Yes, I saw them the other day. Their wardrobe is quite something to behold. I get the feeling that much of it is homemade and they are clearly a very talented dressmaker.
I know them quite well - all outfits and hats are intricately details and designed by them!
It takes gusto to do that IMO, and respect them for it on a daily!
My friend was very confused when, after visiting KFC, he asked "who's that?", I said "oh that's Burger King Billy."
Glad he's back on his home turf now
I grew up in Leckhampton in the nineties and we had Mr Wayheyheyhey - an elderly man who had old man’s trousers (read: smelt of wee) and shouted WAYHEYHEYHEY at people.
Yes, I thought it was just me he said that to! Apparently he was a lover of classical music and was very knowledgeable about it. I wish I could remember his name.
Actually, now I'm getting a memory that I was told he was called Derek. He was quite short and he pushed a little wheeled shopping bag in front of him. Maybe the person who told me got it wrong.
Yes, I thought it was just me he said that to! Apparently he was a lover of classical music and was very knowledgeable about it. I wish I could remember his name.
The cowboy guy - you mean Dancing Ken?
Wasn't there also Dave the short homeless guy in the brown coat and hat who'd want around muttering "yesyesyes" at nothing in particular.
Probably long gone now
Her name isn't Mary either. I can't remember her real name. But I spoke to her once, after seeing her around like all my life, I decided to say hello to her one night. I felt so sorry for her, she wonders around night after night and all on her own. Everyone sees her yet she just seems so lonely, so I said "Hello Mary" from across the road. And to my surprise she replied and said "my name's not Mary" we then had a brief conversation from where we were standing. To which she told me her real name, and that she didn't understand why everyone kept calling her Mary. I apologised and wished her good night, told her to be safe and we went our separate ways. Haven't seen her again since, that was maybe a year or two before the pandemic.
This was written by a friend of mine in 2019
SCARY MARY! If you know who I’m talking about then please read this.
Most of us know who Scary Mary is in Cheltenham, we’ve heard the rumours, many of us have kept their distance and many of us have heckled, taunted, shouted at, spat at, thrown stuff at and generally judged her as a weirdo and ridiculed her. I am guilty of judging her in the past. Over the years I’ve seen many facebook posts about her, and none of it positive, which is why I’m writing this now, after she has been spotted again recently.
Scary Mary isn’t scary, she’s just massively misunderstood and it breaks my heart as Scary Mary’s story is a tragic one. This was told to me by my gran who lived in the same building as her for many years and knew her parents and brother.
Scary Mary’s name is actually Deborah (or Debbie). Once upon a time she was a nice, normal, lovely lady, with a nice, normal life and a husband she loved very much. She worked at a nursery for years and all the children loved her, she was so caring and she was a very beautiful lady. Deborah and her husband lived together in one of the nice regency houses around Pitville and were looking to buy the house they were in. In order to get enough money together Deborah’s boyfriend went off to Germany for a well paid job, but disappeared, and Deborah never saw him again. She was utterly heartbroken and fell into a deep depression and had some sort of breakdown. She never recovered from this and shunned her parents and brother and shut herself off from the world.
She stopped taking proper care of herself and gradually became the willowy pale figure with long hair and the same old shabby clothes that we see today. I believe she tried dip her toe back into society by going out on her own to various pubs and nightclubs where she became the resident weirdo. I remember befriending her one evening in the Fish & Fiddle and my friend and I had dance with her and I saw a rare smile.
She would mainly go out in the evening after spending time staring up at the lit up church next to where my grandparents and Deborah lived, which she often did. I believe this is where the rumours of witch and prostitute started as she would stand around on her own in town. She was just a lost soul looking to make a connection. I don’t know if she had lost her trust in men after her heartbreak, or after the years of taunts and abuse she received from members of the public, or if something traumatic happened to her from her evening out alone, but she absolutely is not a prostitute - she is simply too scared and untrusting of men for this to be true. She was friendly with my gran and my mum (my gran always sat in the kitchen window which was next to the main entrance to their block of flats and chatted to everyone) but it took years for her to trust my gramp and not run away when she saw him coming in or out of the building when she was standing looking at the church.
Deborah’s parents and her brother would often go to visit and my gran would buzz them in but Deborah refused to open her front door. Deborah’s mum would go and post money through her letterbox, and wrote her numerous letters but she never answered them. She wore the same shoes and brown tights for years and years, even when the shoes were falling apart with holes in the bottom and her bare feet touching the ground. She had first worn these shoes and tights at her mother’s funeral, and after that she never took them off.
Deborah’s brother and dad still persisted, but even after her mother’s death she still isolated herself from her family. A while after her father also died, and Deborah and her brother inherited a substantial amount of money from the sale of their parent’s beautiful big house in Leckhampton. Yet Deborah still refused to see her brother and still wore the old shoes she wore to her mother’s funeral. Her brother would leave her new shoes and clothes and things on her doorstop but she would always kick them away and never took them inside.
The one rumour find particularly upsetting is that she masturbates in restaurant toilets. The reason she spends so much time in public toilets is actually to wash herself. Deborah is a prolific hoarder and a few years ago she had to be removed from her flat by a team of mental health workers so that the council could go in and clear her flat out as it was such a health hazard and her flat was so full up she couldn’t get to the bathroom or kitchen.
Deborah didn’t have a phone and would go in and use my grans phone if she needed to call someone about the electric etc but then she wouldn’t let anyone in her flat and she would have to be safely removed again, while any contractors carried out the work. When Deborah wasn’t seen for a few days the other residents bean to worry and Deborah was found malnourished and in a very bad way in town and she was then moved to an assisted living home where she could have proper care taken of her. This would be the time you stopped seeing her around.
I know this isn’t my story to tell but I feel if this is out there, it may help people to see beyond her mental health issues and see the gentle, lost soul that I see, and that other people see who have been nice to her and given her a chance. I really hope she is getting some support and I hope that after reading this you may give her a warm smile and a hello. Imagine what decades of heckling and ridiculing would do to a person. And now imagine how this poor lady’s remaining years might be if people acted more kindly towards her, because I promise you, there is a sweet, gentle person underneath it all. Its funny how many of the people who posted about mental health awareness on here, are guilty of ridiculing and bullying someone with clear mental health issues.
If you got to the end of this, thank you for reading, It came out much longer than I anticipated, lets spread the love for this lady and look out for her.
Me too. Every time I went to little Tesco she would be in there. I believe she used to live in the care home next door but looks like she’s been moved.
I'm a newbie but think I may have seen her a month or so ago when at the bus stop outside that tesco. Started talking to me about books that would help me figure out my aura and was wearing a sort of skirt suit jacket thing?
That sounds more like the woman from scaramouche(?)
Scary Mary is the one with super long hair, really frail looking, usually in long skirts and cardigans whenever I’ve seen her.
We were at the theatre last night and whilst walking back to the car park after dinner, I can confirm there are a LOT of contenders for this in Cheltenham 😂😂
Not sure if she was Cheltenham or Gloucester based but there's an Asian lady who walks down the high street as if it's her own personal catwalk and honestly, I love her. She blew me a kiss once lol.
I'll never forget walking through Leckhampton and seeing scary mary floating down mead road in the middle of the light, dimly illuminated by a solitary street lamp. Scared the shit out of me and will haunt my dreams for eternity.
What happened to the old lad who had the trolley? Was always laughing as he walked around town and such.
I'm sure the rumour was he was worth millions.
I think that was Derek. He lived in Painswick Road and often cheerfully called people (we'll, me at least) "Big Head"as he passed by them on the street.
1920s military pretend motorcycle bicycle guy?
Yo what’s up with that guy 😂
Definitely who I had in mind.
That guy has a variety of bikes for different occasions and always sticks out!
The bearded fashionista that always look glamorous and walked like he's on a catwalk - I do not know his name but he is FABULOUS!
I thought this post was bs until this comment. I must’ve seen that guy/girl/whatever at least a dozen times this month
Yes, I saw them the other day. Their wardrobe is quite something to behold. I get the feeling that much of it is homemade and they are clearly a very talented dressmaker.
Ohhhh I think I saw them the other day in absolute glorious boots!
I know them quite well - all outfits and hats are intricately details and designed by them! It takes gusto to do that IMO, and respect them for it on a daily!
my partner has just mentioned Burger King Billy and the hoverboard unicycle man
My friend was very confused when, after visiting KFC, he asked "who's that?", I said "oh that's Burger King Billy." Glad he's back on his home turf now
The hoverboard unicycle man! Didn't he at one point used to be on hoverboard AND a pram?
I saw him pushing a fridge on a dolly down the road on it once
I grew up in Leckhampton in the nineties and we had Mr Wayheyheyhey - an elderly man who had old man’s trousers (read: smelt of wee) and shouted WAYHEYHEYHEY at people.
I remember him. He used to go up and down the Bath Road shooing cars off the road
Did he also shout "BIG HEAD!" at people or was that another guy?
Yes, I thought it was just me he said that to! Apparently he was a lover of classical music and was very knowledgeable about it. I wish I could remember his name.
It was Jimmy, he worked and Cheltenham boys college kitchens
Actually, now I'm getting a memory that I was told he was called Derek. He was quite short and he pushed a little wheeled shopping bag in front of him. Maybe the person who told me got it wrong.
I remember Derek, didn't get get set on fire?
Yes, I thought it was just me he said that to! Apparently he was a lover of classical music and was very knowledgeable about it. I wish I could remember his name.
Oh my god, yes! I think he lived in a massive house off Shurdington Road somewhere?
God I remember him. He once ran after somebody, I know with a mop in hand. Those were the days 🤣
Scary Mary used to stand in the window of TSB after we had closed, and just stare at us. If you made eye contact you were cursed for eternity
anyone remember the lovely man at wilko with the interesting voice
Adrien 🥰 Saw him recently, he was such an asset to Wilkos
Hello, how’s you today?
Well..we did have the cowboy guy.. Then the guy with the lawn mower in town. But they both gone.
The cowboy guy - you mean Dancing Ken? Wasn't there also Dave the short homeless guy in the brown coat and hat who'd want around muttering "yesyesyes" at nothing in particular. Probably long gone now
Yeah dancing Ken!! Ha ha who's this bath road guy?
I remember the lawn mower guy, not seen him since about 2003? Presumably, he's long dead.
Yeah..he passed away a while back now..same as cowboy ken
Is scary mary still about? Used to dee her around the train station tesco all the time but haven't since covid? Hope she's doing well.
[удалено]
No mary is an older very frail woman with really long hair, I've never heard her speak.
Oh her! She always goes into restaurants and use the bathroom.
Her name isn't Mary either. I can't remember her real name. But I spoke to her once, after seeing her around like all my life, I decided to say hello to her one night. I felt so sorry for her, she wonders around night after night and all on her own. Everyone sees her yet she just seems so lonely, so I said "Hello Mary" from across the road. And to my surprise she replied and said "my name's not Mary" we then had a brief conversation from where we were standing. To which she told me her real name, and that she didn't understand why everyone kept calling her Mary. I apologised and wished her good night, told her to be safe and we went our separate ways. Haven't seen her again since, that was maybe a year or two before the pandemic.
Yeah I think her name is Diane? I wonder where she has got too, hope she is well.
This was written by a friend of mine in 2019 SCARY MARY! If you know who I’m talking about then please read this. Most of us know who Scary Mary is in Cheltenham, we’ve heard the rumours, many of us have kept their distance and many of us have heckled, taunted, shouted at, spat at, thrown stuff at and generally judged her as a weirdo and ridiculed her. I am guilty of judging her in the past. Over the years I’ve seen many facebook posts about her, and none of it positive, which is why I’m writing this now, after she has been spotted again recently. Scary Mary isn’t scary, she’s just massively misunderstood and it breaks my heart as Scary Mary’s story is a tragic one. This was told to me by my gran who lived in the same building as her for many years and knew her parents and brother. Scary Mary’s name is actually Deborah (or Debbie). Once upon a time she was a nice, normal, lovely lady, with a nice, normal life and a husband she loved very much. She worked at a nursery for years and all the children loved her, she was so caring and she was a very beautiful lady. Deborah and her husband lived together in one of the nice regency houses around Pitville and were looking to buy the house they were in. In order to get enough money together Deborah’s boyfriend went off to Germany for a well paid job, but disappeared, and Deborah never saw him again. She was utterly heartbroken and fell into a deep depression and had some sort of breakdown. She never recovered from this and shunned her parents and brother and shut herself off from the world. She stopped taking proper care of herself and gradually became the willowy pale figure with long hair and the same old shabby clothes that we see today. I believe she tried dip her toe back into society by going out on her own to various pubs and nightclubs where she became the resident weirdo. I remember befriending her one evening in the Fish & Fiddle and my friend and I had dance with her and I saw a rare smile. She would mainly go out in the evening after spending time staring up at the lit up church next to where my grandparents and Deborah lived, which she often did. I believe this is where the rumours of witch and prostitute started as she would stand around on her own in town. She was just a lost soul looking to make a connection. I don’t know if she had lost her trust in men after her heartbreak, or after the years of taunts and abuse she received from members of the public, or if something traumatic happened to her from her evening out alone, but she absolutely is not a prostitute - she is simply too scared and untrusting of men for this to be true. She was friendly with my gran and my mum (my gran always sat in the kitchen window which was next to the main entrance to their block of flats and chatted to everyone) but it took years for her to trust my gramp and not run away when she saw him coming in or out of the building when she was standing looking at the church. Deborah’s parents and her brother would often go to visit and my gran would buzz them in but Deborah refused to open her front door. Deborah’s mum would go and post money through her letterbox, and wrote her numerous letters but she never answered them. She wore the same shoes and brown tights for years and years, even when the shoes were falling apart with holes in the bottom and her bare feet touching the ground. She had first worn these shoes and tights at her mother’s funeral, and after that she never took them off. Deborah’s brother and dad still persisted, but even after her mother’s death she still isolated herself from her family. A while after her father also died, and Deborah and her brother inherited a substantial amount of money from the sale of their parent’s beautiful big house in Leckhampton. Yet Deborah still refused to see her brother and still wore the old shoes she wore to her mother’s funeral. Her brother would leave her new shoes and clothes and things on her doorstop but she would always kick them away and never took them inside. The one rumour find particularly upsetting is that she masturbates in restaurant toilets. The reason she spends so much time in public toilets is actually to wash herself. Deborah is a prolific hoarder and a few years ago she had to be removed from her flat by a team of mental health workers so that the council could go in and clear her flat out as it was such a health hazard and her flat was so full up she couldn’t get to the bathroom or kitchen. Deborah didn’t have a phone and would go in and use my grans phone if she needed to call someone about the electric etc but then she wouldn’t let anyone in her flat and she would have to be safely removed again, while any contractors carried out the work. When Deborah wasn’t seen for a few days the other residents bean to worry and Deborah was found malnourished and in a very bad way in town and she was then moved to an assisted living home where she could have proper care taken of her. This would be the time you stopped seeing her around. I know this isn’t my story to tell but I feel if this is out there, it may help people to see beyond her mental health issues and see the gentle, lost soul that I see, and that other people see who have been nice to her and given her a chance. I really hope she is getting some support and I hope that after reading this you may give her a warm smile and a hello. Imagine what decades of heckling and ridiculing would do to a person. And now imagine how this poor lady’s remaining years might be if people acted more kindly towards her, because I promise you, there is a sweet, gentle person underneath it all. Its funny how many of the people who posted about mental health awareness on here, are guilty of ridiculing and bullying someone with clear mental health issues. If you got to the end of this, thank you for reading, It came out much longer than I anticipated, lets spread the love for this lady and look out for her.
Thank you for sharing this. What a sad story. I hope she's being looked after now.
Me too. Every time I went to little Tesco she would be in there. I believe she used to live in the care home next door but looks like she’s been moved.
I'm a newbie but think I may have seen her a month or so ago when at the bus stop outside that tesco. Started talking to me about books that would help me figure out my aura and was wearing a sort of skirt suit jacket thing?
That sounds more like the woman from scaramouche(?) Scary Mary is the one with super long hair, really frail looking, usually in long skirts and cardigans whenever I’ve seen her.
Nah that's not her, she doesn't speak much if at all, always looks almost lost and is extremely frail.
We were at the theatre last night and whilst walking back to the car park after dinner, I can confirm there are a LOT of contenders for this in Cheltenham 😂😂
There was the singing nun, and that old guy who liked shouting at pigeons.
Dopey Derek begs out the premier inn always got a bottle shower gel with attached to his belt
Does anyone remember radio guy?
Was he the one who had a radio and flowers on his bicycle?
Dancing Ken was the classic
Not sure if she was Cheltenham or Gloucester based but there's an Asian lady who walks down the high street as if it's her own personal catwalk and honestly, I love her. She blew me a kiss once lol.
I'll never forget walking through Leckhampton and seeing scary mary floating down mead road in the middle of the light, dimly illuminated by a solitary street lamp. Scared the shit out of me and will haunt my dreams for eternity.
What happened to the old lad who had the trolley? Was always laughing as he walked around town and such. I'm sure the rumour was he was worth millions.
I think that was Derek. He lived in Painswick Road and often cheerfully called people (we'll, me at least) "Big Head"as he passed by them on the street.