Did the Jacobites reach Anstey? and other strange matters

How far south did Bonnie Prince Charlie get?

The history books will telly that he turned back at Derby, and the really good books will mention that he sent men to sieze the bridge over the Trent at Swarkestone before he made that decision.

But did some of his troops venture further south?

Maybe. There is a tradition at Anstey that a Jacobite foraging party reached the village. (I am sure there used to be more about this on the web - its disappearance is surely suspicious.)

Then there is the story that the last wolf in England was killed near the village.

Finally, there is this strange incident mentioned in the Fortean Times forums:

Man with No Face ... 

Location: Anstey (Leicestershire) - Fields along Anstey Road, leading to Leicester 

Type: UFO 

Date / Time: Late 1920s 

Further Comments: Thought to be an early alien encounter (though it can also be interpreted as ghostly in nature), a woman playing in the fields came across a figure without a face dressed in black. Behind him, she could see a circular 'hut'. By the time she had awoken her father, who was sleeping in a nearby field, both hut and man had gone.

I know from experience that the best way of finding traces of such strange occurences is to print your photographs in black-and-white and study them closely.

Call it pareidolia if that comforts you.

An Anstey ghost sign

This rudimentary Marstons ghost sign - and there is an older ghost behind it if you look carefully - can be found in Anstey.

Not only is the building behind it no longer a shop, it is now derelict as a private house.

Across the road is a modern housing development. I suspect this is on the site of a factory that once provided the shop with its customers.