Ghost Walk

 If you go hunting for ghosts on a sunny Saturday afternoon the likelihood of encountering any spectres must diminish somewhat. Of course, with those facts at our fingertips that is precisely what my friend Elena and I decided to do when we headed over into Kent a few weeks back. It might seem a slightly odd decision, but factor in that we were in allegedly the most haunted village in the UK maybe Pluckley wasn't such a daft idea👻

Fortified by lunch and tales from the landlady about how you soon get accustomed to seeing a little girl sitting on the end of your bed and that the unexplained odd happenings in the pub are so regular that you barely register them we sallied forth to the parish church of St Nicholas. So with a mere 13 different spooks to choose ranging from monks, dogs and a young lady who poisoned herself with a drink made from toxic berries, this one is the haunt of the White Lady [white and grey ladies abound in the UK]. It's been reported that strange lights have been seen inside the church and the belief is that they emanate from the wife of one of the Dering barons who owned most of the village from the 15th century through to 1928. It's claimed that her grieving husband had her buried in the family vault [see photo below] encased in several lead coffins with a red rose and an outer oak sarcophagus to preserve her beauty. In truth we were more spooked by the weird pulsating orange stream of light we saw as we approached the church tower....we speculated as to what on earth we were seeing, but I'm afraid that the mundane explanation is that there was a tiny scrap of leaf or caterpillar caught on my friend's phone camera lens which was being blown about by the wind😁

Those very same Derings are the same lot who are responsible apparently for this unusual shape of window which you see throughout the place. Sir Edward ['gentleman extraordinary' of the King's Privy Chamber no less]. During the Civil War this chap made good his escape from Cromwell's forces by diving head through such a window. There's nothing quite like blowing your own trumpet is there...just in case anyone forgot this chapter of history he had all the windows built in the same style in his rebuilt manor house [burnt down in 1951]. Or did he? Another version has it that one of his descendants saw that all the village buildings had the windows to commemorate this great escapade. When you own the village I guess your word goes!

Pluckley itself is small and most charming. It pays absolutely no heed to its haunted reputation and although you may never heard of it, it's known as the place where 'The Darling Buds of May' was filmed back in the day and during the Great War it was a Remount Centre for moving horses to and from The Front. We enjoyed stumbling across the different styles of building as we followed the ghost walk route. Not everyone we encountered was friendly though. As one in the ownership of black cats, I tend to assume that they're all friendly souls, but this one definitely gave us short shrift. The message was loud and clear...just bog off you two will you and leave me to sunbathe in peace in my personal puddle of sunshine😼😾

Having completed our little circuit we carried on out along the surrounding country lanes. Looking at those gorgeous blue skies it seems hard to believe that it had been grey and teeming down when we first arrived. 

Is anyone with me in wanting to rescue that poor old Moggy Minor rusting away out in the elements like that? I'm sure someone would love to have a go at restoring it, although it may be that the bodywork is already too far gone😢

Our final stop was the Dering Woods. You know if somewhere is also known as the 'Screaming Woods' there's got to be a story behind it. On 1st November 1948 a gruesome discovery of 20 bodies piled up was made. They were local people and the cause of death has never been fully explained. Officially carbon monoxide is suspected, but if there was foul play no one has ever been brought to justice. The original newspaper article is here https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Dering_Woods?file=DeringWoodMassacre.jpg However, if you create a vacuum people are going to fill it and the whole affair has taken on a life of its own within the 'creepy pasta' [ an internet genre of short horror stories I gather.....the things I learn when blogging!!] sector especially since 4 students were supposed to have disappeared in there following a camping trip in 1998. Frankly I don't know what to believe. We did venture in and I can confirm that it has some rather natty fungi [the white one is Candle Snuff, but I don't know the pink one...Rosy Bonnet maybe?]. 

In truth there's a bit of an odd vibe in there so we didn't tarry. For whatever reason sometimes places seem to retain an atmosphere of sorts which doesn't always feel welcoming. It may of course simply be a case of a febrile imagination after an exciting day of adventuring😀

Arilx