For a couple of years in my twenties I lived in Cambridgeshire

Partially as I was a writing book with the support of the university

But also as I absolutely adored the flatness of the landscape

It fascinated me as one could see for miles without many obstructions

It was while I was living in the country that I met Mary Wragg

She had lived in the area for most of her life and we just connected

When not working Mary and I explored the fields and lanes the rivers and streams

We often swam together or just enjoyed the hot summer sun

Mary knew so much about her home county and its myths and legends

Most of these I took in my stride but there was one railway tale

That I could not forget with any ease as it was somewhat fantastic

It was centred around the Tooth Breck Tunnel which is about twenty miles

I will stop there as one day Mary did not meet me at our usual place

I made enquiries and found out that on a whim she had travelled to Spain

This surprised me as she was such a level headed country girl

The Tooth Breck Tunnel was situated just over twenty miles from Cambridge

It was a short tunnel which closed with the rest of the Durrock Branch Line in 1964

For a while it stood unused before being sealed at both ends as rare bats had colonised it

And apart from the local study groups little happened in or around the tunnel for many years

That was until a skeleton was found whilst the tunnel was being strengthened

This caused a stir locally as it was not identified for nearly five years

It turned out that it belonged to an Italian POW who had escaped from a nearby camp

And was hiding in the tunnel when he was hit by a train

Obviously stories of ghosts and unnatural noises were told but these soon faded

This was twenty years ago and I had forgotten about it until I was told by a friend that a second skeleton had been found in the tunnel

It was soon identified as twenty-two year old Mary Wragg who was reported missing in the summer of 2002

This was the year before I first met her whilst researching my book

My blood ran cold but I sensibly contacted the police as technically I was a person of interest

The authorities did not really buy into my story that I had known Mary well during the hot summer of 2003

The year after she had vanished

They were able to trace the record of my enquiry at the time

But that was as far as it got as no crime had been committed as it was concluded that Mary had been hit by a train like the Italian POW many years previously

The fact that really chilled me was that whilst it was very possible that the POW has been struck by the train whilst hiding in the tunnel

It was impossible that Mary could have suffered the same fate as the last train ran through the tunnel in 1964

The whole thing was beginning to unnerve me so I decided the walk away from the whole mystery

But it did not let go of me so I decided to visit the tunnel which I soon found out had been demolished due to the line being reopened for freight traffic towards the Maxby Power Station

It had been determined that the tunnel was structurally unsound after so many years of disuse

So it was demolished and an embankment created

I did visit the location and found the embankment

No trace of the tunnel could be seen

I experienced no unexplained noises or ghostly figures

Not that I expected to experience anything

But Mary Wragg bothered me and out of respect I visited her grave at Lower Barton Church

Again it was a little sad but very normal

I began to doubt my own sanity and thought that somebody has been playing a cruel practical joke on me

As during the weeks that I knew Mary she was real very real

It was after my book had been published that I was invited to Lower Barton by the local vicar

He noted in his letter that he had some information that might be of interest to me as he was a local historian

It was about Mary Wragg and the Wragg family in general

He told me that he did not doubt my story about meeting Mary and her sudden disappearance

But had I met Mary Wragg as on consulting the church records the Wragg family were extinct by 1717

The last member of this farming family was Edward who was Mary’s older brother

He died in 1717 and was buried in the churchyard

We visited his grave which was much weathered

Ignoring the death of the Italian POW there were so many loose ends

It might have been a practical joke but why as I only knew a few people in the district

Why did the remains of Mary indicate that she had been hit by a train when the trains had ceased many years previously

I have stopped following leads

I am beginning to doubt reality

But I close with the thought

That there are things in this part of Cambridgeshire

Which are best left unexplained


Giuseppe Arcimboldo (2024)