Tuesday 15th March 2022
Back in November, 2018, I made a little post concerning the general ghostlore of Himley, South Staffordshire. (See HERE).
By far the most popular and widely acknowledged legend associated with this area concerns the so-called Himley, or Wombourne, 'Ghost Rider'. This was, as the name suggests, the apparition of a horse and rider - generally said to be dressed in 'old fashioned clothing' - seen galloping around the local countryside. Needless to say, this kind of motif is something of a staple of British (if not world) ghostlore, but this particular phantom, in this particular region, happened to have a reasonable 'historical heritage'... greatly generated by the events that befell the region in November 1605.
It was this time that the events generally referred to as 'The Gunpowder Plot' had been entering it's final phase... the plot itself having failed and the bulk of the men involved were, at that point, now engaged in a desperate attempt to avoid capture.
Holbeche House lies on the periphery of Himley Village today (and for many years now) the site has been a Care Home... but, in 1605, it was owned by the Lyttelton family - Stephen Lyttleton being one of the key figures in the aforementioned endeavour to blow-up parliament and assassinate King James I in the process....
At the point that the caravan of fleeing conspirators reached Holbeche, the pursuing Royalist force had almost caught up. As a result, events concerned were destined to come to a head at Himley, resulting in the development of a siege-like scenario.
It is at this precise point that, according to the most popular and oft-quoted 'origin story' for the 'Himley Horseman', our ghostly protagonist is 'born'. It has been claimed that a member of the a member of the plotters entourage was a lowly squire who (a) was dispatched to try and 'fetch help' for the besieged party, or (b) a panicking servant, who seeing that the besieged party would soon be over-run, makes a desperate bid for freedom and is pursued, caught up with, and killed in the process...
During the 1970's, a local newspaper managed to come up with a name for this poor, unfortunate, serf, allegedly unearthed during the course of 'historical research' into the above-mentioned events! What more could you ask: one of those one in a thousand chances where freshly uncovered, historical data actually seems to 'back up' alleged, ghostly activity! (And I know I'm being rather simplistic in the above statement, but compare such a suggestion to the infinitely more frequent scenario involving already dubious 'historical legend' or simple 'invented history' giving rise to ghostly legend... only to be 'called out' as complete B/S later on. Now - just hold on to that thought momentarily....!)
According to a representative for the newspaper, the poor, unfortunate, squire was a lad called 'Gideon Grove'... and this monicker was supposedly mentioned in a lengthy poem - entitled 'The Ghost Riders', covering the Holbeche Siege - by a 19th Cent. minstrel / folk poet named Rhymer Greensill:
"Another lurched from the smoking room,
of youthful years, 'twas Lyttletons groom,
Gideon Grove, with his clothes alight,
upon a horse which neighed with fright,
sorely hurt from a wound in the throat,
he spurred his steed o'er the shallow moat,
and the men-at-arms set off in chase,
as he entered Himley Woods, apace..."
The following verse recount how the terrified Grove, having attempted to stem the flow of blood from his wound by hastily buttoning his coat around his neck, ends his headlong flight by crashing into a bog...! within a short period of time, his pursuers catch up and take great amusement from seeing their former quarry in such a dire situation. Hoping to perhaps be pulled free and simply hanged, Grove begs for aid... but the evil troops simply level their muskets at his struggling form and, as the poem insists: "...he met his end - shot down like a dog'. The next section goes on to basically suggest that, at night, the shade of Grove now crawls from his resting place to ride around the surrounding countryside, re-enacting his former, vain, headlong flight for salvation....
Rightly so, given the historical context of of the above, we can imagine that a fair amount was made of this information by the newspaper... especially so, in conjunction with impressive sightings of the Himley Rider, that had taken place around that exact, same time. (In fact, this 'discovery of evidence' and the sightings concerned were inextricably intertwined). So intriguing was the overall matter that the topic has subsequently been resurrected time and again, over the years, in the pages of the periodical concerned, as well as being catalogued more fully in the publication, 'Black Country Ghosts And Mysteries' by one Aristotle Tump.... Within a matter of a decade or so, mainly because of the emphasis put on this 'fresh' information in the media, the 'Gideon Grove' dialogue was inevitably incorporated into the ghostlore of the local region...
At this point, I'll refrain from indulging in overblown accusations and condemnation of the blatant falsification of data and simply mention that all was not exactly Kosher, however, when it came to the 'Gideon Grove' legend... In short, it transpires that the characters of 'Gideon Grove' - and his alleged 19th Century chronicler, 'Rhymer Greensill' - were both simply 'dreamed up' by the same person during the earlier portion of the 1970's... namely, the editor of the newspaper that claimed to have, in the process of conducting historical research, unearthed the information. Over time, it's been revealed that the source involved was certainly not beyond 'inventing historical data' for the sake of gaining readers... in fact, this is something that they have become reasonably famous for and, as 'ghost stories' were always, and will always be, a considerable selling point, it seems this topic in particular was prone to considerable manipulation...!
On the subject of 'invented ghostlore', however, it should be stressed that these 70's-born shenanigans were certainly not the only time that this has occurred in this legend. Briefly returning to my second paragraph above - and quickly casting a little 'historical context' on to the subject, as far as the ghostlore is concerned - I did purposefully mention "...Himley, or Wombourne, 'Ghost Rider'.." as both regions, as close to one another as they are, report such a figure, which has greatly been - rightly or wrongly - regarded as one and the same phantom...? In fact, initial reports on such matters seem to 'begin' in the Wombourne region, some of the earliest, recorded references hailing from the 1950's. (Himley based reports seem to occur slightly later, greatly overshadowing, eventually, Wombourne accounts following the emphasis put on the region by the 70's coverage). In comparison to the Himley examples, however, those reported for Wombourne were almost immediately called out as 'fake' in that initial press coverage. Echoing some of the amusing 'ghost scare' scenarios that were prevalent during the Victorian period, it had clearly been regarded by some locals as 'amusing' for them to dress up in white garb - borrowed doctors gowns, suggested in one report - and career around the countryside pretending to be ghostly horsemen! As frequently occurred in these instances, the alleged presence of these 'phantom riders' attracted a considerable amount of attention... leading to the appearance of huge crowds of avid sight-seers, in the areas supposedly prone to such manifestations...!
So... in briefly covering this topic here, I should stress that I'm certainly not trying to 'cry foul' on ALL reports of 'phantom riders' being seen in the regions involved, but simply draw attention to the obvious fact that the formation of - and subsequent reporting of - a supposedly still 'active' ghostlore is a ridiculously complex and vexed topic. Nothing is simple and ghostlore should never be taken as, or acted upon, as anything even near approaching 'fact'!
Needless to stress, our fictitious friend 'Gideon Grove' is now an integral part of Himley history and lore. A number of years ago now, I was doing a few Admin duties in the 'ghost-related' section on a (then) popular (now defunct) Black Country forum, when a gentleman posted to say that he and his group had recently been investigating this case. He mentioned that, during a visit to the area, their resident 'psychic' had actually made contact with the 'spirit' of Gideon Grove. During this chat, the medium had supposedly received a considerable amount of intriguing information about the character, including data on where he had actually lived, in nearby Trysull village, and so on!? (*As many will know, I completely condemn the usage of such people as 'investigative tools' anyway, but, given the fact the medium concerned was basically in the habit of 'conversing with fictional characters' I had to contact the chap and suggest that, perhaps, he be a little more careful about that kind of thing? If I recall correctly, he defended the situation, but, speaking again, a while later, I was simply told that his group 'didn't work with that particular psychic anymore...')
Only a couple of weeks ago, at the time of tapping out this post, I happened to come across a related post on social media, where the siege was not only mentioned, but a reasonable amount was also said on the topic of Gideon Grove, etc. Colour me a spoil-sport, but, given historical emphasis being put on the character, I left a comment to say that this part of the story was fictional; a note that, basically, was not particularly, warmly received...
In ending, it has to be said that no self-respecting note on this particular topic can go without a very well-deserved nod towards a gentleman named Steve Ford and a superb documentary that he created - 'Gunpowder Ghost: The Legend Of The Wombourne Phantom' (DVD cover pic - header of this post) - concerning the legend discussed here. This impressive production ended up being many years in the making, but, as anyone who has had the good fortune to see it will surely agree, it was well worth all of the time and effort that Steve eventually put into it! All of the history briefly touched upon here - legends, blatant fabrication, and many interviews with first-hand witnesses from all different aspects of the overall case - are impressively interwoven and presented therein.
'Kingswinford's phantom horseman rides onto DVD'
"AN amateur Kingswinford filmmaker has finally finished his indepth documentary about a mysterious phantom horseman which is said to roam South Staffordshire.
Steve Ford’s 70-minute docu-drama looking into the spooky sightings, believed to be linked to the famous gun powder plot, has taken around four years to bring to fruition.
But the 50-year-old aspiring director hopes his feature length DVD film ‘Gunpowder Ghost - the legend of the Wombourne Phantom’ - featuring reconstructions of historic events and supposed sightings plus interviews with historians, parapsychologists and those who claim to have witnessed the galloping ghost - will shed new light on the creepy local legend.
Steve, from Ash Crescent, said: “I’ve heard these stories since I was a kid - I’m quite convinced these people have had these paranormal experiences.”
Over the years the eerie equestrian apparition has been seen dashing through Himley and Wordsley. It is also said to have turned the sky red and stopped traffic near Wombourne.
And there has long been speculation that the spectre is the ghost of Robert Wintour, one of the gun powder plot conspirators who escaped from the gang’s Holbeche House hideout in Wall Heath in November 1605 and who was later hung, drawn and quartered.
But film-maker Steve, who shot the entire movie himself, also investigates the theory that it could be the spirit of a tragic stablehand called Gideon Grove - who looked after conspirator Stephen Littleton’s horses at Holbeche House.
He is said to have fled the melee involving the conspirators at the house and was subsequently shot by one of the sheriff’s men in nearby woods.
Steve said: “I’ve learnt a lot more about the legend, but I think there’ll always be room for more research and more secrets to be revealed.”
Edited by fellow movie-maker Dan Evans, of Wordsley based Expressive Arts Productions, the ‘Gunpowder Ghost’ DVD is available for loan free of charge from Wombourne and Kingswinford libraries...."
Unfortunately, Steve seemed to greatly underestimate his project and the interest it could / would undoubtedly generate. As a result, I believe he only really released a small, handful of copies... a couple being 'put into general circulation' in libraries in the immediate, local area, but most being simply given to friends and acquaintances who had helped out with different aspects of the movie, etc. (My own - greatly treasured - copy was received for my simply having spoken with Steve during the planning stages of the project!) In subsequent correspondences, I had stressed that he should, most certainly, attempt to take the production to further levels, given it's quality... but he had only ever treated it as a little, personal, project that he clearly deemed as going to be of interest to a rather limited audience. Over the subsequent years, I've seen many different parties - from far and wide - expressing considerable interest in seeing the documentary, as a result, and have been contacted numerous times by people enquiring where they might purchase a copy.
Sadly, Steve Ford passed away suddenly in late 2018, the following article being published in the 'Express And Star' newspaper, marking his death:
'He made children’s dreams come true': Tributes paid to Wishing Well Dudley Hospital Volunteer'
A Black Country volunteer champion who brought joy to thousands of sick children has died at the age of 60.
'Unsung hero' Steve Ford, who organised 'dreams come true' trips for patients on the children's ward at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley through his Wishing Well charity, was found dead at his Kingswinford home on Boxing Day.
He helped children achieve their utmost dreams, from meeting their favourite popstar or taking a ride in a race car, and also presented a weekly radio show to the hospital children's ward.
During the last few weeks of his life Mr Ford, whose real name was Steve Mukanovic, had been working with Dudley Council for Voluntary Service (DCVS) on the Operation Santa project to deliver gifts to local children.
Locals across the region have paid tribute to him following his death, after he helped so many grieving and struggling families through his charity.
Dave Brownhill, director of Black Country Festival and co-director of Black Country Radio, worked with him for more than 40 years and said he was 'shocked and saddened' to hear the news.
Mr Brownhill said: “I’ve known Steve for over 40 years as a volunteer at, first, The Guest Hospital and of course more recently at Russells Hall Hospital where he was almost a permanent fixture on the children’s ward.
”He would make children’s dreams come true. Anything from a Concorde ride to a racing car, anything a child wanted he would go out of his way to try and make their dream come true.
”He’ll be sadly missed.”
Mr Ford, who leaves behind one cousin, suffered from crippling arthritis since he was a young child, and underwent several operations throughout his life.
His illness meant he was often unable to leave his home - but still persevered with his charity work. He worked as a postman until the pain meant he could not carry on.
In a quirky tradition, he had exchanged the same Christmas card with a fellow postman in the area for more than 40 years - but refused to post it in case it was lost.
Eileen Fielding, of DCVS, which organises Operation Santa each year, had known Mr Ford for 19 years.
She described him as 'the loveliest man you could ever meet'.
"He really was one of the most lovely, genuine men," she said. "And I don't think he realised how much people loved him. He was warm, friendly, social and would do anything for anyone.
"He was one of my volunteer elves this year for Operation Santa and had been wrapping presents and entertaining the kids. Even with his bad arthritis he still wrapped the presents - he found a way. He just made such an impact, always laughing and joking.
"Just 100 per cent the nicest man. The outpouring of love for him is incredible. He was an absolute star."
Mr Ford presented a weekly show at Dudley Hospital Radio for the children's ward at Russells Hall Hospital for more than 30 years - and was known to thousands there.
He began volunteering at the radio in 1983, where he first met youngsters on the ward. He then started to collect requests for the station’s listeners, before launching his charity Wishing Well six years later.
He also won the Children and Families Award for his charity work at the Dudley Volunteer Awards in 2016 and also gave up his time as a volunteer minibus driver.
Former mayor of Dudley Councillor Steve Waltho said he was 'deeply saddened' to hear the news. The pair worked together on Operation Santa in Dudley just days before his death.
"It's devastating, a real terrible shock to those in the charity community," said Councillor Waltho. "He was such a lovely, likeable guy.
"He was one of those people I had heard of a lot, and admired from afar, but had only met him a few times.
"He was an unsung hero. I'm involved quite a lot in the Queen's Honours system and I know his name had been mentioned, which makes it a real tragedy. I'm just deeply saddened."
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