GHOST SN VILLAGE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 431, 16 January 1933, Page 3

GHOST SN VILLAGE

HAS TERRIFYING FEATURES. "FACE HANGING IN ' AIR." A ghost with a face horribly twisted j and scarred, eyes that blaze, and a j head covered with a shock of white j hair, is said to, be- haunting the coun- j tryside around Gibside Hall and the railway traek which runs through the little colliery village of Burnopfield, : England. Many people claim to have seen the' j apparition, and even state that its ap-- j pearance on the coliery wagon-way is ! heralded by a prelude of clangs like ; a sledge-hammer striking metal. j A man who is very definite that he ; saw the ghost said: "I was coming down the line to get to Burnopfield, when I was stopped by hearing several metallic clangs — just like those a platelayer makes when laying or re- . pairing rails. j "After stopping for a few moments 1 I walked on, but my progress was again arrested by seei'ng a face hang- ; ing in mid-air — a face horribly twist- ( ed and scarred. The eyes blazed a ; terrible eerie way. "I saw the face for a second, then j I heard a thunderous roar like hun- 1 dreds of coal wagons out of control on the line. I did not stop for any more, but turned and ran." The so-ealled apparition was seen again near Gibside Hall, the untenanted residence of the Countess of Strathmore by a young couple out for a walk. On this ocassion, however, the ghost wore a cowl, like that i of a monk. j The older folks in the village are ; now recalling that in 1879 a plate- i layer was killed on Burnopfield Bank Railway in a curious way. He was struclc by the wire rope which had become detached from the coal wagons while in motion.