The UK-based FearFest, which opened on 16 October, is an experiential event situated alongside the National Diving and Activity Centre (NDAC), an outdoor recreational facility that was converted from an old, flooded quarry in Tidenham, Gloucestershire.
According to Tidenham Parish Council, the region’s quarrying history extends back to at least the 18th century, with quarried stone believed to have been used primarily for house building and road repairs. It was said that Tidenham quarry was operating up until the early 1990s.
The disused quarry is at the heart of the Four Linesmen “legend” behind FearFest. The narrative – which appears to have been conceived specifically for the event – states that on 16 October, 1958, four men who had been working on the maintenance line near the quarry tunnel were consumed by a torrential rain storm while responding to the screams of a stranded girl caught in one of the sewer gates.
“They are believed to have met their untimely demise in their attempt to rescue the girl, but no bodies were ever found,” the FearFest website explains. “Legend says that if you listen carefully you can sometimes hear the screams of the girl.
“To this day, local people still report sightings of four men with deathly pale faces, dressed all in black, trying to push and grab walkers who venture too close to the tunnels or water’s edge.”
FearFest leverages this story in its various “scare zones”, which include a graveyard, an abandoned railway track, an island of dolls and a purpose-built 18m long sewer system. The event also makes use of the quarry landscape via its Death Wire attraction – a zip line that starts on a 70m high cliff edge and extends 80m across the length of the flooded quarry.
Outside of Halloween, the NDAC offers diving facilities that allow people to explore the depths of the quarry pit, which has been fitted with a series of underwater attractions such as light aircraft, an armoured vehicle and a navy helicopter.
FearFest continues until 1 November, 2015.
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