A Ghost Story

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mercalia
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A Ghost Story

Post by mercalia »

I had a very strange experience today. Over the summer I have been exploring North Kent around the Gravesend/Medway. I came across the old Napoleonic forts at Cliffe and Shorne. I visited Shorne fort today. You can only get to it by cycle on the NCR 1 path - the road leading up to it Queens Farm Rd is cut off from it at the crossing which is locked to key holders - the pedestrian gate is welded shut.

Anyway I got there. The fort is just a semi circular wall about 12 feet high, a wall for a battery of guns to protect the Thames. A pretty forlorn place marred by the graffiti and beer cans littered around. These days it is open land for grazing pretty bedraggled horses/ponies ( when I looked )

Shorne Fort
Shorne Fort


It was a very sunny day, a time to do some sun bathing or just bask in the sun. The horses were munching the grass on the outer side of the fort, none were in the fort its self, so I didnt think I would be troubled by them. A few of them did look through the gun portals, just stood there watching me on the other side.
It was getting toward middle afternoon. I got my Lidl pillow out and found myself a nice comfortable grassy spot near the walls out of the wind. Shut my eyes and let the world go by warmed by the sun's rays away from the noise of London. This must have gone on for nearly an hour. About 3.30 I was disturbed by the sound of horses hoofs. I immediately thought one of the horses had decided to take a look on the side where I was, I sat up right and saw a large carthorse type horse move from the wall toward the centre of the fort.It didnt go very far, let out a neigh turned and went back the way it had come, after looking in my direction, through what I thought must be a breach in the wall to the outer side. This was my only concern. A breach I hadnt seen. The horse went its way through. I was worried about this as I hadnt seen this hole when I made a cursory examination of the fort. A short time after the horse had gone its way ( I didnt want to meet it!) I went to look at this wall breach - trouble was there wasnt any. Where the horse had gone the wall was intact, 12 feet of intact. Where had this horse come from and returned to?
Edwards
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by Edwards »

It sounds like you were having a dream about the horses in the stage just before waking up. So when you did wake it still seemed real.
Great story to tell the kids or grandchildren.
Keith Edwards
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mercalia
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by mercalia »

Well the trouble with that was I wasnt asleep more a meditation. And I didnt dream sitting up and seeing the horse go back and forth then at the same moment wake up and see my self sat up when the horse had gone? I had been thinking of places to rough camp or just bivvy that I had found on my wanderings in Medway
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gaz
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by gaz »

Having played explorers in many of the Medway forts in my youth, including Shornemead, I've since looked up more details on-line.

There are certainly some strange stories, many about passages that don't appear on the plans and some about apparitions.

I took this picture near Shornemead crossing in January 2013.

Image

Some see a ghostly face in the will-o-the-wisp, I just think my camera's no good in the cold.

Phantom ponies are something I haven't come across before, I'll keep an eye out for them from now on though.
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mercalia
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by mercalia »

It wasnt a pony more a horse, seemed a very large one thats why I described it as a carthorse, not the scraggy things that were grazing. I was taken aback. This seemed like Alpha Male stuff. when it went "thru" the wall I think I heard it climb over some thing, but surely not over a 12 foot wall?

Is just water mist - I have seen that a lot in East Anglia on the Broads where I come from. it looks strange as u caught it frozen in time.
Last edited by mercalia on 4 Sep 2014, 12:00am, edited 1 time in total.
TonyR
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by TonyR »

mercalia wrote:Well the trouble with that was I wasnt asleep more a meditation. And I didnt dream sitting up and seeing the horse go back and forth then at the same moment wake up and see my self sat up when the horse had gone? I had been thinking of places to rough camp or just bivvy that I had found on my wanderings in Medway


It could have been a false awakening
mercalia
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by mercalia »

well I will never know now whether I dreamed that I woke up and sat up and then did in in fact wake up and find my self sat up. lol Maybe I dreamed of cycling back home and am still there at Shorn fort really. How solid are these ideas on dreams like that? I dont think I fell asleep as a) the horses proximity worried me - too anxious- and also worried some thieving toe rag would take my bike if I did fall asleep. Clearly the place was visited by the beer swilling crowd. I am paranoid about the theft of my bike, why I havent done any wild camping or bivvying yet. and was doing a reccy. It could be that I fell asleep for a moment and the large horse was a device to wake me up. I have had dreams/nightmares that seemed to have that effect, but they were abrupt and had nothing in common with the real situation.
yakdiver
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by yakdiver »

The truth is out there
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661-Pete
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by 661-Pete »

I'd plump for the false awakening theory too. It wasn't a Pale Horse, by any chance :shock: ?
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mercalia
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by mercalia »

661-Pete wrote:I'd plump for the false awakening theory too. It wasn't a Pale Horse, by any chance :shock: ?

No in fact it was a dark horse as the sun was behind it . The trouble with the false awakening idea is that the dream would then have run seamlessly into the waking experience ( thats why I joked that maybe I am still at Shorne fort and dreamed I cycled home ) Dreams arent like that I think. The waking experience would be carrying on where the dream ended with out anything to indicate which was which. Thats why in retrospect it is so very strange. Had the horse simply trotted down into the forts interior land I would not have thought more about it and waited to move on in case it came back or other horses followed it, that my view that I was safe from the horses was wrong.
yakdiver
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by yakdiver »

I actually believe you as I've seen ghosts myself, but maybe it's one of these
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Mick F
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by Mick F »

I actually don't disbelieve you saw a ghost.
If that's what you saw, that's what you saw.

I don't believe in ghosts personally, but that's mainly because I haven't seen one yet. Until I do, I won't believe. Call me a Doubting Thomas.
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mercalia
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by mercalia »

I my self dont believe in ghosts, let alone horse ghosts, but I can think of no explanation that I find convincing, just rather puzzled and I thought worth sharing here as a few minutes entertainment from the other business. Now if I saw a ghost cyclist I might start to get worried. In case some people think I am trying to pull peoples legs here I am not. is just how it happened that sunny day. ( but then all good ghost stories would say that, misrepresent it as fact any way? just that in this case no such intention)
Last edited by mercalia on 4 Sep 2014, 3:56pm, edited 1 time in total.
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gaz
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by gaz »

Did you see the semi-naked cyclist? It's very much his stomping ground.
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mercalia
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Re: A Ghost Story

Post by mercalia »

gaz wrote:Did you see the semi-naked cyclist? It's very much his stomping ground.


I am beginning to think there is a rip in space-time with these strange events lol. Is probably quite normal for the world he comes from.
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