GHOSTS OF THE HIGHWAY

Throughout England there have been many reports of alleged road ghosts making sudden dramatic appearances. While some have sent vehicles into screeching skids, others have caused serious accidents. Many motorists have been known to hear strange noises and banging sounds on the windows of their vehicles. More dramatically, others have driven straight through these bizarre entities, feeling an icy chill in their wake. The accounts that follow are but a few of the many phantoms thought to haunt stretches of England’s highways…

Driving at night can often be scary enough, particularly down winding, unlit country roads. Just imagine encountering a vague figure suddenly drifting into the glare of your headlights. Many motorists have witnessed such unexplained phenomena. Some have even felt these apparitions pass straight through their vehicles.


There are many such roads in the U.K. that harbour ghoulish predators including Barford Bridge, Northamptonshire, The Devil’s Highway, near Bolton, Blue Bell Hill, Kent, and the A23 close to Brighton, where there have been many reports of what are described as ‘spectral pedestrians’.

At Christmas time in 1976, Mr. Dave Wright and his wife Joan were journeying home to Brighton on the A23 having visited relatives in Birmingham. To their horror the car headlights suddenly picked out the vague figure of a man seemingly drifting across the road. Although they had not heard the sound of any impact they were both concerned enough to turn around and travel back down the road to investigate. They couple parked up and searched around, but could find no one. Mrs Wright later claimed how she had found the whole incident eerie and ‘felt a bit scared’. In retrospect the events of that evening took on an even more sinister tone when she discovered others had also encountered strange figures drifting across the road, particularly by another couple only a month earlier.

A Mr. Patrick Geary and his wife claimed to have seen the vague figure of a woman, on that same stretch of road, wearing a white raincoat. The woman had stepped straight into the path of their car. Mr. Geary had braked hard but, like Mr and Mrs Wright, had felt no impact. It was as if the bizarre figure has passed straight through their vehicle. On stopping the car the couple looked about but could find no trace of the woman.

The local Evening Argus had reported many sightings of mysterious phantoms on a particular stretch of the A23 dating back several years. These had included a figure in a red coat and also a limping blonde woman near Pyecombe, thought to have been the apparition of a young woman killed in a motorcycle accident. Numerous other accounts also came to light involving the vague figure of ‘a young man in cricketing clothes’ and ‘a tall woman in a cape and hood’ accompanied by ‘the figure of a child similarly dressed’.

Another stretch of road that is said to be haunted is the Stocksbridge Bypass near Sheffield. The aim of the bypass was to ease traffic congestion in the area, but soon became a notorious accident black spot. This was mainly attributed to reckless drivers often overtaking on double white lines. However, perhaps even more disturbing is the belief that the bypass is possessed by the wandering dead.

The road was finally opened in 1988. Within the following decade, however, a total of fourteen people had died in accidents on that stretch of the bypass and scores of others injured in horrendous accidents.

One particularly disturbing encounter was had by a gentleman named Paul Ford; this occurred on the night of New Year’s Eve 1997, when he and his wife Jane were travelling to the town of Stockbridge. Quite suddenly an eerie figure seemed to float into the road causing Paul to slam hard on the brakes. The car went into a dangerous skid veering across the two lanes of carriageway. It was only due to his wife’s rapid reaction, in taking hold of the wheel, that prevented an accident. The shaken couple eventually continued on their journey. Needless to say, they both remained in a state of shock and drove with extreme caution. Paul had been so shaken by the incident that he never again drove on that stretch of road.

Numerous other motorists claimed to have experienced peculiar sightings of ghost-like figures on the bypass. It was, therefore, not long before rumours soon began to spread that during the building of the bypass and ancient burial ground had been disturbed, which had reawakened ghostly activity. Motorists started to become ever more anxious when the road was proclaimed to be possessed by phantoms, including the alleged appearance of a ghostly monk, said to have been disturbed from his resting place. Others claimed to have experienced the vague, shimmering figure of a woman in white, whilst some said they had seen a group of dancing children who it is believed had died in a dreadful mining accident. It is hardly surprising that the Stocksbridge Bypass has engendered the reputation of being one of the most haunted roads in the world.

One of the more common spectral encounters associated with road ghosts are that of phantom hitchhikers. Tales of such phenomena have so often been repeated that they have now entered the realm of urban myth. Nonetheless, one particularly compelling account was told by a 26 year old man named Roy Fulton from Dunstable, Berkshire.
Roy had been driving home from a darts match held at a pub in the nearby town of Leighton Buzzard. He was feeling buoyant and in good spirits after a pleasant evening in the company of friends. After driving for three miles he approached a remote stretch of road near the outskirts of Stanbridge. Standing by the side of the road, in a small lay-by, was a young man thumbing a lift. As it was getting late he decided he would do the decent thing and offer him a lift. Pulling into the lay-by he opened the rear nearside door and, without a word, the young man got into the car.

Roy tried to initiate conversation by this was met with an unnerving silence from his passenger. He asked where he was headed, but again the young man said nothing. He merely stretched out his arm and pointed dead ahead.
After driving a short distance, the uncomfortable silence was beginning to make Roy feel uneasy. Nevertheless, he felt the hitchhiker was perhaps a little shy or embarrassed. He offered him a cigarette in the hope it might help to relax him and initiate some light conversation. Once again the young man said nothing. By this time Roy was becoming mildly concerned over the stubborn silence of his passenger and glanced fleetingly over his shoulder to see if he was alright. To his amazement the young man had gone. He stopped the car to check he had not slumped to the floor, but found nothing.

Roy was totally bewildered. He thought that perhaps he had fallen out of the car. However, if that had been the case, it would have activated the interior light on the vehicle. Furthermore, he would have felt a cold daft of air enter the car.

Roy was extremely concerned as he had been travelling at some speed. What if he had fallen out of the car? As he had given the young man a lift, he felt in some way, responsible. He therefore felt compelled to retrace his journey to where he had picked up the young hitchhiker. Roy drove slowly, scanning the road, but found nothing.
He later reported the incident to the police, who assured him that they would investigate the matter. Although nothing was said at the time, it was later discovered that the police had been informed of similar incidents by other motorists on the same stretch of the road.

However, perhaps the most disturbing account of a road ghost was told to me some years ago in which the apparition actually appeared quite lifelike and actually spoke.

A motorist had been taking a scenic route home one night, down an unlit country road, when he suddenly noticed a strange glowing light up ahead. The light seemed to keep pace with his vehicle, yet the eerie glow did not resemble the tail lights of a car. The man accelerated but the weird light drew no closer. Then, quite suddenly, the dazzling light simply disappeared.

Feeling somewhat dazed, the man pulled over and wound down the window in order to take some fresh air. As he did so he found himself reeling in horror at the sight of what confronted him. Glaring in at him was the hideously mutilated face of a man. Then, in a strained and mournful voice, the loathsome creature uttered the words, “If I exist, who am?” before fading into the darkness once more.
Quite understandably the man did not leave the car to investigate. Jumping back into the driver’s seat he revved up the engine and roared off. Needless to say, he never again took the scenic route home.