| SHUCKLAND Introduction Alphabetical List of Locations | |
| Location: | Bawdsey, SUFFOLK |
| Encounter: | The author Alan Garner recorded a story in
about 1968 or 9, concerning an incident that had occurred 8 or 9 years
previously. The witness was doing his National Service on a radar
station in Suffolk. There were only two such stations, at Dunwich and
Bawdsey, and by the description of the area, this can only be located at
Bawdsey. One night at about 1am, either in late spring or early summer, the witness was walking down the main drive from the living quarters towards the work site. The moon was full or nearly so, and it was a still, quiet night. About 100 yards away from the gates that led to the public road, he began to hear an indistinct sound that he realised were an animal's footfalls. He thought they were something like a very big dog coming towards him, but there was nothing visible. He stood still with fear as the pit-pat sound came very close to him, then ran through the gates to the work site. |
| Source: | Alan Garner (ed.): 'A Book of Goblins' (Puffin Books, 1972; orig. Hamish Hamilton, 1969), p.182-3. |
| Comments: | It was Alan Garner who actually connected this with tales of Black Shuck, as the witness had never heard of it. |
| Place Name: | Bawdsey- OE 'Baldhere's island' |