Cumbria Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Emma
Location: Aira Force - Waters of the fall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Emma was the name of the maiden said to have drowned in the waters. Waiting for her true love to return from knightly duties, Emma waited by the river every day, often falling asleep there. When her hero eventually came home and found Emma sleeping, he awoke her - startled, Emma fell into the water and was drowned. Her white spectre may still haunt the area.
Large Black Cat
Location: Allithwaite - Outskirts of village, off the main road
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 2009
Further Comments: Walking along the side of the main road out of village, this witness watched a large black panther-like cat in one of the fields, heading towards a nearby patch of woodland. The witness could compare the height of the creatures to nearby cows and estimated the cat was three foot (ninety centimetres) high at the shoulder. After a minute, the creature walked into the trees.
Nanny or Witch
Location: Allonby - Crookhurst Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: The site is said to be haunted by a nanny and a couple of children who died in a fire on the site. Some say the nanny was a witch, and her body was never recovered from the fire.
Coach Fatality
Location: Ambleside - Kirkstone Pass Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A young boy who was hit and killed by a coach and four has found it difficult to leave this mortal world. A woman, named by some as Ruth Ray, froze to death after being caught in a freak snowstorm. The child she was carrying in her arms survived, and Ruth now remains to warn others against venturing out during cold winter nights. Finally, a seventeenth century coachman lurks around the bar.
Wordsworth
Location: Ambleside - Rydal Mount
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wordsworth lived at Rydal Mount until his death in 1850 - his spirit is reported to remain here, although whether in metaphor or metaphysics is unclear.
Watcher
Location: Ambleside - Clock Tower
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1990s onwards
Further Comments: Two people, their experiences separated by thirteen years, have reported a strange feeling and mild poltergeist activity around the toilets.
Lady Anne Clifford
Location: Appleby - Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The castle was once said to be haunted by Lady Anne Clifford, though no recent reports exist.
Shepherd
Location: Appleby - Unidentified stone in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a shepherd once haunted a home in the village, but the entity was banished to a nearby large stone. Many years later, a party being held close to the stone disturbed the shepherd, who floated out of the rock and into the nearby river.
Relocation
Location: Arlecdon - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church was due to be constructed in a different location, but every night the building work was knocked down. The workmen eventually gave up and built the church where it now stands.
Gawain
Location: Armathwaite - Tarn Watheling
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One Arthurian story places Sir Gawain here, jousting with a knight from Scotland to see if he is worthy to sit at the Round Table.
Lady in Brown
Location: Armathwaite - Fox & Pheasant Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-2000s
Further Comments: A previous landlady and her friend observed a woman wearing old fashioned brown clothing walk through the front door while it was closed. The ghost is said to be a woman who lost both her children outside the inn in a coach accident. A highwayman is also reputed to haunt the building.
Ringing
Location: Armboth Fell - Thirlmere Lake
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The echoes of phantom bells have been heard coming from beneath the waters here.
May Marye
Location: Askerton - Askerton Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once murdered by a lover, now May extracts her revenge by jumping on the backs of passing horses and terrifying their riders. It is reported she once engaged one rider in conversation, making him swear on his life that the topic of discussion would never be revealed to anyone.
Shadowy Man
Location: Askham - Punchbowl public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2000s?
Further Comments: Although the landlady of this public house had never seen anything, a few of her staff were said to have encountered a shadowy man, with no discernible features.
Lord Lonsdale
Location: Askham - Area around St Peter's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Driving a phantom coach, the ghost of Lord Lonsdale passes through this location.
Footsteps
Location: Aspatria - Private residence
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 2013
Further Comments: Following a death in the house, every night for a two week period the occupant heard someone walking from the front door to the kitchen and cupboards being opened.
Strangling
Location: Aspatria - Gill House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1940s
Further Comments: While being used by the Woman's Land Army during the Second World War, many of the women reported seeing mysterious shadows, hearing weird sounds, and one even reported feeling as if an invisible presence was throttling her.
Pony with Coffin
Location: Bakerstead - Road passing the village from Burnmoor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom pony with a coffin strapped to its back is doomed to make the same journey over and over. Both pony and pack were lost during a funeral procession that was caught in a snap snowstorm.
Former Worker
Location: Barrow - BAE shipyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005 & 2006
Further Comments: A shadowy figure, loud bangs, and a crane which automated itself were all manifestations of what many employees believed to be a former member of the workforce who had killed himself.
Vanishing Man
Location: Barrow-In-Furness - Clive Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2008
Further Comments: Driving along Clive Street on a dark rainy night, a driver and his daughter spotted a male figure crossing the road in a diagonal path from left to right. As the driver slowed to let him cross, the figure just vanished. The driver's daughter yelled 'Stop the car, dad, that man just disappeared'. The driver stopped and climbed out the car, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
Tiny Green People
Location: Bassenthwaite - Piel Wyke
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Two children digging on the mound said they unearthed a small cottage with a slate roof, though when they returned a short time later, the construction had vanished. A few days later their father saw two small people in green standing on the hill - they vanished into it.
Pterosaur?
Location: Beckermet - Nursery Woods
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: January 2006
Further Comments: A witness reported a large pterosaur-like creature flying above Nursery woods.
Tall Hairy Creature
Location: Beckermet - Nursery Woods
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 25 January 1998, most recently 1 October 2005
Further Comments: A man walking his dog reported seeing a man like creature, just over two metres tall and covered in ginger hair, drinking from a pond in the woods.
Small Staircase
Location: Beetham - The Fairy Steps
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Too small for normal human use, the stairs are believed to have been designed for fairy use. A local legend says if you can climb them without touching the stone cliffs on either side, you will be granted a wish.
Capelthwaite
Location: Beetham - General area near the river Bela
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Circa 1820s
Further Comments: Also known as a Cappel, this spirit is said to be able to transform into any four legged creature, though it prefers the form of a dog. A local vicar is said to have banished the Capelthwaite into the River Bela, even though it would help some locals drive their sheep.
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