The Coach & Horses Mention of a 'phantom' coach tends to conjure up impressions of the traditional stage coach drawn by a team of horses along darkened country lanes.  There are reports of a spectral carriage being seen travelling down Forge Hill towards Maltman's Hill, Smarden and along the same stretch of road in the opposite direction towards the Old Forge. Although a story once related by an elderly resident told of the tale made up by he and other schoolboys when the road at the junction of Forge Hill and The Street was cobbled. A culvert for rainwater ran along the wall from the Black Horse, and on dank autumn evenings water trickled off and ran across the cobbles, sounding just like the wheels of a small coach or gig. 'Here's the coach and horses coming' the boys whispered in the ears of girls - who ran squealing home! The coach has been seen travelling down through the village on several occasions and also on the other side of the village too. There have been apparent sightings of a coach journeying the old Roman road which runs close to the Pinnock stream as well as one on the other side of the village, crossing the Bethersden Roadnear to Pond House and driving off towards the Old Rectory. The witness to the last mentioned sighting described the coach he saw as a two wheeled carriage with only one horse in the shafts but somehow this particular mention of a coach seems to be one apart from the rest - all the other reports mention 'horses' in the plural so suggesting as least a four wheeled carriage. The horses have been described as - just horses, galloping horses, and even headless horses. One lady and her husband saw it in all its glory one October evening just after midnight on their way home after babysitting their granddaughter. Coming to the Pinnock Crossroads, they looked up towards the village to see what certainly looked like a travelling coach being pulled up the hill away from them, with light streaming from the windows.  The son of a local resident, was travelling through the back roads on his way home when the coach and pair passed in front of him, crossing the road. He hadn't been living in the village long and certainly hadn't paid any attention to the stories of ghosts. Half and hour later, his friend arrived saying, 'Guess what I've just seen! A coach being pulled by a couple of horses passed me!'  Sounds of a coach turning in the courtyard of a local country hotel have also been reported.  In 1997, someone travelling through Pluckley at about 7 pm in early November claimed that 'all of a sudden their car was filled with the sound of horses hooves on a cobbled surface.' At one time the main street down which they were travelling was cobbled. As it was also a few days after Halloween there is the possibility that an empty beer can, left at the side of the road, had been dislodged and rolled under the car. It is also worth remarking that there are several residents that do drive a variety of horse drawn vehicles.