FT389 45It will have been noted that thereisa
bridge nearthe church,and one inevitable
question is whether thismightbethe one
where MissWand her friendshad theirown
experienceyearslater.Istrongly believe
thatthisis notthe case: thelocation is
undoubtedly morethan20to30minutes
from AltonTowers;the bridge isover abrook
which is not12ft(3.6m) below;the road goes
down to,rather thanupto, the bridge;and
while theChimneyHouse Hotelisnearby,
it in nowayfits Miss W’sdescription of the
publichouse.Thefact thatthelocationis
between aquarter andahalf mile from
Junction 17 of theM6 motorway is also
significant:the directionofthe roads and
lanesmean this isnotaroute that Miss W
and her friendswould have beenlikelyto
travel; the proximity of themotorway makes
it unlikely there wasamobile phone black
spot; andMiss Wdoesnotrecall amotorway
beingnearby.Therefore, although MrG’s
story is fascinatingin itself,itdoesnot refer
to the same phenomenonand location as
Miss W’sexperience.
THE CONFETTI JOGGER
Around 6.30am one dayinearly November
2017, AlisonGraham,aged44, ofWhitehill
in Staffordshire,was travellingfrom
Thorncliffetowardsthe MermaidInnonthe
StaffordshireMoorlands.Therewas fog, so
thickshe could onlysee afewyardsahead.
Thereforeshe drovecautiouslyatlessthan
20mph(32kmh). As she passedthe lay-by
beforethe Mermaid,ajogger suddenlycame
out of nowhere,on the samesideofthe road,
runningawayfromher.She describedhim
as “verytall, slimandwearing darkclothes
withreflective materialtothe bottomof his
top andon the backofhis runningshoes.”
Shehit thebrakeshardand grippedthe
steering wheel tightly, as thecar inevitably
slid towardshim.Then,onthe point of
impact,“Hedisintegrated. Like confetti.”
It wasasifhehad turnedinto smallpieces
of paperright beforeher eyes. Butthenhe
wasgone, leaving Alison“shocked, amazed
and terrified allinequal quantities”.She
stoppedthecar andcheckedthe road behind
her, butfoundnothingotherthan thethick
fog.^3
Dawn Myatttold ofasimilarexperience
drivingaloneonthe M6 one night from
Staffordtowards Stoke-on-Trent. It was
around 9.30pm andstill light,with little
traffic. Suddenlyshe sawaman in the
middleofthe motorway,wearingadenim
jacket, jeans andcheckshirt,with collar-
lengthwavydarkblonde hair, like someone
from theearly 1970s.Hestarted towalk just
beforeshe hit him butshe felt nothing.She
pulledoverbut therewas no one there. Nita
Reynolds added that“thereisastretch of
the M6 that’swell knownfor hauntings”and
described thisasbeingaroundJunction 17.^4
SPACEMAN ONAMOTORBIKE
It wasduringmydiscussionswith Mike
Walters thathealerted me toamotorbike
storytoldto himby afriend,alsocalled
Mike.Unfortunately, it wastoo late for
inclusioninmyUneasy Ridersarticleabout
road ghosts on motorbikes (FT358:42-47).
Onedayinthe 1950sor1960s Mike’s
fatherwasroughlyhalfwayupthe very
steeppartofKeele Road(knownlocally
as KeeleBank), justoutsideNewcastle-
under-LymeinStaffordshire.Itwas midto
lateevening and dark, that stretch of the
road beingunlit.His father wasonfootand
doingsomepoaching,and wastherefore
trying to be asdiscreet as possible.Just
then he heard astrange mechanicalroaring
soundcomingfrom down thehill, from the
Newcastle direction, and sawamotorbike
approaching him,much quicker than he
wouldhaveexpected.Hewas struckbythe
number of lights, whichweremuchbrighter
than typical motorcycle lightsofthattime.
Mike’sfatherwasscaredbut continuedto
stareatwhathedescribed asa‘Spaceman’
on averystrange, streamlined motorbike;
indeed,he wasn’t100 per cent sureitwasa
motorbikeuntilit went past. He described
the rider aswearingasort of one-piece suit
andamassive streamlinedhelmet witha
mirrored visor,which he later said resembled
aspace helmet.The ‘Spaceman’ glancedin
his directionbut did not stop; themotorbike
justroared paston its wayupthe bank.Once
it wasout of sight,Mike’sfatherdecided it
wastime toreturnhome.Helater told Mike
what he hadseen, andthe story becamewell
knowninthe family.
Many yearslater, probably around the
Millennium, Mikewas ridingupKeeleBank
on hismodernmotorbike when hefound
himselfapproachingthe spotwhere his
fathertold himhe’dseenthe ‘Spaceman’.As
he passedthe spot hegot an uncontrollable
urge tolookto the side of theroad, as if half-
expecting to seehis father, who hadlong
since passed away. Hewasdisappointed,
but unsurprised,to seethe roadsidewas
empty.However,hethenrealised thatit wasmid tolate eveningandhewas dressed in
an outfitwhich wasexactly thesame as
hisfather haddescribed all thoseyears
before.Inaddition,his motorbikewas a
big, powerful,modern machine, withbright
lightsand adistinctroaring sound. As he
lookeddownathis one-piecebikeleathers
he remembered hewasalsowearinga
mirrored visor helmet.Apowerfulfeeling
sweptover himthatevening, onethathe
couldnotshake.Hesaid:“What ifwhat
myfathersaw on that nightall thoseyears
agowas me asIamnow?” To this dayMike
believes thatthis might have beenthe case:
somehow, in the1950s or 1960s, hisfather
had seenhis ownmiddle-aged son gopast
himonhis motorbike–perhapsaghost
from the future...EMI LY
In March 2019Igaveapresentation
aboutroad ghosts to MikeWalter’s
Newcastle-under-Lyme-basedMysteries
group.Members of thegroup hadmade
great effort toidentify whereMiss W’s
experience had takenplace,bothby
visitingpotentiallocations north of Stoke-
on-Trent andchecking Google-based
sources.Frustratinglytheyhad drawn
acompleteblank.Thefollowingmonth
IgaveapresentationatWeirdWeekend
North2019(FT381:22-23)whichincluded
theabovecases. MuchtomysurpriseIwas
approachedby people fromtheaudience
whosaid thattheyknewsomeonewhohad
also seena‘ghostbride’ in Staffordshire,
but tothe south of Stoke-on-Trent –anarea
notcloselyinvestigatedby theMysteries
group.Theyagreedtoput this person in
touchwithme. Ihoped thatthis might
proveasecond and confirmatorycase of the
same phantom, which wouldhelp specify
the locationinvolvedand therebyleadto
furtherenquiries.
Iwas eventually contactedby Karen
(pseudonym)who told me thatshewasABOVE:KeeleBank,outsideNewcastle-under-Lyme,whereMikeWalters’sfathersawthe‘spaceman’.