Portsmouth
This blog tried to post itself before i have even started.
Uhum... ghost in the machine...
I have been getting fed up with search engines on the internet
which assume that yiu are a buyer, and only take you to ebay
and Amazon. If that goes any way towards explaining why i miss
days maybe it's because i give up jn frustration.
Anyway to continue my look into folklore and hauntings
I'll go to one of my favourite coastal places, Portsmouth.
I ofte n get off the train at the northern station of Fratton,
And walk down into Southsea.i have wandered both
sides of the line, though, not on the tracks of course.
Here's an old tale close to my heart.. of a witch.
This is the Froddington witch.
I assume Froddington doesn't exist any more,
A luminous witch inhabits the edges of Fratton Common,
She is supposed to whistle at passers-by and mesmerise them....
They then freeze, giving her time to disappear
There seem to be quite a few ghostly legends
assocuated with Portsmouth, of people and things disappearing,
Probably in the sea mists blowing in from the Solent....
I don't know where Froddington wss but there is a Fratton pub
called the Froddington Arms.
This is what wikipedia says about Froddington....
"Goldsmith's Farm and Fratton Common were part of the original small rural village originally called Froddington, the only visible evidence of this being the presence of a public house, "The Froddington Arms" on the western side of Fratton Road. Due to developments during the Industrial age, more of the surrounding land was absorbed by Portsmouth in the 1870s and 1880s, principally by new housing developments"
This blog tried to post itself before i have even started.
Uhum... ghost in the machine...
I have been getting fed up with search engines on the internet
which assume that yiu are a buyer, and only take you to ebay
and Amazon. If that goes any way towards explaining why i miss
days maybe it's because i give up jn frustration.
Anyway to continue my look into folklore and hauntings
I'll go to one of my favourite coastal places, Portsmouth.
I ofte n get off the train at the northern station of Fratton,
And walk down into Southsea.i have wandered both
sides of the line, though, not on the tracks of course.
Here's an old tale close to my heart.. of a witch.
This is the Froddington witch.
I assume Froddington doesn't exist any more,
A luminous witch inhabits the edges of Fratton Common,
She is supposed to whistle at passers-by and mesmerise them....
They then freeze, giving her time to disappear
There seem to be quite a few ghostly legends
assocuated with Portsmouth, of people and things disappearing,
Probably in the sea mists blowing in from the Solent....
I don't know where Froddington wss but there is a Fratton pub
called the Froddington Arms.
 | |
| The witch's local? |
"Goldsmith's Farm and Fratton Common were part of the original small rural village originally called Froddington, the only visible evidence of this being the presence of a public house, "The Froddington Arms" on the western side of Fratton Road. Due to developments during the Industrial age, more of the surrounding land was absorbed by Portsmouth in the 1870s and 1880s, principally by new housing developments"
Hi there I am publishing a book on Portsmouth Ghosts which I hope will be out by Christmas. Fratton is a corruption of Froddington which is Saxon for Frogs Farm or more likely Frogs Village ….as it was surrounded by marshes !
ReplyDeleteThe Froddington Witch was said to be a stealer of souls !
Best wishes
Adam Carew