The following incident happened when I was 11 years old and I remember it clearly.
It was just before Christmas and my mom and I had decided to visit my Granddad and to put some flowers on my Nan's grave at the cemetery just round the corner.
The day started clear but very cold and as we enjoyed my Granddads company we realised that we had stayed longer than intended.
As we said our goodbyes we realised that the sky was now a dark colour and needed to get a move on.
We drove the 15 minutes to the cemetery with the day getting darker and noticed that, as it was so late most people were leaving via the front gates. Just for background there was only one entrance
We parked near to the back and as we got out it began to snow heavy. We placed the flowers on the grave and after clearing up etc we hurried back to the car. By this time the snow was thick on the ground and one look from my mom I knew we were in trouble. As this was days before everyone carried mobiles there was no way of letting my dad know where we were. We got out and tried to clear the snow from the wheels but no luck so frozen we got back in the car. My mom began to panic. The cemetery was due to close soon! We could only hope that one of the grounds keepers would take a last walk round before closing for the night.
Suddenly there was a knock on the window and an elderly gentleman was stood there. My mom opened the window and he asked if we would like any help. Of course my mom jumped out the car and the elderly man placed small wooden sheets near the wheels for us to get a grip and get us out. It was a complete relief when it finally worked. My mom thanked the gentleman who said, "I am glad I could help, not a nice place to be stuck at night".
Once in the car, we both turned towards the window, but he had gone. Nowhere in sight, no car and no footprints. There is no way he could have walked away without being seen as this was an open cemetery with very few trees. Of course a little spooked my mom suggested we get out of there, I agreed.
Just as we were about to pull out of the gates we were stopped by one of the grounds men who said "your very lucky we were just about to close" My mom explained that we had got stuck in the snow and that an elderly gentleman had helped get us out. The grounds man face changed and said "there can't have been, as you are the last ones in here" He explained that the gentleman described would have had to pass him to get out and there had been no one passed in the last 25 minutes! We left in a hurry and whenever we visited again we did it in daylight.
Whenever we talk about it we still puzzle over the fact that it could have only have been a ghost as there was no car in sight, he couldn't have walked away without being seen, where did he get the wooden planks from. You don't just walk round with them on the off chance some one might need to use them.
What we didn't realise until later was that the man was dressed in a thin summer jacket, cap and thin trousers but didn't appear cold!
Loading comments....
