Page 6 | What places in the UK have weirded you out - part two

Yachtinggwoman · 2025-04-15T04:23:08+00:00

I have started another thread, as the topic is so interesting. West Bay felt very weird to me. We went after watching Broadchurch. I think it’s partly the strange mix of architecture. The cliff falls are also creepy. There are signs on the beach warning you to stay away from the cliffs.

Original poster

Yachtinggwoman · 15/04/2025 19:53

I love north Norfolk but Snettisham is completely weird, especially when the tide is out.

OP posts:

Shovealoadon · 15/04/2025 20:00

Butteredtoast55 · 15/04/2025 19:20

@Moonlightdust
I don't want to be outing but, in a nutshell, numerous sightings of dark figures, seemingly as solid as you or I, going through walls or gradually fading away to nothing. Seen by more than one person at the same time (guests, cleaning teams for example). Lots of noises like someone running down a deserted corridor, or a sound like something crashing to the ground in an empty room (nothing out of place though). Several sightings of a 'grey lady'. The freakiest bit was when she spoke about seeing someone she thought was a guest in costume in a staff only area so spoke to her and she turned round and had no face as such, just a featureless face (although she said she weirdly felt afterwards that she did have a face but couldn't remember it). I actually know this person quite well and she's very down to earth usually.

Coombe Abbey is notoriously said to be haunted , plays up to the image a bit and it's definitely quite gothic in its style. I can't say I've ever experienced anything weird there myself.....but I wouldn't fancy staying the night!

Yeah I can believe this, particularly after episodes where more than one of us saw the same shadow creature at the same time or several sightings of the same woman at the far end of the house. Some spirits seem to be location tied like here but others seem to travel/ are not tied to a particular location. The one I posted about definitely seemed to have it in for me and was happy to travel, nasty bl’dy thing 🤨 I am a Christian but a very down to earth one, not super spiritual, love a laugh, a bit of trashy tele, mumsnetting, bingeing box sets, try not to swear but ffs under my breath on a daily and out loud when the kids not about 😆

Some places really do have a dark oppressive energy about them don’t they?I think sad and tragic history can imprint on places, and sometimes they just have that ‘off’ Royston Vasey sense of wrongness or just an odd vibe.

I just had a peek at that supposed photo of the Glasgow underground apparition, creepy but could just be photoshopped, always difficult to take photos like that at face value isn’t it, as pictures can be faked.

MigGril · 15/04/2025 20:02

piscofrisco · 15/04/2025 07:01

The Fens. Particularly the area below Peterborough and above Huntingdon. DH and I drive through it a few weeks back and we both felt overwhelmingly depressed until we got back on the A1 and further south. No idea why.

The fens always make me feel sick. It's very odd, it's the total flatness. I really need a bit of at lest rolling countryside to feel at home.

Karistyleaftea · 15/04/2025 20:06

Holkham beach in Norfolk.
Such a sad feeling there under that oppressive . heavy sky miles of flat nothingness.
DH also felt something terrible when we viewed a house in Norfolk and could not wait to get out.
It did back on to a church graveyard so who knows.

Chipsahoy · 15/04/2025 20:09

ShaunaTheDitzySheep · 15/04/2025 13:25

My mother had an emotional encounter travelling through Glencoe. Unbearable sadness and tears. We know from her family history there are links to Scotland, and we suspect perhaps an ancestral emotional flashback was triggered . I don't believe in reincarnation but I wonder if our DNA holds memories ?

Edited

I agree with this. I think it’s something, whether actual memory of the place or something that triggers a bad memory that we then relate to it.

Sw1989 · 15/04/2025 20:12

CalleOcho · 15/04/2025 12:01

Thread 1 will be my late night read tonight in bed!

My weird places are:

Piccadilly Gardens and Market Street, Manchester - was a student in MCR 10 years ago, and I would always feel overstimulated and unsafe round that side of town.

Peak District - specifically Woodhead Pass A628, feels really eerie.

I totally agree with you on Manchester, I can't stand the place, the city centre feels grim and sinister, and I've spent a lot of time there over the years. L Leeds (where I've lived for the last 15 years) Liverpool, and Sheffield all have a much nicer feel to them.

Shovealoadon · 15/04/2025 20:26

SunsetCocktails · 15/04/2025 17:13

@Shovealoadon did your family sell the house in the end? Wonder who lives there now?

Hi @SunsetCocktails yeah they did thankfully move away. My now DH and I moved out first to get our first place, a rental just outside Exeter. Followed by my family about a year later.

I have no idea who lives there now and writing about it now makes me wonder. Have just looked on Zoopla and it was last sold in 2016, wow the current occupiers have strong stomachs! We were there less than 2 years and felt like an eternity 😬

PaintedPottery · 15/04/2025 20:29

AlmanbyRoadtrip · 15/04/2025 10:35

Wycoller is odd. Not helped by the car park being out of the village and regularly visited by car thieves, who will smash windows and have a rummage even if there is nothing in your vehicle on show. The whole place seems to resent outsiders walking through it, which isn’t a feeling we’ve ever had from other similar villages in the area (Barley, Downham, Sawley etc).

I always feel out of sorts in Keswick. Bit of an Alnwick Vibe “give us your money and fuck off” . No one moves out of anyone’s way on the pavements. The Pencil Museum is good, though.

Flodden didn’t weird me out, but I did feel sad and respectful there. I like the way the mass graves of the Scottish soldiers are deliberately kept vague. You know they are there, I’m sure the landowners know where they are, but no one else needs specifics.

I liked Killhope Lead Mine (was mentioned on the other thread) but DS hated it. Went for a quick walk round then sat in the car while I did the underground tour. If you go, make sure your wellies are long enough - I was nearly turned away because mine were mid calf height and I had to do a verbal disclaimer to the manager that I wouldn’t complain if my feet got wet The history was fascinating and the guides very knowledgeable. The lead miners were better equipped to go and find work elsewhere than coal miners because they were given quite a good level of education to enable them to do their jobs. Local people are still supposed to hand over any ‘minerals’ they find in their gardens to the Bishop Of Durham.

Sandsend near Whitby was another place DS loathed. He had to be prised out of the cottage for every excursion. Maybe he’s more MN-y than I am!

Edited

Never had that feeling about Wycoller. Granted we’ve rarely parked in the car park as we’ve walked there. Ribchester has always been a place that seems to resent visitors though.

SwedishEdith · 15/04/2025 20:33

I really want to go to Dungeness. Quite like flat landscapes - love the land between Ormskirk and Southport for those big sky views, especially in winter.

Messycoo · 15/04/2025 20:34

Milton Keynes !

Arran2024 · 15/04/2025 20:40

I went to Brighton today. I doubt I'll go back. The seafront was lovely and we walked to Hove and back and thoroughly enjoyed it but omg the shopping area!! I don't think I have ever visited anywhere so run down, stinking of weed, and to cap it all we witnessed a very distressing incident where a homeless man's dog attacked a passing dog - right on the main thoroughfare (guy was passed out or asleep). Unbelievable.

OhHoneyNo · 15/04/2025 20:42

Loving the thread!

I have some places. St Michael’s Mount is probably the place I have felt most uneasy - ended up being completely terrified to be honest. I’m not sure if it was the combination of seeing the sea so near to the windows, but as soon as I set foot on there I was just so uncomfortable. We walked around the main interior parts and by the end I was nearly sobbing, I just had the biggest overwhelming feeling that awful things had happened there.

St Ives also felt quite oppressive and made me uncomfortable.

there is also a road leading in to lyndhurst in the new forest that makes me feel very anxious and sad

Needmorelego · 15/04/2025 20:43

@Arran2024 that's not really weird though.
Just depressing.

elm26 · 15/04/2025 20:48

My Nan went to Brighton with my Gramps in the 60’s, they were going down a road with houses and metal railings and she had a weird “flashback” of herself, dressed in a very old fashioned maid outfit, holding onto the rails to stop herself from dropping to the floor, she saw herself as very skinny and malnourished and felt an intense hunger. When she snapped out of it, she burst into tears and told my Grandad that they had to leave immediately. She never ever went back to Brighton.

I felt uneasy in Bath and can’t put my finger on why as it’s beautiful. I just felt very sad for the 2 days we were there and glad we only booked 1 night.

elm26 · 15/04/2025 20:49

RedOnyx · 15/04/2025 18:32

Someone mentioned Aldershot on the previous thread. I spent large parts of my childhood there (the army posted us there twice). It wasn't the greatest place even then, but since the army moved out it's been completely soulless. I haven't been back in nearly 20 years now. My mum initially bought a house there when my stepdad got out of the army but she's since sold it and moved back up north where she's from.

I live 5 minutes from Aldershot and it’s not a nice place at all.

Paul2023 · 15/04/2025 20:50

ShaunaTheDitzySheep · 15/04/2025 11:59

Canterbury gave me a heavy feeling like I couldn't breathe freely. The Thanet coast I was fine with, even enjoyed Margate, run down and a bit crap though it is. Canterbury though. Urgh.

Worthing I felt depressed and heavy but that might be because it was a dump when I visited (2003 ish).

Canterbury is nice, never felt any unease there when I visited. Always busy as it’s a student town.
Worthing was previously known as a retirement town, where lots of London pensioners moved too. I don’t know it well at all but have been but found it depressing. A depressing an old pensioners town always springs to my mind !

Paul2023 · 15/04/2025 20:53

Arran2024 · 15/04/2025 20:40

I went to Brighton today. I doubt I'll go back. The seafront was lovely and we walked to Hove and back and thoroughly enjoyed it but omg the shopping area!! I don't think I have ever visited anywhere so run down, stinking of weed, and to cap it all we witnessed a very distressing incident where a homeless man's dog attacked a passing dog - right on the main thoroughfare (guy was passed out or asleep). Unbelievable.

Brighton reminds me of Croydon by the sea ! I did jury service there and spent two weeks travelling to the court there, but walked from the station everyday.
It’s just not for me for some reason and lots of people like it there. I don’t like that area of Sussex- see my previous post on Worthing !

elm26 · 15/04/2025 20:53

Oh and Ilfracombe. Spent all of my Easter holidays as a kid in Croyde, we went back last year and took our DD and I always had a feeling like I was in the past as soon as we got out of the car there even as a kid. It hasn’t changed now, I felt so weird being there.

Lonelycrab · 15/04/2025 21:05

elm26 · 15/04/2025 20:49

I live 5 minutes from Aldershot and it’s not a nice place at all.

Show quote history

I’m similar; 15 mins away but I only ever hear bad things about it from those I talk to so in the many years I’ve been here I haven’t ventured there once. Google street view tells me all I need to know.
Shame, as there was a large Gurkha presence there before the military moved out- Nepalese are amongst the best people I’ve ever met.

AlmanbyRoadtrip · 15/04/2025 21:06

@PaintedPottery I always feel comfortable in Ribchester. Not the same now the cafe in the corner house is closed and the Toy Museum gone.

Paul2023 · 15/04/2025 21:10

RedOnyx · 15/04/2025 18:32

Someone mentioned Aldershot on the previous thread. I spent large parts of my childhood there (the army posted us there twice). It wasn't the greatest place even then, but since the army moved out it's been completely soulless. I haven't been back in nearly 20 years now. My mum initially bought a house there when my stepdad got out of the army but she's since sold it and moved back up north where she's from.

I spent some time in the 80s in Aldershot as a kid as my dad was Army. Left early 90s.

Been there a few times since but not for atleast 15 years. The town had changed a lot. My dad visited it last year and said how unrecognisable it was.

We lived in a block of flats for some of that time , long gone now. When did you live there? Do you remember the big Duke of Wellington statue near the woods? As a kid I find it quite eerie !

hollylou · 15/04/2025 21:38

So interested in people singling out the Forest of Dean, this is my part of the world and I find it so restful. Intrigued by what makes people feel " off" when visiting?

Alwaystired23 · 15/04/2025 21:41

Cappuccino5 · 15/04/2025 17:27

Cardiff. I’ve never landed somewhere and wanted to leave so quickly. Oppressive, dirty, not friendly and always felt like something was about to kick off - I’ve never witnessed more daylight drug use in my life! I think the lack of sunlight and constant rain contributes to how I feel about it. My best friend lives there so I really wanted to love the city but unfortunately I dread having to go!

Edited

I'm from Cardiff, I don't live there any more, but honestly I can't relate to anything you've said. It's a great city.

Tortielady · 15/04/2025 21:56

I absolutely love Durham. It's one of the most beautiful small cities I've ever come across, but Market Square has a murky, oppressive atmosphere. It's very built up and low down and the walk down from Saddler Street is like descending into the dark. I have a similar sense (on a much grander scale, obviously) about Edinburgh Old Town. Again, it's beautiful, full of history and lovely old buildings...many of which have a terrible history as places where women, men and children lived out dreadful lives and died painful deaths.

On a more prosaic footing, there is the underpass at York train station. It's very long and shabby with peeling paint and a distinctly post-modernist look about it, like a Doctor Who set. If the lift doors open one day, and a Dalek comes gliding out, waving its sink plunger at me, it won't be a complete surprise. There's a similar set up at Newcastle station, but the underpass isn't as long and wouldn't offer a Dalek (or a couple of Cybermen) the same leisurely approach prior to exterminating or upgrading their poor victim.

VikingLady · 15/04/2025 22:26

Conwy in north wales. I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong there - I was on a holiday with my best friends, doing things I liked, all should have been great, but I couldn’t shake feeling oppressed and utterly miserable. I had the biggest meltdown of my 20s there. The whole place was just filled with gloom, although I could see objectively that it was a place I should like. Fine before we entered the town and fine when we left.

the same happened the next year, but I successfully managed to get us to relocate.