Speaker 0]
All researchers should chat about these things. We can't take anything for face value. No. Apart from what we're telling you now, but apart from it. It's true.

[00:21:15] - [Speaker 1]
Well, the fact that the mist was coming in and saw the figures. Yeah. No. I'd been out there. I wouldn't care.

[00:21:23] - [Speaker 0]
I would still dive in and I'm out here. I'll come back tomorrow morning, I would have said. Oh, well. Said, do you like the beach?

[00:21:33] - [Speaker 1]
Like the beach? A bit sandy. You like pebbly beach.

[00:21:38] - [Speaker 0]
No. Are you more of a beach or a hilly type person? Hills and forests or beaches?

[00:21:43] - [Speaker 1]
I would say hills and forests.

[00:21:45] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. I'm more of a hills and forests.

[00:21:46] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I'm not much of a beach beach babe, I don't think.

[00:21:50] - [Speaker 0]
The beach is... And a wee sandy beach. You got some lovely beaches in Scotland. The pebbly beaches are, you know, kind of uncomfortable, really.

[00:21:59] - [Speaker 1]
It is a bit. Don't wanna sit on a pebbly beach.

[00:22:01] - [Speaker 0]
Pebbly beach. But this is a rather beautiful beach. And I'll be honest with you guys, it's one of these beaches I've not been to. It's Sandwood Bay, which is a remote beach situated in the Northwest Of Scotland around five miles from Cape Wrath. Now if you've never been up to any beaches in Scotland on the West Coast when it's sunny, they look absolutely wonderful.

[00:22:25] - [Speaker 0]
The photographs make them look like it's The Caribbean. Albeit apart from the heat, but they're beautifully clean and the water's lovely.

[00:22:36] - [Speaker 1]
I don't think you'll be wearing your bikini up there.

[00:22:38] - [Speaker 0]
No. No. No. It's not that kind of... You can be hanging out there and, you know, your Speedos lathered in suntan lotion.

[00:22:47] - [Speaker 0]
Don't think you'd... Well you'd catch her death I guess, but anyway we won't go into that.

[00:22:52] - [Speaker 1]
We're digressing.

[00:22:53] - [Speaker 0]
I am digressing. So it's a relatively inaccessible beach and it remains unspelled but has for decades been home to numerous sightings of a phantom sailor among others. Witnesses have claimed to have seen him peering in the window of a ruined cottage in which they have sheltered, and I have heard that a lot actually. The haunting is not confined to the beach, however, and several beachcomers returning home after bearing small souvenirs such as driftwood and shells have got more than they bargained for when they said apparition has appeared in the house. The most famous example I suppose came from the 1950s 1950s and from a lady from Edinburgh who was a visitor to the beach and picked up an innocuous piece of wood and took it home and then poltergeist type activity began to kick off.

[00:23:46] - [Speaker 0]
The wood was taken from a ruined staircase within the derelict building. It was nothing more than a keepsake, yet she claimed as soon as she returned home, she was woken by the sound of loud footsteps within her property, while ornaments and plates were seen to be thrown from the shelves. On one occasion, she witnessed the figure of a tall weather beaten bearded man who stared at her for some moments before vanishing. A strong smell of tobacco was also noted on several occasions. Scrap of wood was eventually locked away, and with that the disturbance ended.

[00:24:21] - [Speaker 0]
I personally, in those circumstances, would have considered returning it, but that's what she did. Another instance saw a father and son gathering driftwood on the shoreline when their pony became agitated. A bearded man then appeared demanding they stop taking what did not belong to them and demanded that they leave his property. He was obviously a very entitled ghost. There was no, you know, I think if I remember correctly, they did leave but there's nothing been, there wasn't really followed up that aspect of the story.

[00:24:56] - [Speaker 0]
But anyway, it's an ongoing thing. Again, another witness in the same beach visiting with her child, again removed a small piece of wood. There's a theme here with

[00:25:08] - [Speaker 1]
the old

[00:25:08] - [Speaker 0]
wood thing. Yeah. So park in the car near to the beach, they eventually came across an old house, which was assumed to be a bothy. It was still glazed, and with the roof in good order, they tentatively tried the door before entering. Inside, the visitor had a short rest from their walk, and while there, the children took a souvenir in the shape of a small piece of wood, which was taken from the rafters, and it was literally thumb sized, not very big, and was quickly secreted in an empty matchbox, and afterwards the young girl claimed she had felt she'd been followed by some presents and convinced it was her brother, turned around very quickly but saw nothing but thin air.

[00:25:48] - [Speaker 0]
So returning home, the family prepared for school the next day and the daughter now settled in bed was taken by surprise when a small piece of wood landed on the covers. In panic, she shouted for her mother, claiming her brother Robert was annoying her. Not Robert the doll, the Robert. Somewhat perplexed, the mother replied stating that her brother was sitting with them downstairs. So bolting downstairs, she confronted her incredulous family who, in opening the matchbox, had found it to be empty.

[00:26:16] - [Speaker 0]
Who or what had removed the piece of wood and thrown at her bed remains a mystery. Another visitor, Emma, recently contributed a tale to the Highland Paranormal Facebook page, was a really interesting read. Highland Paranormal, of course, very respected research team from Inverness, so good shout out to those guys, They're nice folk. It was an interesting story. It was...

[00:26:45] - [Speaker 0]
They were talking about Sandwood Bay, of course, which is really famous in the area, and a few folk had contributed their own personal stories, And one woman had said that around 2AM they were camping there and they were woken by the sound of footsteps walking around their tent, which they listened to in terror. The footsteps continued to pace outside the tent. Suffice to say, they did not believe they came from Cuban agency, and the crack of dawn left, never to return. Another witness on the same thread described an incident told to him by his late neighbor, which involved her husband. As currently in the 1950s, the witness, who along with companions, became disorientated when an unexpected sea heart or mist descended.

[00:27:33] - [Speaker 0]
So now barely able to see, there were alarmed to hear horses snorting and stamping on the ground all around him. Terrified they would be trampled, they fled towards the dunes for the sound of horses increased. After a short time, the mist cleared and with it the sound of horses. Somewhat shaken, they decided to head back and in doing so, countered a local. They, you know, they recounted their experience to him and he laughed and said, so you've heard them, did you?

[00:28:00] - [Speaker 0]
Before stating that there was no noise, no horses kept in the vicinity. So that's all common stories there Oframsan would be. But the guy, the sailor if you like, has been seen blaming me for over one hundred years. Who he is?

[00:28:19] - [Speaker 1]
He's been around for a long time.

[00:28:20] - [Speaker 0]
Yes.

[00:28:21] - [Speaker 1]
And the moral of this story is that if we keep on saying, do not pick stuff up and bring them home.

[00:28:26] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. That's true.

[00:28:27] - [Speaker 1]
That's just asking for trouble.

[00:28:28] - [Speaker 0]
Yes. Ask for trouble. Don't pick things up. Definitely do not pick things up.

[00:28:33] - [Speaker 1]
Leave them alone. Do not touch them. Nope. Right. Well, well, I'm off to the Norfolk Broads now.

[00:28:41] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, okay.

[00:28:42] - [Speaker 1]
Yes. So we're going to see the Lantern man of Norfolk Broads.

[00:28:46] - [Speaker 0]
Uh-huh.

[00:28:46] - [Speaker 1]
So the Norfolk Broads and surrounding marshes are dark, reeds, mist, water, and uncertain fitting. So you don't really wanna be around there for much longer, would you really?

[00:28:59] - [Speaker 0]
But really?

[00:28:59] - [Speaker 1]
It's a little bit uncertain. Yes. So the lantern man is a local form of the willow the wisp.

[00:29:07] - [Speaker 0]
Okay. Yeah.

[00:29:08] - [Speaker 1]
Or jack o' lantern. When I hear willow the wisp, I just feel of. Do you remember Willow the Wisp?

[00:29:12] - [Speaker 0]
I do. The mug. Yes. Do. Or mug.

[00:29:16] - [Speaker 0]
Kenneth Williams. Yeah.

[00:29:19] - [Speaker 1]
A moving light could look like a person carrying a lantern. Following it, it's said to draw travelers to bogs, pools or river channels. And there's a warning about whistling as well. Okay. So whistling was believed to attract the lantern man.

[00:29:38] - [Speaker 1]
Mocking or challenging him could provoke pursuit or an attack. One traditional escape was to lie down in the mud and hold your breath until he passed. This was part of the superstition, not real safety advice.

[00:29:55] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:29:56] - [Speaker 1]
So, you know, you put yourself down, you face down in the mud, and you come up, you have a nice complexion as well. So it's one good thing out of it as well. Another account describes two travelers whistling in turn from opposite sides of the field, distracting him for long enough to escape. There's also a story about Mrs. Lubbock.

[00:30:18] - [Speaker 1]
Mrs. Lubbock reclaimed election were published by the Reverend John Gunn in 1849.

[00:30:25] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:30:25] - [Speaker 1]
She's described earlier sightings near Heard's Hole. On foggy nights, the light rose and fell and twisted about. She connected it with the spirit of the drowned man named Heard. Mhmm. Her father's companion once whistled and jeered at it on the way home from harvest celebrations.

[00:30:42] - [Speaker 1]
The light followed him home and flared outside his window. A rider who mocked it is said to have been knocked down from his horse. Three men tried to bind the spirit using scripture Mhmm. But it stayed averse ahead. That's unusual.

[00:31:00] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:31:01] - [Speaker 1]
A boy brought two pigeons. The distraction made the spirit lose its place, allowing them to bind it. That's just weird, that one. What? It's just...

[00:31:14] - [Speaker 1]
I wrote it, but I don't know where I've actually read it right.

[00:31:20] - [Speaker 0]
Well, I'm just going with it anyway, whatever happens.

[00:31:22] - [Speaker 1]
Okay. Right. So basically, I think three men tried to bind the spirit with scripture, and it stayed... So it knew the scripture.

[00:31:29] - [Speaker 0]
Knew scripture.

[00:31:30] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So it was a verse ahead of it, and two pigeons distracted it. Could... Obviously, the spirit thought, pigeon.

[00:31:38] - [Speaker 0]
Outrageous.

[00:31:39] - [Speaker 1]
And then they're allowed to bind it. There you go. So they're saying that they're binding it. So that's just weird anyway. So, anyway, there's Joseph Bexfield who was a worry man who drowned on the eleventh of August eighteen o nine when he's aged 38, and his gravestone is in the local churchyard.

[00:31:58] - [Speaker 1]
Mhmm. The story attached to his death was that he works on the River Yar, which is between Norwich and Yarmouth. And in the legend, he and four of boatmen stopped at the White Horse Inn near Fulton. Mhmm. Before going home, he remembered things that he had left abroad in his boat for his wife.

[00:32:17] - [Speaker 1]
So his friends warned him against crossing the marsh at night. The lantern man was abroad. Mhmm. He dismissed their warnings and went into the darkness, and his body was subsequently found river.

[00:32:30] - [Speaker 0]
Crikey.

[00:32:30] - [Speaker 1]
So, yeah, I think the river man got got the blame for that. Other retellings also described a shadowy figure wandering around the marsh and disappearing into the river. So could that be the lantern man or could it been him?

[00:32:45] - [Speaker 0]
Bizarre.

[00:32:46] - [Speaker 1]
So yes, so don't whistle when you're in

[00:32:48] - [Speaker 0]
the No, no, you don't whistle. Up north there's Bothy, and I've never been to it, they describe as the Tarff Hotel. Sometimes seats are a of a joke because I'm sure it's not a hotel. I could be wrong. But records show that since 1794 it was used as a place of refuge, but after the renovations of 1806 it became the haunt of poachers before it became eventually the haunt of ghosts.

[00:33:18] - [Speaker 0]
It's been burnt, rebuilt and then repaired by the Duke of Atholl and is eventually renovated by the Mountain Bothy Association in the 1990s. Lots of people have lived there. Obviously, over the years, it's got a strange reputation as a lot of these places have. But if you ask mountaineers and walkers about haunted Bothies, 50 will say yes, there's something weird, 50 will say it's nonsense because I've never experienced anything there, but then that's maybe down to the people, not so much what's the ghosts, but the people and how they, their openness to these things perhaps, I do not know. But anyway one walker wrote that while walking down towards the Bothy she became convinced that someone was walking behind her but on looking back there was no one to be seen.

[00:34:07] - [Speaker 0]
The feeling continued until she reached the Bothy, though when on arrival she sensed there was now someone inside. So tentatively she looked through the window and called out but could receive no reply. Despite this she intrinsically knew there was someone or something which felt quite menacing inside the Bothy. She simply could not open the door. In the same building, but on a different occasion, another unwary walker arrived to find it already occupied, Feeling awkward, you know, as would in these situations, she introduced herself to the small gathering who were already round the fire that appeared to be in good spirits, though the recent arrival opted to sit apart from the group, preferring to delve into her book.

[00:34:52] - [Speaker 0]
Soon after the gathering were alerted by the sound of a mighty crash as if a rock had been hurled at the wall. Gathering forces together, the group grabbed their torches and quickly investigated, only to find outside was completely deserted. Another walker described staying at the Tarff Hotel around 2018 and described a feeling of immense dread. They had a few drinks which they readily admitted to, but not enough to dull their senses, and after a while the group settled down for the night. Sometime later, and freezing cold, they walked to see what they thought was someone at the window.

[00:35:28] - [Speaker 0]
The company went outside to look, but found nothing. On entering, they were again met with a terrible feeling of dread, which meant they had a very sleepless night. Discovered that soon after another contributor had also stayed in the same building, but this time it in the month of August. He later wrote, I also had a scary night and at around 5AM was woken by what I thought was a large human sneeze which came from inside the bothy. I thought someone had entered while was sleeping.

[00:36:01] - [Speaker 0]
I wasn't brave enough to look, but instead lay for ten minutes until I dozed off. But then I was wakened by the door opening and closing, making a banging noise in the wind. I stayed awake until 3AM and heard a noise like two heavy stones being thrown very loudly against the wooden walls above me. I stayed put and eventually got a couple of hours sleep. No future solo visits were planned.

[00:36:27] - [Speaker 0]
So I don't know. It's a strange one. I mean, again, it could be put down on all sorts of things, couldn't it? People claim mice running about making noises, and I suppose the wind as well, but I don't know. It'd still make you very nervous to sleep there, I think.

[00:36:43] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. Yeah. So is it ghosts a natural phenomena? I don't know.

[00:36:49] - [Speaker 1]
Hope you enjoyed those stories. Join us next week for more Bothies and Spooky Landscapes. Until next week, keep the lights on, still scared.