| SHUCKLAND Introduction Alphabetical List of Locations | |
| Location: | Tolleshunt D'Arcy, ESSEX |
| Encounter: | "...the phantom dog I myself encountered on the deserted coastal road B1026 near Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, one sultry night in 1960. A lifelong touring cyclist, I was speeding back to my rural Essex home with the light fading fast in the sky, when suddenly I realised that a large black hound was following me. This unappetising beast loped along by my side, snarling and panting for perhaps a mile when, unable to shake it off, I deliberately pulled up and jumped off my bike, prepared for a confrontation.
The dog however had vanished. And there was an oppressive brooding silence impossible to describe. Later I stopped at a gloomy beerhouse on the outskirts of Maldon and told my story. One sharp-faced woman gave me a look and edged away. A rheumy old man listened carefully and said I was a fool to travel the area alone at night." |
| Source: | S. John Saunders: 'Bedevilled Coastline', in the 'East Anglian Magazine' Vol. 39, No. 9 (July 1980), p. 457-8. |
| Place Name: | Tolleshunt - 'OE 'Toll's spring' |
| Other: | See also From Peldon to Tolleshunt D'Arcy. |