Leigh Woods

10 September 2020 | Haunted locations, Your Stories, Your True Encounters

In May 2017 I found myself going out a lot more on my Mountain Bike, I was getting bored of cruising around the streets so I wanted to go for a trail/woodland bike ride. I’ve never been to leigh Woods before then, Personally I don’t think I’ll be going alone again.

After some research into a few different areas, Leigh Woods seemed to be my best bet, Living only a couple miles away it was a nice bike ride.

On arriving, It looked very peaceful and I was almost in a dream like state by my first look of the place. For a woodland area in England let alone Bristol, It was amazing.

On going into the woods I remembered seeing different colours at the start of each trail signifying difficulty for bikers and length for walkers (Don’t take my word on that bit, I still have no clue what they mean) So I decided to go down a coloured (I can’t remember very well I think it was blue) trail to see how it was there. Finding it exciting I decided to go down the “Harder trail” and now here’s where it starts to get weird.

I began having this weird sort of vision looking around as if I’m being swallowed by the woodland. Everything felt like it was getting bigger and further away. I brushed it off but it turns out I actually lost track of time, I got lost on the trail, Now bear in mind I’m very observant and aware of my surroundings before this trail. I then came to a strange opening, I could go left in the rough direction of the way out or right deeper into the woods. Me being me, I decided to go deeper into the woods. I came to a weird little trail that just had dodgy written all over it (Metaphorically speaking).

I went against my gut feeling of turning back and went down there. I came to a point of which, The trail continued but it was getting dangerous, The trail being too bumpy for me to even walk down I then turn back. But for a few minutes before turning back, I don’t know why but I was just stood still staring down the trail. I felt like I was being watched from all angles even tho it would be near impossible to have that many eyes surrounding me in that area. I got nervous n began walking back up the hill as I was too tired to ride at this point.

Keep in mind! My bike tires are completely solid, No punctures, slow punctures or even anything wrong at all. (I wish I still had pictures of the bike)

Upon getting back to the spot where I originally went to the trail, That weird loss of time thing happened, It felt as if the whole path had stretched by half a mile. As if the woodland was moving.

I begin walking up the path feeling that same eery sensation of being watched as I did before hand. This time it felt a bit more sinister, It felt as if something was about to happen. Baring in mind, I hadn’t seen a single person at this point in time since I went down that first trail.

I’ll explain the scenery before continuing, It’s a long path, a slight steep hill to my left, a very narrow river to my right, maybe 4 feet deep and maybe 4 feet wide. Bushes are on the other side of the river with the odd tree every now and then.

Upon getting about a quarter of the way up the slowly inclining path, I hear a woman crying behind a tree up ahead. I start slowing down my walking pace to try and get a good look behind the tree but the whole time I’m thinking to myself, Why would someone jump across to cry behind a tree?

So I edge closer to the river to look behind to see if the person is okay, Also because many people go to Leigh Woods to commit suicide. So I was hoping to maybe help this person.

But you guessed it. There is no one there and the crying stopped…

A bit weirded out, I just slowly turn away and start walking again, A bit quicker as I was unnerved at the time.

I’ve had paranormal experiences before but not usually in a place like the woods, Usually in a house or some sort of building.

So this was new to me.

I had this sudden shiver as I was walking and maybe a minute or so later, Only a couple meters away from where I heard the crying it started again. But this time it was right opposite me across the river. I didn’t bother looking I started to go into a bit of a jog and as I got faster I heard the bushes rustling as if they or it was following me.

Upon hearing this I sped up, and the crying became more and more hysterical…

Bare in mind, My bike was fine before this moment in time…

I’ve thought to myself f*ck this I’m going, I’ve went to hop on my bike with the adrenaline that was rushing through me and I came to almost a sudden stop. My back tire on my bike had become completely flat, So I had no other choice but to sprint with my bike and pray for the best that I don’t trip up or end up having to throw it to run faster. With the crying person still close to me and keeping up I’m running faster and faster praying I just get off of this path that I was on, After what felt like an hour but in reality was probably only 5 or 10 minutes, I could see the carpark, The crying had stopped following me n getting closer and started moving back down to where I first heard it. I sprinted out into the carpark.

I must of been as white as a sheet of paper and hysterical with my breathing and wheezing as multiple people in the carpark turned to look at me like I was crazy.

I seen the exit sign out of the carpark and ran towards it and whilst doing so I noticed my bike to be moving a lot smoother on approaching the carpark exit…

I couldn’t believe that my bike tire had suddenly regained all of its air, It was solid again, as it was before the unnerving crying person shenanigans.

I jumped on my bike and got away from Leigh woods as fast as I could and have never gone back since as every person I tell this story to becomes reluctant to go there with me or any extra people.

The thing that makes this scary is I have Irish heritage, In Irish folklore there is a demon woman called The Banshee, She is seen in woodlands next to rivers/lakes washing blood off of clothes. It is said that if you see her washing blood off of clothes, the person who owns those clothes will die. Alternatively if you hear her crying, It means death. I can’t remember the meanings exactly of the deaths but it means either you or a loved one will die. Since 2017 I have lost my auntie, 2 of my best friends and a dog.

Leigh Woods is no joke. There are many stories that have came out of Leigh woods too. You can read online about them, Search up Leigh Woods Bristol Haunting.

It’s a popular spot in Bristol for suicides, or it was at least. Even the ghost of Isambard Kingdom Brunel has been spotted there, Looking over the suspension bridge in which he designed.

I may submit more stories soon as I have a couple more stories of experiences I have had over the years.

 

Submitted by Luke AC

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