The Phantom-Cars of Canvey Island

Hello everybody, I think we’ve waited long enough. Now it’s time to get down to business.
Namely, discussing urban legends and various oddities around England. But where to begin? Well, think me lazy if you will but I’m going to start closer to home. A place I’ve visited quite often and one, forgive me for saying, is not very nice or exciting or even hygienic.
Yep, I’m talking about Canvey Island.

Now, I know what you’re all asking.
“Canvey Island? Dan, what the fuck is so special about that shithole? The only thing spooky about that place is what goes on outside Kebab shops on a Friday night”.
Well, you’re wrong. Because from my correspondences with people all over the country I have received several accounts of strange goings-on at Canvey Island. A certain area specifically.
Why don’t I give you a sample of some of the stuff I’ve been told?

“Hi Dan, I heard you were looking for weird stories around England, right? I live on Canvey Island (pity me) and have heard a hell of a lot about so-called “ghost cars”. Don’t know much else, but maybe it’s something you’d be interested in investigating?”
Some guy called “cdawg” sent me this e-mail waaaaay back in 2007.



“u ok? Im just writing to let u no bout some mad shit on canvey island. i saw a car disappear. honest 2 god. i was walkin cross a brigde, it was foggy and i saw this old blue car on the grass near this shitty marshy place. i walked on bit further and lookd back. the car was gone”
And I got that load of incomprehensible bollocks from a kid called Matt.

Now, from other accounts I was able to make an educated guess at the bridge they were talking about and the general marsh area too. So, with my little disposable camera in tow I decided to make the journey down there.
And what did I make of the place? First of all, what I noticed was how gloomy it was. You often get vast stretches of rural land, but this wasn’t pleasant to look at. It seemed like the kind of place that you could lose a shoe in if you went out there. Muddy, wet and horribly bleak.
If any kind of phantom vehicle were to appear, this would be the perfect place. It’s certainly spooky enough.

And let’s think for a moment about ghostly vehicles. What are they? Assuming they exist, I think that a reasonable explanation is that they are somehow the spectral image of a dead driver and his totalled car.
And what did I see when I was there? The bridge had a huge, gaping hole in it. A car could have easily plunged into the filthy water below. Perhaps this happened before, perhaps that’s why people are seeing things.
In the end you’ve just got to make up your own mind?
Are there ghost-cars lurking on Canvey Island?
Go and look!