M6 Motorway: The Taker of Life.

Probably not many people realise that the M6 motorway which links Carlisle to Rugby and covers a distance of 230 miles is claimed to be the most haunted road in Britain, parts of it are said to have dated back in one form or another to Roman times and this may account for sightings of Roman soldiers being sighted at various locations. A Sue Cowley from Coleshill in Warwickshire told of seeing a cohort of Roman soldiers close to the M6 toll road which was around 20 men marching along, partially obscured by the surface of the road, (I assume they were marching at a lower level to the road surface of today), she went on to describe them as appearing as shadowy figures before disappearing from view.

There have also been other unusual sightings, one being a phantom lorry driving towards oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the motorway also a possible paranormal event took place on the M6 on the outskirts of Birmingham where three people were said to have been removed from their vehicles just prior to the crash, more information about this can be found at http://www.perception9.com/occult-and-witchcraft/sorcery-ritual-entities.php?insight=Paranormal-M6-Crash&item=00000179. Another unusual incident on the M6 can be found on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsyb1POXBMk.

Probably even less people realise that between junction 16-18 on the M6 is said to be one of the worst accident black spots in the country. I can personally vouch for this fact as I live on the A50 Holmes Chapel road and when an accident occurs on the motorway the traffic is usually redirected off at junction 18 and then follows the A50 from Holmes Chapel through to Congleton. Hardly a week goes by without the traffic backing up when it reaches Congleton making it difficult to park my car in my driveway

However this is irrelevant compared to the poor people who have lost their lives or been injured on this stretch of the motorway, authorities are even looking at installing some sort of gate on the central reservation making it easier to move traffic after an accident. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3232883/Six-dead-in-series-of-M6-motorway-crashes.html.

I was curious as to what was causing all these accidents on what seems to be a comparatively flat section of motorway which doesn’t seem to have any obvious hazards. I came across people who had witnessed unusual activity in this area between junction 16-18 on a forum and have included some of these comments on this blog page, and are as follows:

carlie  |  July 31, 2010 at 12:17 pm

I was driving along the M6 just passed junction 17 and seen a black shadow what looked like a person running across the motorway.

anon  |  September 12, 2010 at 9:07 pm

Well there’s something wrong for sure, 3 accidents in 3 days and at least 3 fatalities. A girl my partner knows saw the first and said the lorry just pulled to the side and back 4 no reason hitting the two padestrians. Very strange.

James  |  October 9, 2010 at 1:32 pm

My brother and 2 friends were travelling to Blackpool for 2 days on 1 October (a few years ago). Just after junction 17, they had a a tyre burst and stopped on the hard shoulder to replace it.

Within 4 minutes they were all killed by a tanker driver who had “fallen asleep” according to the corriner and “drifted” on to the hard shoulder.

I was in my teens and had to do all the identification and will never get over what I saw.

RIP

Anonymous  |  October 20, 2011 at 9:40 pm

The Saxon Cross is derelict! We used to stay there all the time, en route from Scotland to Birmingham and back for shopping trips. I know that’s a bad stretch of motorway; my mum had a really nasty accident just after J16 25 years ago. I can remember watching her taillights as she left our village and thinking ‘That’s the last time I will ever see that car.’ I was right; the car was a write-off. Three red cars were involved in accidents that day within thirty minutes of each other, too, around 7 am. Mum was told she didn’t hit anyone else by a lorry driver, but the police and the magistrates disagreed! A tyre burst and the bonnet flew up into the windscreen. She lost control of the car and hit the central reservation and ended up facing north on the southbound carriageway. 50 odd stitches across her forehead, broken nose, several broken ribs, cuts and bruises.

Kt  |  November 1, 2011 at 7:51 am

I am a truck driver, i do trunk from glasgow to Runcorn/birmingham & stafford. I am on nightshift 4/5 nights a week! We are all doubled maned so i have proof enough! Both my 2nd man & i witnessed a figure apear in the lane infront of us!! I swerved to avoid what i could c was a man dressed in clothes that existed hundreds of years ago! My 2nd man to this day refuses to talk about it, but tells me for sure we went straight thru him!! I listened for days on the news of any  bodies found, i even stopped that night to check for damage incase i had hit som1 but NNOTHING!!!!   Is this not proof enough! 2 sets of eyes, both explaining the same description of the rite old dress wear..He apeared out of nowhere, crossing 2 lanes infront of us. Xoxo

Catherine  |  November 8, 2011 at 12:14 am

Yes,I can confirm that there was a very peculiar and eerie sighting on this stretch of motorway by my parents.back in 1983 they were travelling from our home in Lancaster down the m6 to relatives in Bedfordshire.somewhere around that particular area they suddenly noticed a car,stationary and completely burnt out on the hard shoulder,facing south.whilst passing it they both saw to their horror that an elderly man and woman were sat bolt upright in the car,motionless and wearing 60′s type clothes. At the time no other motorist appeared to notice this disturbing sight.but my parents both saw it and were shaken by it.ive often thought of this account over the years.would love to know if anyone has seen anything similar.

Middle Man  |  November 10, 2011 at 4:10 pm

Thanks Catherine.

This reminds me of a similarly spooky expereince.

I remember when I was young, about eight, my uncle visiting as he passed our door on his way back from work. He was white as a sheet. He told a story that he was walking home when he saw a young man, disheveled and in a state of distress, sitting on the curb at the side of the road. He approached him and asked if he was OK. He said that he was, but had been in an accident. At that moment my uncle heard a crash just a few yards behind him. He rushed to the vehicle. It was a fatality……..and the dead driver was the young man that my uncle swears he had just been talking to.

Even writing this now make sthe hairs on the back of my neck stand up…….

Anonymous  |  January 22, 2012 at 9:45 pm

I live in the area. We often hear storys of accidents on the m6 (Accidents which often involve fatalaties) And i have i heard a few ghost story. A lone figure standing in the road and once the story of a burnt out car on the hard shoulder. I suppose as more die on the roads, the more sightings their will be. Sad really. The scariest thing ive heard about the m6 is a friend of a friend’s story. Did you hear about the accident where a lorry swerved hitting 2 people trying to fix a car? Supposedly he saw the apperition of the event a day before it actually happened.

Anonymous  |  July 7, 2012 at 8:42 pm

I have seen a guy playing bagpipes on the banking of the hard shoulder of the M60! ….I thought it was bizarre and googled it when I got home to see if anyone else had seen him …that’s when I found this page!

As you can see by these comments there seems to be something unusual taking place in this area. I personally heard a story that claimed a burial mound was excavated when the motorway was constructed back in the 1960s and it was due to this disturbance of a mass grave that triggered these paranormal events. A similar occurance which I have written about on this blog site concerns quarrying above the village of Fools Nook https://ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com/places-of-interest-in-cheshire/fools-nook/  which seems to have triggered activity which includes lights being seen rising out of the ground on the fairyhough which is a ridge of ground above the village. The A534 which runs between Macclesfield and Leek and which passes through Fools Nook became an accident black spot and had to have speed cameras erected and a speed limit enforced. Similar events occurred behind the Wagon and Horses pub on the A34 when work started quarrying for sand https://ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com/places-of-interest-in-cheshire/the-wagon-horses-disturbance/

I decided to see whether there was any truth to a burial mound being removed so I travelled to Sandbach Library to see whether they had any pre 1960s maps of the area that the motorway passed through. I concentrated my search around the junction 17 area and came across an old map which dated back to 1827 and shows the area without the M6.

I was fortunate in that when I visited the library a Liz Chisnall from Sandbach Historical Society happened to be there doing some research. I explained to her that I was looking for any burial mounds destroyed by the construction of the M6, however she wasn’t aware of any having been affected and the nearest Neolithic burial site is the Bridestones at Congleton. We were unable to find any Tumuli which would have been affected, however this search was limited to the junction 17 area, whether or not there is any evidence of a burial site near junction 16 or 18 remains to be seen.

18-12-2012

I carried on with my research and came across an interesting story which may explain how the burial mound theory arose, and which may also explain why apparitions are appearing in this area and causing vehicles to swerve on the M6.

The Battle of Worcester had been won by Cromwell on the 3rd of September 1651, and the remains of the defeated army were making their way back to Scotland when many of them were set upon while making their way through the town of Sandbach by the local inhabitants. It is recorded that around 1000 soldiers passed through Sandbach on Thursday the 4th of September at 3’0 clock in the afternoon which coincided with the annual Fair Day. It is said that many of the locals used the poles and their staves off their market stalls to attack the soldiers, the attack lasted 2-3 hours and resulted in 2 or 3 locals losing their lives and 9-10 Scottish soldiers losing theirs. 100 Scottish soldiers were also taken prisoner and locked up in St Mary’s church.

I was under the impression that the dead soldiers were buried in Sandbach, however it transpires that there are two places which are said to be their last resting place. One source states that “Scotch Meadow” a low lying pasture between Hill Top, Sandbach was the burial place, however the more probable resting place is the area on the left of Brereton road at Brindley Green where the now derelict Saxon Cross motel stands, this location is traditionally known as “Pipers Hollow” due to the fact that one of the 10 dead soldiers recovered consciousness and played a requiem for his dead comrades.

The M6 is a mere 100 yards away from this derelict motel and this may explain the following statement from a witness:

vicky  |  May 12, 2009 at 10:48 am

My friend who lives close to the accident black spot has heard the bagpipes playing on one occasion. Her friend also heard them two years later both heard it coming from the same direction.

Perhaps the reason that these apparitions are being seen is that when the motel was built it disturbed the grave site of the soldiers, or if the grave site isn’t below the motel perhaps the construction of the M6 triggered these paranormal disturbances.

Of course there maybe a more mundane explanation to the many crashes that occur on this stretch of motorway. I know that the slip road at junction 17 is quite short and traffic tends to back up when they try to join the A 534, this in turn causes the traffic to encroach onto the motorway causing a potential danger, traffic lights were to be fitted at the top of the slip road, however this idea has now been shelved as there are plans for a roundabout at this location which will link to the Congleton bypass when that eventually gets built. Until then many more accidents are going to happen until the authorities address the problem and start asking the right questions!