The Ghostly Smugglers of Teignmouth: Shadows in the Shaldon Tunnel

In this eerie coastal tale, we travel to Teignmouth on the south Devon coast — a seaside town with a bright face by day and a shadowed history by night.

Smuggling once shaped life here: silent landings beneath the red cliffs, coded lantern signals, hidden pathways, and dangerous encounters with Revenue men. And in the centre of it all lies the Shaldon Tunnel — a passageway carved through the Ness, long rumoured to echo with the presence of those who once carried contraband under cover of darkness.

In this episode of Legends & Shadows, we explore the tunnel’s chilling atmosphere, reports of unseen footsteps, ghostly figures on Back Beach, a drifting phantom boat, and the long-standing belief that some smugglers never abandoned their routes… not even in death.

Atmospheric, historical, and rooted in real Devon folklore — this is a story for listeners who love ghost tales, coastal myths, and places that remember.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• The true smuggling history of Teignmouth & Shaldon
• How and why the Shaldon Tunnel was constructed
• The atmosphere and reported hauntings inside the tunnel
• Lantern lights seen beneath the Ness
• The phantom boat of the Teign estuary
• Ghostly figures and sounds on Back Beach
• Why this coastline remains one of Devon’s most haunted stretches

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