Greater Manchester tales to terrify

It’s the one night of year when even the most sceptical souls are happy to indulge in tales of mystery and the macabre. Yes Halloween[1], the creepiest date in the calendar we have come to celebrate in seemingly more elaborate ways each year. In modern times we typically mark the festival by trick-or-treating, costume parties, pumpkin carving and pranks.

But like any other historic city[2], there is a dark and altogether more troubling history to be told. Greater Manchester[3] has a collection of terrifying tales that are sure send a chill down the spine of even the most hardened sceptic. Whether it’s beasts roaming the moors, chilling roadside apparitions, strange child-snatching spirits or depraved murderers, our list of 12 of the weirdest and most disturbing apocryphal tales and terrible true accounts that will make you see your streets in an altogether different light.

So dim the lights, cuddle up to a loved one and dive in if you dare. But DO NOT read these on your own.

1. Stockport’s phantom hitch-hikers

Stockport is said to be haunted by ghostly hitchhikers

The tale of a ghostly figure of a woman attempting to thumb a lift near Mersey Square on Wellington Road South has intrigued many paranormal experts.

The story, which features in a book called Supernatural Stockport[6] by Martin Hills, says that on one occasion a biker picked up the woman and gave her a lift home to Hazel Grove[7]. But when he dropped her off she simply vanished into thin air. The biker then knocked on the door and a couple answered, they said their daughter had died in a crash on Wellington Road years earlier.

And according to hauntedisland.co.uk in 1974 Brian Mohan was driving his cab on the A6 through Great Moor when an elderly woman suddenly appeared sitting on the back seat. She was ‘expressionless, dressed in black with a white blouse and black bow.’ The driver then pulled over and turned to ask the woman how she got in his cab, only to find she had disappeared.

2.

Haunted happenings at pub built on a druid’s temple

Ring ‘O’ Bells pub in Middleton (Image: Middleton Guardian)

A “nice old pub” in Manchester[8] has been the centre of haunting tales and ghost stories for hundreds of years. The Ring O’Bells pub in Middleton was built on an ancient Druid temple and dates back to the 12th century. Legend has it that the pub is haunted by the ghost of a cavalier named Edward, murdered by Cromwell’s Army when they passed through the town.

He’s said to have appeared wearing royalist uniform in front of regulars and landlords, and punters have also reported witnessing glasses sliding along the bar and hearing heavy footsteps and peculiar noises. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here[9] for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features. Historically, the pub’s foundations are thought to date all the way back to Saxon times.

The 900-year-old pub is said to be a paranormal hotspot where witnesses have said they’ve seen glasses spontaneously ‘explode’ as well as other spooky happenings take place.

3. The Manchester Ripper

Hoyle Street, where the first body was found (Image: M66778 (C) Manchester Archives and Local Studies)

While Londoners were starting to adjust to life after the Ripper, the residents of Manchester were about to get their own serial killer. Just how many victims there were remains a mystery.

Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and, Breaking News group by clicking this link[10] The first victim’s body was discovered in the afternoon of the 11 April 1905, by a man named David Shields. He was gathering rags on Hoyle Street, Ardwick, when, inside one of the empty houses, he uncovered the battered body of a young boy.

The victim’s mouth was stuffed with paper, and a red handkerchief was tied around the head to keep the paper in place. The teenager was later identified as 15-year-old Thomas Smith of Wood Street. Two years later another 15-year-old boy was found murdered.

His body was also discovered in an unoccupied house in Ancoats. The cause of the death was strangulation. Tied around his face was a red handkerchief.

The murderer was never caught.

4. The cake of death

Looking over the rooftops of Ancoats (Image: M09992 (C) Manchester Archives and Local Studies)

In 1828, a young boy was playing in Ancoats when he was approached by an old lady. She asked him to deliver a cake to a man named Mr Drummond.

She then handed the boy two sixpences and off he went. When he knocked on Drummonds door, he was greeted by his wife, who told him that the cake was not for them. When the boy got home, he gave the cake to his mother and she began to share it out in the street.

As soon as people began swallowing the cake, they began to complain of a burning sensation in their throat and were violently sick. One child died. Tests showed that the cake was laced with arsenic.

Join our Greater Manchester history, memories and people Facebook group here.[11] The police offered a reward to catch the mysterious woman. She was described as being of medium height with big front teeth and was wearing a brown gown.

She was never found.

5. The Boggart of Boggart Hole Clough

A Boggart is a mischievous spirit

Boggart Hole Clough, the beautiful urban park in Blackley[12], has a dark and troubling urban legend attached to it. The 190 acres of ancient woodland is said to be haunted by a boggart.

A boggart, for the uninitiated, is a mischievous spirit that typically occupies fields and marshes, but can also be found indoors. Though mostly known as a mischief-making creature that has the ability to turn milk sour, make objects disappear and make dogs go lame, they also have a darker side. Boggarts are also often blamed for the abduction of children.

A good recent fictional example of a Boggart would be the malevolent spirit haunting the family in the chilling horror film The Babadook. It is said that in previous times the Boggart of Boggart Hole Clough was so active that a farmer and his family were driven from their home – only to return when they realised the creature would simply follow them. Love Greater Manchester’s past?

Sign up to our new nostalgia newsletter and never miss a thing.[13]

6. Stockport’s haunted bus

Allegedly haunted 321 Stockport bus now kept in the the Museum of Transport in Manchester.

Pic June 2011 (Image: By Mikey from Wythenshawe, Manchester, UK – Stockport's Crossley, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16798407)

Tales of a Stockport bus said to be haunted have surfaced for years. Now residing in the Museum of Transport in Manchester, the number 321 began its life in the early 1950s and is said to have continued in service up until the late 1960s. Strange sightings are alleged to have been seen on the bus, including a small boy wearing 1950s-style clothing.

When the bus was bought by a group of transport enthusiasts, they were said to have been baffled by its excellent condition and relatively low mileage. It’s said their research discovered it had spent much of the time parked in the station after bus crews were reportedly reluctant to take it out due to believing it to be haunted. Further digging into its history is said to have revealed the bus had been involved in an accident in Reddish[14] in the mid-fifties, in which a small boy was knocked down and killed.

7.

The curse of the Black Shuck

Ghostly hell hound the ‘Black Shuck’ said to prowl the streets of Manchester

The ghostly ‘hell hound’ has been part of folklore across the UK for centuries. Appearing either headless or with malevolent flaming eyes, the huge sinister beast is said to be an omen of death and just a single glimpse could bring about a fatal curse. Those who heard his howl were warned to shut their eyes.

And it seems Manchester was not immune to the curse as the Black Shuck has often been seen prowling the streets of Manchester. There have been reported sightings of the beast near to Manchester Cathedral with one in 1825 stating it jumped up at a tradesman outside the church. But there’s no need to panic nowadays, apparently the phantom creature was finally exorcised under the bridge crossing the Irwell.

8.

The screaming skull of Wardley Hall

Wardley Hall, once home to a ‘cursed’ skull

Wardley Hall, the early medieval manor house in the Wardley area of Worsley[15], is one of the few buildings in the north west to have had a mention in the Domesday Book. Before it was occupied by the Roman Catholic Bishops of Salford[16] it had a chequered and chilling history and was known for 200 years as ‘Skull House’. The story goes that the house had a cursed skull which refused to remain buried and that when thrown into the moat caused terrible raging storms.

The grisly relic is believed to have been the skull of Father Ambrose Barlow, who was hung, drawn and quartered in 1641. According to legend it is indestructible and would wreak terrible havoc if anyone attempted to remove it from the house. The skull has in recent times been removed from the house without any resulting paranormal effects.

9.

Final destination, Manchester Airport

Manchester Airport is said to have a haunted terminal

There have been a number of reported ghostly goings-on at Manchester Airport[17] over the years. Documents dating back to the 1970s show a string of strange encounters concentrated in an area which is now Terminal Three’s departure gates. The most common account is of a ghostly male figure, dressed as an airman, wandering around the gates before disappearing.

One letter, written in 1971 by a former airport worker, reveals how he had encountered an ‘old man’ whom he believed was the ghost of a night watchman who was killed there years earlier. Staff have also reported often hearing slamming doors but when they investigate they find rooms empty and lights off. Another worker claims to have seen a person wearing a pilot’s hat walking into the toilets at night, and hearing the doors shut.

When the worker went into the toilet to investigate there was nobody there – and the motion-sensitive lights hadn’t come on.

10 Beasts stalking Saddleworth

Livestock roaming Crowthers Farm in Greenfield in 2010 (Image: Manchester Evening News)

A spate of animal corpses appearing on farmland[18] in Greenfield above Saddleworth[19] led to speculation that a mystery black beast was roaming at night. In 2010, sheep farmer Chris Crowther found the macabre remains of a dead lamb for the second time in four months. Worries had mounted that a puma may be stalking the rugged terrain near the A635 Greenfield to Holmfirth Road after Mr Crowther found the first carcass near Dovestone Reservoir.

The lamb’s tangled coat had been ripped off and the bones, including the ribcage, picked clean of flesh. The remains of another sheep in almost identical circumstances were found months later. The landowner said another farmer at Wessenden, near Marsden, also contacted him after seeing a “large black creature” near flocks.

Five years earlier, Saddleworth Moor became a hotspot for more ‘big cat’ sightings[20] when people were warned to stay away after a wounded panther-like animal was seen above Dovestone. It was believed to have crossed from the Holmfirth valley, where there were three sightings, and been shot by a poacher. There have also been several other alleged big cat sightings in Greater Manchester.

The Huttock Top Beast[21] is reported to have been spotted in Rochdale[22] on several occasions, said to be the ‘size of an Alsatian’[23]. In 2022, The Mirror published a story[24] on a mysterious creature with ‘glowing red eyes’ terrifying Boltonians after a number of animal carcasses were discovered. The Rivington Pike Beast was described as a “huge dog-like creature” capable of running at “incredible” speed.

11.

Mystery of the ‘haunted’ spinning statue

Investigators were brought in after an ancient Egyptian statue spooked museum bosses (Image: Manchester Museum)

It’s not all about things that bump in the night. An ancient Egyptian statue spooked museum bosses when it mysteriously started to spin round in a locked display case. The 10-inch tall relic, which dates back to 1800 BC, was found in a mummy’s tomb and has been at the Manchester Museum[25] for 80 years.

And in 2013 curators were left baffled after they kept finding it facing the wrong way. Experts decided to monitor the room on time-lapse video and were astonished to see it clearly show the statuette spinning 180 degrees – with nobody going near it. Egyptologist Mr Price, said: “I noticed one day that it had turned around.

I thought it was strange because it is in a case and I am the only one who has a key. “In Ancient Egypt they believed that if the mummy is destroyed then the statuette can act as an alternative vessel for the spirit. Maybe that is what is causing the movement.”

But what could be the reason behind the spinning? Demonic possession? A mummy’s curse?

Magic? Nothing that exciting unfortunately. The riddle has been solved and you can read the very 21st Century explanation here.[26]

12.

The grave-robber Old Kanky (Canky)

Kanky’s Ginnel in Middleton is a passageway said to have been used by graverobbers

You’ll have heard of Burke and Hare the Edinburgh grave-robbers turned murderers, but were you aware of Greater Manchester’s very own ‘resurrection-man?’ In Middleton[27] there is a passageway called “Kanky’s Ginnel” that runs from the River Irk to the churchyard at St Leonard’s. According to local legend it was used by a local grave-robber named Kanky to transport bodies down to the river and onwards into Manchester to sell. It is unclear whether Kanky (also written as Canky) actually existed as no one has ever been able to find anything other than apocryphal evidence of his dark doings.

According to some, Kanky, who by all accounts was a hoot at parties, would watch as grieving relatives buried their dead and then by cover of darkness would dig up the body. Do you know of any spooky unexplained goings on in Greater Manchester? Let us know in the comments section below[28].

References

1. ^ Halloween (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
2. ^ historic city (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^ Greater Manchester (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
4. ^ The TV show so terrifying it left children with PTSD and has never been allowed to air again in 30 years (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
5. ^ ‘When you look at the number of lives he took, why shouldn’t he lose his own?’ (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
6. ^ Stockport (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
7. ^ Hazel Grove (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
8. ^ A “nice old pub” in Manchester (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
9. ^ by clicking here (manchester.page.link)
10. ^ clicking this link (chat.whatsapp.com)
11. ^ Join our Greater Manchester history, memories and people Facebook group here. (www.facebook.com)
12. ^ Blackley (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
13. ^ Love Greater Manchester’s past?

    Sign up to our new nostalgia newsletter and never miss a thing. (data.reachplc.com)

14. ^ Reddish (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
15. ^ Worsley (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
16. ^ Salford (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
17. ^ Manchester Airport (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
18. ^ A spate of animal corpses appearing on farmland (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
19. ^ Saddleworth (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
20. ^ became a hotspot for more ‘big cat’ sightings (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
21. ^ Huttock Top Beast (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
22. ^ Rochdale (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
23. ^ the ‘size of an Alsatian’ (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
24. ^ The Mirror published a story (www.mirror.co.uk)
25. ^ Manchester Museum (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
26. ^ here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
27. ^ Middleton (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
28. ^ comments section below (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)