There are dozens of long-distance lorry drivers and some motorists who are happy to admit seeing `Nance` during their journey from Malton to York. She is a youngish woman who appears just on the edge of their headlights and travels with them practically all the way to the city, but only during fog. The legend concerning the ghost, if that is what the mysterious figure is, tell of how she became engaged to the driver of a mail coach, but was lured away by romantic stories of a local highway man. Eventually the thief deserted her with a baby, and her former lover found the couple standing on the side of the road. Despite his care and tenderness, Nance and the child died.

� Andrew Green