The following letters and articles have appeared in the Tamworth Herald over the past few weeks.
Last Monday evening (April 30), I was driving along New Road (between Newton Regis and the B5493) when I was amazed to see a man dressed in the attire of a Roman soldier walk in front of the path of my car, some 20 yards ahead.
As I slowed to drive around him, feeling exasperated, I noticed a group of people dressed in similar Roman uniforms standing on the edge of the road.
One of them must have been holding an industrial strength torch as I was aware of a very bright light which dazzled me.
However, I did manage to get a clear look at the group; some of them were even made up to look bloodied as if they had been in battle.
Are any readers aware of a stag party or Roman pageant or historical film production that was taking place in the area last Monday? Did any other readers see this group?
The uniforms looked very authentic and this would solve this mystery for me.
I am a professional woman and a rational human being, but am annoyed at the fact that I drove off with a sense of fear after the incident.
Elaine Edwards, Mile Oak. (Via email).
I WAS fascinated to read Elaine Edward's letter (Herald May 11) in
which she recalled seeing what appeared to be Roman soldiers. I
believe that what Mrs Edwards may have seen were the spirits of Roman
soldiers and not actors as she thought. This area is rich in
paranormal activity and the presence of the ghosts of Roman soldiers
is far from unusual. I would urge Mrs Edwards's to conatact one of the
local paranormal study gropus to record her report and in the
meanwhile, if readers think that there is no such thing as ghosts,
bear in mind that whilst no-one has yet proved their existence beyond
reasonable doubt-then no-one has proved that they don't exist either!
Colin Gooch, Tamworth
MRS EDWARDS, whose letter appeared in the Herald, May 10, is not the
only person seeing Roman soldiers around here. Ironically, my
seven-year-old daughter has been telling me for weeks that one of the
men from Ben Hur has been appearing in the field across from us. When
I asked her to draw what the man looked like, she instead produced a
picture of a Roman soldier in his armour. I thought this was the
over-active imagination of a seven-year-old. Then,two weeks ago,my two
teenage sons, who were returning from the pub, said they had been
chased by men in armour who had 'emerged from the mist' as they put
it. We all laughed it off as a combination of alchohol and the dark. I
don't know if my family and Mrs Edwards have been merely witnessing
film extras in action, but I thought it was a strange coincidence of
experiences.
Jean Hocker, Austrey
I AM writing in response to Elaine Edwards' letter in last week's
Herald concerning the men in historic military uniform that
she saw near the Ashby Road a week last Monday. You are not imagining
things Elaine! My son and I saw them too as I was taking him for an
evening drive near Shuttington on the evening of april 30. The party
were emerging from the top of New Road onto the Ashby Road. Yes, they
were dressed as Roman soldiers and yes, there was a flood-light or
some light source on them from the adjacent field. Although the whole
thing looked very bizarre, I didn't pay it too much thought. My
son thought it was a stag party, but I felt the uniforms were far too
elaboratre and expensive looking. They were dirtied and bruised
exactly how Mrs Edwards described them. I feel it must have been part
of a TV production although the group's complete indifference to the
pasing traffic surprised both my son and myself.
Chris Ball, Wigginton. (Via email)
IN RESPONSE to your question, 'Did I really see Roman soldiers?' I
would say 'Yes, Elaine Edwards, you did'. I was heading along Ashby
Road on the date you mentioned and saw the same party of men dressed
as Romans marching up the New Road. I got off my bike to watch them as
I presumed someone was making a film as New Road had been
floodlit. What surprised me was the fact there were no road blocks as
the group were dominating the road and it would have been difficult
for any passing trafffic to ahve driven by. I felt awkward because I
was sure I had wondered on to a film set and didn't wait for them to
reach me before riding off. Why weren't we told a film about the
Romans was being made right on our doorstep?
Mark Griffin, Leyfields
MYSTERY surrounds the supposed presence of Roamn soldiers on a quiet
country road near Tamworth, with Herald readers offering
numerous suggestions on reasons for the 'sightings.' 'All roads lead
to Rome', or so they say, and four readers have reported seeing a
group of bloodied and muddy soldiers marching along our own roads-from
New Road in Shuttington on to the Ashby Road.
All the 'sightings were apparently on April 30th in the evening.
The first letter was from a woman who claimed she saw a man dressed as
a Roman soldier wak in front of her car and then another group of
people in Roam uniforms standing at the edge of the road, with a
dazzling light shining on them.
The second came from a woman who claimed her daughter had seen 'one of
the men from Ben Hur' numerous times in fields near to her
home. The woman's teenage sons also claimed to have been chased by men
wearing armour.
Another woman wrote in who also claimed to have seen the soldiers,
describing them as having 'indifference to the passing traffic'.
So what is happening?
The Herald's investigations have so far shed little light on
the story-and residents in the area saw nothing at all.
Derek Nicholls, the owner of Tamworth Tool Box, lives in New Road.
"I would have been out and about around the time the soldiers were
seen and I have sen nothing at all," he said.
Some theories are that the soldiers were a re-enactment group,
characters from a film set or a stag night party.
And Subsequent letter writers have suggested hese soldiers were merely
men in elaborate costumes, a ghostly vision-or are these letters
just telling us a tall story?
None of the four letter writers who claimed to have seen the soldiers
could be traced, despite giving their conatct details.
Helen Machin NEWS REPORTER
I'VE just returned to Tamworth and as I drove down the Ashby Road I
saw two bright lights in the sky above Shuttington.
Curious, I turned down New Road where I saw a huge black panther-like
creature attacking what I can only describe as a Roman soldier.
My car suddenly stopped dead for no reason and the two bright lights
hovered right above my head and transported the pnther/beast and Roamn
soldier into the biggest craft you could ever imagine.
I'm normally a rational person but I found this whole experience life
changing.
Please warn the residents of Tamworth to be on the look out for
strange lights in the sky, wild cats roaming the countryside and Roam
battalions hanging out in the middle of nowhere.
X-files seems almost believable now.
J Caesar, Tamworth (Via email).
Whilst reading the Herald online, I came across recent letters concerning sightings of Roman soldiers in the Ashby Road area.
In Response to J Caesar's warning about his little incident of UFOs, black panthers and mystery Roman soldiers.
At the end of April 1999, I was working in Ashby and living in Tamworth, where I had been born in 1972.
One evening, about 6pm, I was coming home down the Ashby Road, approaching Seckington at the end of the very long straight.
I caught up with a lorry (from one of Tamworth's top firms and normally very well-driven trucks) which was trundling along about 30mph.
Once over the crossroads at the top of the hill I could see down the other side and saw it was safe to overtake, but for a guy part way down the hill on the left verge, who I thought was standing in some light from somewhere.
I started to overtake, at which point the lorry lurched violently towards me, nearly hitting me off to the right.
Once I was past, the driver flashed his lights manically and stopped. No way Jos?? I thought (assuming he wanted words) and went into Tamworth, down to his works and made a formal complaint that he'd tried to run me off the road for no reason.
His boss got back to me some days later saying you won't believe the story, but I have got to say my driver is adamant.
The driver said there was a guy on the left verge who he was looking at because he'd got his back to the truck and was right on the edge. There was a light on him from somewhere so he thought it was someone being photographed.
As he got nearer to the guy, he turned and he was dressed in fancy dress like a Roman, held up his hand and stepped out in his path.
He'd swerved, trying to avoid me and him, but hit the guy in the road. There was no noise, no bang. So he stopped (when I had thought he wanted words).
The guy was gone... there was no damage to the truck... no blood... none on the verge or thrown into the field.
So reading the Romans letters made my blood run a tad cold!
I hope it helps flesh out the bones a bit.
Simon. (Details supplied).
I HAVE been reading, with equal interest and scepticism, the correspondence in the Herald's letters pages regarding the reported sightings of Roman soldiers.
It was with some amusement I read the name of the writer of the latest letter in last week's issue (May 31). Am I the only one who did a 'double-take' to read that the writer was 'J Caesar'.
Julius, perhaps?
Mrs J A Irving,Stonydelph.
This is nothing to be worried about, it just seems to suggest a bigger problem - our once ancient kingdom of Offa is under invasion. Again, don't be alarmed, this sort of thing has happened before.
I would consider myself an expert on such matters. I often look out of my window and watch television documentaries, so I consider myself a wise elder.
First the Romans, I can inform you that they have been here once before, but then they left in about 4AD (about half past one to be precise).
I think they have returned to collect some valuables of personal value that archaeologists have been willy nilly digging up.
Let us return to the Romans what is rightly theirs.
I now turn my sage-like advice to the problem of a full scale UFO invasion. Do we need to raise the sons and daughters of Offa defence force?
No, we just need to implement extra-terrestrial lighting. This would be a great deterrent to such antisocial behaviour.
As to the case of the black panther, let us first tackle the monster that lurks in the dark depths of Borrowpit Lake and poses a threat to the good fisher people of Tamworth.
Mr William Ebrey, Town Elder, Kettlebrook.
I HAVE been following the story of the sightings of the 'Roman Soldiers' with great interest and would love to know more details if possible about the 'sightings'.
I have just visited a website where the author is trying to establish an old Roman Road and if his findings prove conclusive then the old Roman Road did pass through Newton Regis.
Having been interested in ghost stories and also collected and published numerous booklets obviously I am 'hooked' into this latest tale.
Carol Arnall, Rugeley.