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Spirit of the fenlands - 1/22/2016 7:42:59 AM

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Billy Simms was a North Country lad. He was not yet 16 and had already been in the Army for 6 months. He had already enjoyed 3 weeks Christmas leaved. The year is 1963 and a cold long winter was drawing to a close. He enlisted into the Army aged 15 and had been in the top A stream of his Secondary modern school for 4 years. He originated from the small market town of Richmond and had gone to school in Harrogate. He was going to spend a weekend with a friend who had been sent home days earlier due to their Grandmother becoming seriously ill. Thankfully, she survived and would live for 27 more years. His friend had invited him to visit his home and he would in turn visit Billy’s home in the summer. He Left the Junior Leaders Infantry Battalion on the cliffs overlooking the straights of Dover from where he could see Calais on bright sunny days. He walked for 30 minutes in his number 2 dress uniform carrying the standard issue Army Suitcase. Arriving at Dover Priory Station. He was not alone; several hundred 15 to 17 year olds were taking the same route although some had caught the Local Bus. He wore the uniform of the Green Howards a Regiment that recruited in North Yorkshire and what was called Cleveland. Several score uniforms all different from each other could be witnessed by the commuters at the station. Due to heavy snow the train had been delayed but he boarded it 35 minutes late. The train was a semi fast one and duly arrived at Platform 1 of London Victoria Station, a drafty platform mostly open to the elements. Normally he would get the London underground on the District and Circle lines eastbound and change at Charing Cross onto the Northern line to King’s Cross. Today he would go instead to Liverpool Street Station. This station was full of overhead walkways leading to platforms and could be confusing. His journey on the underground was uneventful and the carriage was thankfully not crowded. He boarded yet another semi fast train and disembarked at King’s Lynn. His journey had taken 3.5 hours so far and was not over yet. He saw that buses were infrequent and only every 4 hours. He had 3 hours to wait. The village he was to stay in was called Saddle Bow and some 5 miles south of King’s Lynn. His young friend had arranged to meet him but due to the delays had turned up and then gone back home. His friend was badged Royal Anglian Regiment. It was now mid afternoon and somewhat overcast. He was on the fenland and an ice chill wind was blowing in off the North Sea. He had on his thick Greatcoat over his uniform so did not feel too cold but it was still noticeable. He saw a road sign indicating the village was 5 miles exactly. About one hours walk with his suitcase and he was young and fit. There were few people about and very few cars were passing him by. He noticed what he took for a scarecrow in a field off to his right. He could see the road divide to the left and right. No signpost here so which way to turn? He decided to keep left. He noticed a Man dressed in unusual clothing much the same as those seen back then on Quaker oats porridge packets. A tricorn hat dressed in white shirt and black coat and trousers with a silver belt buckle. He continued and came across a local young lady. He asked her for directions and she told him that he had taken the wrong turning but he could cross a public pathway over a farmer’s field which would bring him to the right road and about 2 miles from the village. They parted and he walked on and a Morris oxford car with a single occupant past him by. After a few minutes he noticed the man again this time in a field to his right and this time the man was beckoning to him to go to him. He thought it most strange because the man had been to his left not 15 minutes earlier. Unless he had ran across to the field from behind him how could he have gotten there? He ignored the man and kept walking until he saw the path and started to cross it. A farmyard and buildings was a couple of hundred yards away to his left and the south. He saw the same man again standing at the place where the footbath met the road leading to the village. The man was smiling broadly and beckoning him yet again. He felt a sudden very deep chill followed by intense heat and all around him seemed to change. The buildings were there but looked different and there were multi collared fields and strange but pleasant smells except for that of the horse manure. He saw men with horse and plow from another age some distance away and they looked to have farm labourers clothing from the early 1800s. He continued to walk and could no longer see the man dressed like a Quaker. He turned left and carried on down the road. A couple in a horse and trap passed him and seemed oblivious to him. A stagecoach with four horses and two men up front and on top with 4 passengers went by one the other side. The road was a dirt road no tar macadam was present. He stopped and looked around but no Quaker oats man. It began to get chilly again and then hot as before. Suddenly he was back on a tarmacamam road and could see the farm yard and buildings has he had done earlier. He saw the village in the distance and a green single Decker bus with a number of passengers went by on the other side of the road with Cambridge written as the destination. He arrived at the outskirts of the village and was on the lookout for a telephone booth so he could phone his friend; He was also looking for the name of the Lane is friend’s family home was situated on. Suddenly the Quaker man appeared in front of him out of thin air. A solid looking man in his 50s. The young man stopped in his tracks and then became paralysed and rooted to the spot. The Quaker man then disintegrated slowly leaving only a gold outline where he had stood and the young man was no longer paralysed. He had no choice but to walk through this golden outline and in doing so he felt multiple low voltage electric shocks. He came across someone an elderly lady and he asked directions. She said apparently, “Poor dear you look as if you have seen a Ghost. I expect the cold weather must have affected you having walked so far. He did not mention his experience to her. Upon arriving at his friend’s home he was given a meal and a warm welcome. Later that evening he related his story and the parents, brother and two sisters of his friend looked at each other in disbelief.