In the latest edition of our ‘Little Did You Know’ series, we take a look at some spine-tingling ghost stories with the help of Richard Felix
Part of the rail track at Ambergate(Image: Eric Ladbury)
It’s Christmas Eve in the 1950s and a lone railway worker is walking on night patrol near Ambergate when he is struck by how silent the night is compared to normal – no wind, no hum from the telegraph lines and no calling foxes.
But then came a distant sound he could not place – the faint noise of a train taking the curve from the north – yet none were due.
The sound grew louder, the rails began to tremble and the glow loomed around the bend – so he stepped back to give it room.
The train came on but its motion was wrong. There was no steam and although people seemed to be on board they were just sitting, not talking.
As it passed, the railway worker saw there was no driver in the cab and it carried on into the tunnel nearby. He waited for an echo but there wasn’t one.
As he neared the tunnel, the tracks ahead appeared dry and clean, untouched by the snow that had been falling all evening.
He went home at dawn and put it all down to tiredness, without mentioning what he saw to anyone. The following Christmas Eve, he saw the same thing happen again but never at any other time of the year.
Years later in the 1970s, when the line had closed beyond the junction at Ambergate, he returned to the place with his son at the same time but couldn’t access the exact stretch of line as before. Sure enough, he heard the noise but his son suggested it might be traffic on the main road.
It seems that over the years, other people have heard the same noise and seen a faint light but there is never anything there, just a smell of old oil and iron and the train that never came.
This is one of 50 Derbyshire Christmas ghost stories compiled by historian, broadcaster, and long-time ghost investigator Richard Felix, which has been recently published in a book.
Richard Felix on one of his nights of storytelling and ghost walks in Derby(Image: Derby Telegraph)
Another one which appears in the book concerns a Derby city centre incident and a large hound seen in the Amen Alley area near the cathedral on a foggy night.
The couple who saw it told Mr Felix and he recognised a pattern of hauntings worldwide involving hounds and dogs, who appear at crossroads, bridges and gateways and are symbolic of the living world touching the next.
He said: “I checked local archives and discovered a 17th-century dog-keeper had lived near to Amen Alley and one of his mastiff hounds had died suddenly and was buried nearby.
“When I take a ghost walk that way, I often feel something brush my leg and people have reported hearing panting. I think the hound is simply guarding its former earthly dwelling place and keeping watch.”
Mr Felix, who owns Derby Gaol, is well-known for his paranormal television work and also leads ghost walks across Derbyshire.
Amen Alley photographed by Richard Keene in about 1869 before the medieval timber-framed building was demolished and featuring a lamp arch where the hound was seen(Image: Richard Keene)
He said: “In the case of the train that never came, one man who grew up in the village told me that his grandmother used to leave a lamp in her window every Christmas Eve facing the old line and would say it was for the people still travelling so they wouldn’t be forgotten.
“He also said he sometimes dreamt about the train and believed that it was not a ghost train but more an echo of the past.
“I thought about what he said, that a place can grow so used to a rhythm that it keeps it alive long after the reason is gone.”
Mr Felix’s book is compiled of what he calls “stories that found me”. He said: “Over the years, I have heard hundreds of accounts.
“The stories in the book were all shared with me during walks, talks or investigations held over more than 30 years. Names and details have been softened to protect those who spoke, but the essence remains as I heard it.
“I have filled the gaps with local history, explained the logic behind a haunting and, in some cases, dressed the bare bones of a memory.”
Richard Felix’s book Derbyshire Christmas Ghost Stories is priced at £13.99.
The next instalment in the ‘Little Did You Know’ series will be coming soon. Meanwhile, catch up with some of the best ones below:
