Real Life Ghost Stories✔

Blackberry Castle

This is my true account of strange events that happened to me one November day in 1969.  At that time I was a respected RAC patrolman, in those days the uniform we wore was very smart complete with a peaked hat. I worked in Devon covering quite a large area starting in Exmouth, travelling east to Sidmouth and then on to the Dorset town of Seaton, north to Honiton then Exeter and back Exmouth.

That particular day I had left Sidmouth and was heading towards Seaton, the time was about 12.30.  I had sandwiches and a flask of coffee and decided to stop for my lunch. On this main road I had seen an old wooden sign pointing down a side road; it read ‘Blackberry Castle Prehistoric Hill Fort’.  I thought, that could be a nice place to have my lunch, so I turned my van off the main road and headed for Blackberry Castle. The road twisted and turned getting quite narrow as it climbed upwards; eventually it levelled off but then I came to a gate across the road, blocking any further progress.  I turned the van round to face the way I had come and parked up.

Getting out of the van and looking to my right, an expanse of tall slender bare trees which were spread quite wide apart.  On the far side of these trees appeared to be a drop. It was deathly quiet with not even a breath of wind; above the trees a total grey November sky; this gave the whole place a rather eerie feel. I decided to cross through the trees to see if the fort was at the other side.

A small embankment or mound led to the woodland floor this was covered in dead leaves from the empty branches above; walking across them the silence was broken as my boots crunched into the foliage. On reaching the other side and after climbing another embankment I found a field sloping steeply away below me, but still no sign of the fort. The silence had returned as I turned to survey the woodland, it was a that moment I realised the trees were in a sort of oval arrangement, it also dawned on me that the embankment surrounded the trees and that every so often there was a gap in the grassy mounds.

I almost wanted to laugh out loud at my own stupidity, I had been looking for a proper fort but the word I had forgotten was prehistoric; I was standing on the hill fort, a fort from a time when men used earth mounds as defences of their home, and the gaps were entrances, all at once it made sense.

As turned to my right looking towards the other side of this fort I heard a slight whooshing sound from behind me and then a solid thump, I spun round in time to see a thick branch of wood, which was still rolling down from where it had landed just four or five feet from me. At first I thought it must have fallen from a tree above, but with not a breath of wind that seemed very unlikely. Could it be some kids hiding behind the trees have thrown it? My eyes scanned the thin trees but they were too slender to hide behind; whoosh thump, another log hit the ground, once again close to me, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and a shiver went through my body.  I was certain if a person had thrown that one I would have seen them, they would need to be close enough to avoid hitting other trees, which would have meant exposing themselves to me, also the logs were not small, someone throwing it would make some sound stepping on leaves, plus the effort it would take to hurl such an object couldn’t be done silently.  At that moment I felt real fear, my eyes had penetrated every part of the trees and I was convinced there was no living being present.  I decided it was best to leave this place as soon as possible.

I started back crunching across the dead leaves as I left, but after two or three strides another log hit the ground, I faltered for a second and looked back, there was no person in any direction. I picked up my pace but before I could reach my van two more logs had missed me by inches, approaching the vehicle I fumbled to get the keys from my pocket, I hadn’t bothered to lock the door so I jumped in, my heart was beating like a hammer.

As the engine burst into life I looked back towards the thin trees not a soul was to be seen, but even as I hurriedly moved away there was a loud bang on the roof of the van closely followed by another, as I looked in the wing mirror I saw a log fall from van roof.

I didn’t stop for probably two or three miles, where I met a main road again. I turned off the engine and just sat for a few minutes, I had to try to gather my nerves and thoughts.  Was it for real? Had it really happened?  I tried to rationalise everything, going over it slowly in my mind. At that moment I needed to prove it to myself, I climbed out and surveyed the roof of the van; there before me were two quite distinct dents where logs thrown by unseen hands had landed. A total of seven logs were thrown at me, while coming close none actual hit me so, could it have been just to scare me away? I don’t suppose I will ever know, but if that was the purpose, it certainly had the desired effect.

I can only imagine something returned from the past, a time when a log of wood was a weapon, something that saw me as a threat to its community. Perhaps some kind window of time had opened bringing some spirit back for a brief moment on that cold, grey and windless November day. I can tell you, I have thought long and hard as to a rational explanation and I can find none.

I would go back to Blackberry Castle, but on a bright sunny day and even then; not alone!