The Wollaton Park Gnome Encounter

In 1979, on a dark September night, some children were walking around Wollaton Park when they encountered some very unusual little men....

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[thedazelle]

Being chased by gnomes in little gnome cars sounds both hilarious and terrifying. How did the gnomes get the little cars? Are there little gnome car dealerships?

[SukieOOO]

A little man peaking from behind a bush then proceeding to do a vague jiggling gesture is far more horrifying than any true crime story .

[puredemon]

Imagine if the Batman movie accidentally caught one of these gnomes on camera in the background.
Like there's a serious moment happening, then in the distance- a gnome zooms past in a bubble car.

[toypianos]

"Now imagine yourself being chased in the dark by gnomes in tiny cars" I was enjoying the story at face value until I had to actually picture that in my head. What a hilariously horrifying image! Love it.

[michieladriaansens]

"an odd jiggeling gesture"!? my mind cannot even comprehend

[PsychoFox]

I'm staying up late to adjust my sleep schedule for my new shift at work. That gnome at the end nearly actually killed me.

[jasonm]

2-3 FEET tall?! That's actually horrifying. I imagine gnomes to be knee height at most.

[Spitzick]

you're one of the only youtubers i would genuinely love to talk to for hours, I love cryptids and all the stories you cover. Keep being the best.

[Kortexx]

Seeing this upload sent a chill down my spine. I grew up in Nottingham in the 90s (specifically in Beeston, near the university) and have a similar story from Wollaton Park that I'll never forget. I've never told a soul about this, not even my family. For years I was unsure if I'd imagined this or dreamt it, but now in my adulthood I'm fully convinced what I saw was real.

I was 9 years old, just old enough for my mum to let me go out on my own during the day, and the park was a favourite place of mine to just walk and be on my own (I didn't have many friends as a kid). I'd spend hours playing with my yo-yo, reading comics and listening to my Walkman in the park during the afternoon.

One day, I was absent-mindedly walking, yo-yo in hand, when I heard the sharp crack of a snapped twig, about 15 feet away to my left. I snapped out of my train of thought and looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a small figure, about 2 feet in height, built like a fat little man with a wispy grey beard and dressed in all red, complete with a red hat and overalls. It was bent double, hopping around and picking up what I assumed were acorns and other detritus from the edge of a large and thick bramble bush. I also noticed that nobody else was in the immediate vicinity; this was in the late afternoon.

I kind of just stood there dumbfounded for a second; I wasn't necessarily scared, just confused and bewildered. The figure must've noticed I was there, as it suddenly stopped, turned towards me and sprung to it's feet. It initially looked surprised, but then smiled at me, gave a wink, then hurriedly turned and lept into the bush behind it, as if the thick twigs and brambles were no obstacle at all.

I was stood there stunned for a short while, processing what I'd just seen. After what felt like five minutes, I just put my headphones in and powerwalked out of the park and straight home, where I went straight to bed on a Saturday afternoon and just kept thinking about what I saw. I've always been unsettled by gnomes since that day.

One thing in particular has always unnerved me deeply about that sighting. I never got a sense of malice from the being when I saw it, but when it turned to me and smiled... It had such sharp teeth....

[gabecervantes]

I'm originally from Mexico but grew up in California. In Mexico there are a lot of folk stories regarding a little people. Gnomes and or trolls, it's actually very popular folklore especially amongst indigenous communities. If you search "Duendes" you'll find some stuff. Scares the hell out of me honestly.

[jennawood]

I've been to Wollaton Park many a time over the years and this is the first I'm heading of this. I will keep my eyes peeled next time I go.

[rbarnett]

There was a tv series called Noddy based on the Enid Blyton stories that aired from 1975-76 on ITV in the UK. He drove a little car. Then there is, of course, the original books and the popularity of ornamental garden gnomes in Britain. I'm not saying that the children didn't make it up based on contemporary cultural currency but they definitely made it up based on contemporary cultural currency.

[carkkos]

Currently working overnight stocking at walmart and these videos make my night fly by. I appreciate the quality of the videos🙏

[anthroposmetron]

Fairies were something of a craze in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, kind of like how contemporary culture regards aliens. I'm betting the kids had absorbed some of the local mythologising about those 'fairy sightings' and then spun the tale about the gnomes. Fairies are a bit passe for the seventies, but gnomes were in just about every garden in the UK in the seventies - what could be more real than that!

[lys-eli]

the algorithm finally caught on to the fact I love gnomes

[tuomosalo]

I had a Gnome encounter once.

I was walking down the high street. When I heard footsteps behind me.
And there was a little old man in scarlet and grey, shuffling away. Well he trotted back to my house and he sat beside the telly. With his tiny hands on his tummy. Chuckling away, laughing all day.

[crumstopher]

The bubble cars would likely be gnome-powered, especially because there are two of them in each car which provides extra pedaling power. The body and wheels would likely be carved out of wood and painted using whatever pigments in the swamps such as blue flag iris. According to Paracelsian teachings though, gnomes are able to pass through earth as it were air, so it's possible that they would have easier access to coal that would power their engines.

[raine]

As someone who is Mexican, I’ve heard my fair share of stories about gnomes or as we call them duendes. One of my aunts who lives in Mexico has told us that when she was a child a gnome tried to abducted her! Grabbed her by her pigtails and dragged her up a tree. But she says that she managed to get away.

[thehermit]

Low key constantly living in fear of encountering things like this
I appreciate your telling stories like these, I’m always looking for them.

[secretformulathief]

Being chased my gnome cars sounds oddly scary, like if a tiny RC car was after you, but your under the impression if it touches you, you die. Feels like a dream sequence tbh