The Stocksbridge Bypass is a part of the A616 that links Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire with the M1 motorway at Junction 30 then again from Junction 35A through to Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. The section known as the Stocksbridge Bypass is where the road crosses the B6088 before reaching Barnsley and is within the Sheffield area. The bypass was opened in May 1988 to connect the M1 with the Woodhead Pass and the A616. The bridge around which many of the stories are based is called the Pea Royd Bridge but is known locally as Ghost Bridge and resides near to the Fox Valley Shopping Park.
History
I can remember many many years ago, probably on the BBC the hauntings of this bypass on one of its series of ghost stories.
In 1987 two security guards were employed during the building of the bypass and on the night of the 8th, their supervisor received a frantic call from them. Peter Owens arrived at the site to find two big, tough guys in a state of hysteria.
The men told a story that started the night before, around 12:30 am when they had been driving along Pearoyd Lane close to the steelworks at Stocksbridge. They were shocked to see children playing on the construction site that they were monitoring, close to the electricity pylon (pictured in the album). They decided to investigate and parked the car, watching the kids skipping and playing. They did notice that the children were wearing clothing, not of the current era.
As they approached the children, suddenly they were nowhere to be seen. They reached the spot where they had been playing and were further shocked to see no footprints in the muddy ground on the spot.
The following morning, they talked to other workers on the site and were told that others had heard children’s voices during the night while they were resting in the caravans provided for them.
The following night, the 8th, the two men were once again on patrol when this time they encountered something far darker. As they were approaching the Pearoyd Lane site, they saw a tall, dark figure that they described as a ‘monk’ who then promptly vanished when the headlights reached him.
It was this that caused them again to ring their supervisor and he was so concerned about their state and their story that he called the local police station, Deepcar. The officer on duty, PC Ellis.
Police Investigation
Two officers, PC Ellis, and Special Constable John Beet were sent to the site and visited it on the 11th of September. They parked the car and waited, expecting nothing would happen. However, a short time later, movement caught their eye on the bridge. Ellis got out of the car and ran towards the bridge only to find a piece of tarpaulin flapping in the wind.
Returning to the car, Ellis expressed a strange sensation like ‘someone walking over his grave’. He glanced to the side of the vehicle only to see a dark, clothed torso pressed against the door with a white V-shaped piece of material running down its chest. No sooner had Ellis seen it than the apparition vanished, only to appear at Beet’s side of the car. Ellis jumped out of the car and investigated, to find nothing so got back in the car and started the engine – but the car wouldn’t start.
On the third attempt, the car started and the pair drove to the construction area, radioing in their location. There was then a loud bang on the car as if it had been hit by a blunt object but there was no cause in sight. Ellis climbed out again and there was another bang so he returned to the car and the pair hurriedly left the site.
Both men reported what they had encountered and said that they had never experienced fear as intense as during the encounter with the entity.
Our Investigation
Stocksbridge bypass is a hard location to investigate if you want to use equipment. With a pylon being so close EMF readings, static readings and etc are void. There is a high level of already in the area it would be hard to gather a baseline to work from.
Being exposed to such high level EMF, this could explain why so many have reported seeing things here. Being exposed to high EMF levels can cause numerous effects on the body and one of them effects is hallucinations, feeling anxious and feeling sick!
We didnt really experience much here, but Chrissie our senstive did pick up on a man and a lady, who she believed lingered in the woodland area just across the road where the pylon is situated and believed they was lovers.
On leaving we came across we came across a vehicle and its occupants had claimed to have caught something on the bridge. The lady who was present with them stated she felt if a male and female haunted the area in the woodland and said she felt they had been lovers, she didnt know us at all. We had never mentioned before this what Chrissie had picked up on over in that part, she simply told us what she felt was there. So to meet random people and for them to state exactly what Chrissie had mentioned, I thought was quite strange.
I personally feel the woodland part of the location hold a more detailed past than the actual road itself and my advice to any investigators thinking of going is to at least check out this area aswell.
You can watch our Investigation here on the video below: