Imagine being 8 or 9 years old, out with your brother or sister and a few friends in a place you are not supposed to be as dusk is falling. Time has run away with you as you were having fun out and about without parental supervision. But now you're getting a little tired and are beginning to think that you should all go home especially as it is getting dark and lots of little people, half the size of you, have appeared in cars. They are laughing and they are chasing you around, some of your friends have been in the out of bounds "swamp" and come out covered in mud.
It would be quite scary wouldn't it?
This is apparently what happened on 23rd September 1979 to a group of primary school children playing in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, when they were chased by gnomes driving small cars. Each car had a gnome driver and a gnome passenger, eventually the children ran out of the park and the gnomes stopped following them.
Back at school a few days later each child was individually questioned by their headmaster, the interviews were recorded, you can download a PDF of the transcripts here
Despite what might have seemed a far fetched tale to some, a suitable excuse for getting home late, covered in mud, the headmaster believed the children, as did one time secretary of The Fairy Investigation Society, Marjorie Johnson who had seen previous reports of "little people" sightings in Wollaston Park going back to the 1930s.
The story soon hit the press and has fascinated people ever since.
Did it really happen?
Well the case is well documented, there are transcripts of the original interviews, newspaper reports including interviews with the children and their families, countless blog articles and even a book about the event. But, apart from the children involved there are no other witnesses.
I wonder why so many people were willing to believe that gnomes live in Wollaton Park? Perhaps it's because Wollaton Park has a history of supernatural activity.
Halfway House once stood in the vicinity of what is now Lambourne Drive and was said to be haunted by "Charlie" who, at certain times of year, could be heard on the stairs, the ghost appeared as a black shadow.
The ghostly appearance of a miner's helmet and the sound of someone splashing through water were said to occur in one of the disused tunnels at Wollaton Colliery.
And then there's the 16th century house Wollaton Hall itself, home to generations of the Willoughby family, purchased by Nottingham City Council in 1925, home to Nottingham's Natural History Museum sine 1926 and said to be haunted.
There have been numerous reports of an orange glow coming the the windows of the Prospect room, even when the building was empty with the electric turned off.
The half roof is said to be haunted by a white lady believed to be the ghost of Lady Jane Middleton who spent most of her life in her bedroom having been paralysed as a result of a fall.
Image: Carl Spitzweg, Public Domain via Wikipedia Commons
"Charlie" / Wollaton Colliery ghosts source: Frank E Earp
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