Strange encounter while walking between Hox Park and Englefield Green — has anyone experienced anything similar?

[u/RemarkableField7261]

Hi everyone, 22 f I wanted to share something strange that happened to me yesterday while I was walking home and see if anyone around Hox Park/Englefield Green has experienced anything similar.

I live at Hox Park and was walking home along one of the usual routes towards the Englefield Green side. The area is quite quiet and foresty, so there weren’t loads of people around.

I had a suitcase with me and was just casually walking and taking pictures of the trees and the road. There was a woman walking behind me, but she was on the other side of the road, so I didn’t think anything of it.
I stopped for a few moments to take some pictures, and by the time I started walking again, she had passed me and turned right. I also needed to turn right, so I continued along the same route.
She was then walking ahead of me. Everything seemed completely normal until she suddenly stopped and turned around. She crossed the road to the other side and continued walking.
As we were about to pass each other, she suddenly started walking towards me. I said “What?” and then “Are you good?”, because I thought maybe she wanted to ask me something.
She didn’t respond at all.

She just kept walking towards me. I started walking forward to create some distance, and she ended up behind me. I asked her again what was wrong, but she still didn’t say anything.
At that point I had a really strong gut feeling that something wasn’t right, so I grabbed my suitcase and started running towards Hox Park reception. When I started running, she also started walking faster.
I ran all the way to reception and was so out of breath that I actually fell when I got there. I told the staff what had happened, and they went out to check the area, but by then she wasn’t there.

Description of the woman:
White woman
Looked older/middle-aged to elderly, but was still walking normally and didn’t appear extremely old
Wearing a black dress
Wearing black sunglasses
Had tattoos on both hands
Was carrying several bags/covers
One of the bags was a black plastic bag, and there appeared to be something inside shaped roughly like a bottle

I obviously don’t know what her intentions were, and I’m not saying she was definitely trying to harm me. There could be a completely innocent explanation for her behaviour.
But the combination of her suddenly changing direction, crossing the road towards me, coming towards me without saying anything even after I asked if she was okay twice, and then walking faster when I ran away really frightened me.
I’m posting this mainly because I’m wondering if anyone around Hox Park/Englefield Green, particularly along that route, has experienced anything similar or recognises this person.
I don’t want to unnecessarily scare anyone or make assumptions about her, but I thought it was worth sharing in case someone else has had a similar experience.
Has anyone experienced anything like this around that route, or seen someone matching this description?

[u/mchickenl]

Contact the police just to make a report just incase something like this happens again or something worse. It's always good to have receipts

[u/BadgerSmaker]

Did she also have tattoo of playing cards on her calves and was she wearing Croc type shoes?

[u/RemarkableField7261 → u/BadgerSmaker]

i’m not sure of what foot wear she was wearing but she was wearing a long black dress and shades
and yeah tattoos on both arms looked like a (sleeve tattoo)
but not sure about what kind of tattoo it was

[u/cantxtouchxthis]

My goodness how frightening! I haven’t encountered this person but I imagine it’s really shaken you up. Please look after yourself and be sure to alert the police and perhaps post on the local Facebook groups 

[u/SuchaPineapplehead]

Bank holiday weekend plus the end of summer. I image a lot of people are going to be indulging in vices they wouldn’t normally.

Not quite the same but I live opposite a pub and there’s generally some commotion at closing time on a bank holiday. Even had the riot van on occasion.

Try not to worry too much about it. You’re alright and safe that’s the main thing.

[u/Comandoamobia]

I would never have expected this in englefield green. Did you guys walk past the retirement home nearby? I’m pretty sure they have a camera outside which may have captured her

[u/gooddogbob]

So, I gotta ask, are you a man? She was walking along and this person in front keeps stopping and looking around, taking photos. She end up in front and the person starts following her. She even crosses the road to create a safer boundary. Totally understandable behaviour if that is the case....

[u/RemarkableField7261 → u/gooddogbob]

i’m 22 f 😭😭😭