Spooks, Specters and Spirits Event - A Spooky Real Life Encounter From S. K. Gregory

Years ago, when I was around eight or nine, my sister and I were made to accompany our mother to walk the dogs quite late at night, It was an eerily quiet night and there was no one around. 
As we made our way up the street to a leisure centre, we walked around the field on the edge of it. To our left was a tall fence to block off the train tracks. As we got to the top of the hill, an old man appeared out of nowhere, scaring us. He was walking hunched over, with a sack on his back, dressed in old fashioned clothing. He wouldn't have looked out of place in the 1930s. Considering it was the 1990s, it was definitely strange. He was also very pale.
When we jumped, he laughed softly and said, "Scare yous, did I?"
We said he had and he smirked and walked away, disappearing down the hill.
​Now he could have been a regular person, but why was he out so late at night? And what was in the sack? And why was he dressed the way he was?
It certainly gave us a scare and we hurried home. It was a small estate where we lived, yet we never saw him before or since.
So...who was he?