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"Never
go walking at night on your own especially across the Stray past
the Tewit Well" said my over-anxious mother to me when I was
in my early teens.
Of
course these days no one is safe walking anywhere alone in broad
daylight let alone after dark. You wouldn't dream of it but thirty
years ago it seemed an unreasonable demand to make on a responsible
fourteen year old girl.
I thought
no more of my mother's warning until one foggy winter's evening,
the memory of which will haunt me forever.
It
was on 14th December, when returning from a friend's birthday party,
I missed the bus back. This meant an hour's wait in freezing fog,
a long walk to avoid the Stray or a quick run across. I decided
on the last option.
I started
to run at full pelt but soon was forced to walk slowly due to a
sharp pain in my side because of all the party food I'd consumed.
The
dense fog was bringing visibility down to just a few inches. You
could only make out the lamp posts when you were practically on
top of them and the dim light they gave out made ghostly looking
shadows against the trees.
The
silence was eerie too, it was total: I couldn't hear any traffic
on the busy road behind me. My lively imagination didn't help either.
Suddenly
out of the fog came a tall figure who would have walked into me
had I not stopped abruptly.
She
was young, about twenty, in a long black skirt and jacket. I couldn't
see her face as it was obscured by a black net veil. (I instantly
recalled my school project on the Victorians).
She
was beckoning me towards the Tewit Well and I felt compelled to
follow though my legs were like lead.
The
Well was derelict now, graffiti scribbled on its walls; cigarette
ends, empty crisp packets and toffee wrappers strewn on its floor.
As
my eyes became accustomed to the darkness inside, I saw the woman
sit down on a bench by the well-head which was partially covered
by scaffolding.
She
started to wail and put her head in her hands. Then slowly, turning
to me she beckoned me forward to look ...
It
was then that real panic and sheer terror set in. I started to scream
and I knew I had to get away or I'd be the victim of a similar fate.
How
I got home that night I'll never know but my mother's comment as
I ran in was "You're as white as a sheet. Have you seen a ghost?"
The
front page headline on the following day's Harrogate Advertiser
read: 'GRIM DISCOVERY AT TEWIT WELL' and underneath "The tiny
skeleton of a baby was uncovered yesterday while workmen were restoring
the historic Tewit Well. Police inspectors have been called to the
scene to investigate ..."
You
can still visit the Tewit Well today but remember don't go alone
on the night of 14th December.
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to the Ghost Story index
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