On Saturday 11th June 2022, I met up with the paranormal author, *Ruth Roper Wylde in Prestbury, which is said to be the most haunted village in the country.
The weather was sunny with partial clouds, perfect weather for walking and chatting about all things paranormal. We took in the route of the ghost walk map that the local scout group had drawn up (which you can find here https://www.shurdington.org/Scouts/Documents/PrestburyGhostWalk.pdf and set off from the Kings Arms pub on the High Street. When discussing the various ghostly men on horseback, the map stated there were two that were placed on the map. Ruth said she had heard of a third one so we decided to go down the lane where this apparition had been spotted.
Shaw Green Lane is a lovely lane, with many attractive houses on either side. As we slowly drove down the lane, we joked about having a loudhailer on the car and shouting out “Got ghosts?” and “Bring out your ghosts” to the residents so we were in a very jolly mood. As we approached the end of the lane where the houses were, the lane became single file, with passing spaces on each side. The trees and the bushes that lined this part of the lane were full with lush foliage, with fields on either side.
As we approached a bend in the lane, I saw what I can only describe as a brown/grey human figure on the left hand side of the road. It appeared male in appearance and the shoulders were hunched. I honestly thought it was someone walking on the road. It was around 30 feet away but had disappeared on the bend of the road. We slowly approached the bend, thinking this person would be on the road but no one was there.
We took the car over the main road and parked up on the opposite road called Gravel Pit Lane. I took the photo of Shaw Green Lane from that position. We decided to go back down Shaw Green Lane, park up and observe, to see if anything happened. We parked up just near the bend and sat there , in the car. Ruth saw light anomalies in a tree that was opposite as well as some tiny Jacob’s ladders in the tree also. The upbeat feeling that we felt just a few minutes previously, turned into feelings of something was amiss and quite oppressive. I got out of the car and observed the bend in the lane and the tree that Ruth had seen the visual anomalies. We stayed for several minutes, noticing that when I got back in the car, the atmosphere had returned to normal. It was an interesting situation, which was noted, acted upon and observed.
Later on, after I returned home, I was looking for a hole punch. I had a feeling it was in one of the boxes stored under the bed so I went looking. As i was pulling the third box out, my left hand side was tilted up as my right arm was pulling out the boxes, I heard the noise of a breath. The sort of breath like when you breathe on your glasses to clean. It sounded as it came from the doorway and travelled so I heard it right in my left ear. It startled me as it was very loud and shouted “Who is that?” but received no answer. I went downstairs to tell my partner what had happened. He had heard me shout but thought I was shouting at a fly (which I do!) so he didn’t take too much notice. Whether that was something from Prestbury or something already in the house, I don't know. (read here for what’s been happening in my house https://mysticaltimesblog.com/haunted-house-happenings/ )
Another point of interest to the experience at Prestbury is that when I tweeted about it, someone who had lived in Prestbury as a child told me of the experience he and his young pals had nearly 30 years ago. They were walking down Spring Lane that is adjacent to Shaw Green Lane, after playing in a stream in a nearby film, when this happened; “There was an image of a floating spectral thing ahead of us, in the middle of the lane. I couldn't see it but my friends where adamant, they looked so freaked and were trying to convince me this thing was there. Eventually it went. We didn't go down that lane again that summer.”
I did a little research and found that there had been 2 medieval fishponds around both of those lanes as it had been the manor of the Bishops of Hereford and there has been excavations that show a house had stood on these lands from the 12th century, with the thought that there was probably a house there from the later 9th century. Also, the Prestbury Workhouse stood near to Gravel pit lane so I would imagine the residents would walk into the centre of Prestbury via Shaw Green Lane.
So, 2 different lanes, 2 similar but different experiences plus both seen in the daylight. The ghosts and hauntings of Prestbury have a lot of witnesses that see and experience these apparitions during daylight hours and I will be writing more about the lesser known accounts of the ghosts that haunt this pretty Gloucestershire village.
If you have a spooky account in Prestbury then please contact me as I’d love to hear it -Michele Eve Mystical Times Blog
*If you’ve had a spooky experience on any road in the UK, please contact Ruth Roper Wylde here Ruthroperwylde@gmail.com
