Myth-making in Cannock Chase

ALAN MURDIE is sceptical about the Staffordshire forest being a ‘window area’ for weirdness

“The forest seemed to tighten its hold on my senses, pulling me deeper into its heart and stirring feelings of claustrophobia. If there was ever a place for spectral beings to reside, this would be it – with countless hiding places amongst the shadows and trees.” So writes journalist Jamie Brassington, a reporter from Birmingham Live, about a woodland walk he took mid-morning in August 2024 at Cannock Chase in Staffordshire (Birmingham Live, 27 Aug 2024). Bizarre stories of a wide variety of apparitions and entities have become associated with this 50 square mile (130km 2) tree-covered area and were recently given fresh impetus by a wave of repetition in local and national media in 2023 and 2024. Cannock Chase is alleged to be “one of the most haunted places…

You're reading a preview of

Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 455

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.