| Encounter: |
On a bright and moonlit evening in May 1941, the witness, then aged 16, was returning from First Aid classes to his home near the Old Bedford River, about halfway between Delph Bridge and a track called Back Lane. His route took him along the riverbank, and as he approached his
home at about 9.45pm, a huge black dog, at least the size of a Great Dane, leapt past him coming from the river side.
It stood taller than his waist, with a large squat head and a short thick mouth. A spiked steel collar was around its neck, with trailing from it a heavy chain of very thick links. It went across the bank, leapt a hedge, ran across a garden, leapt another hedge and garden, then disappeared into trees and bushes.
The witness froze where he was, although he didn't feel frightened. He could hear the chain clanking as the dog ran along, but the sound vanished when the dog did. He believed it to be 'unnatural', and when he told his mother about it, she told him of the local legend. |