The Paranormal Database

A phantom white lady.

White Lady

Location: Altrincham - Ashley Hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This flitting entity was seen several times in a particular room of the hall, her large black eyes staring into the empty space ahead. The room was sealed up as the haunting presence was so strong.

Chanting Monk

Location: Altrincham - Orange Tree public house, Old Market Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This monk sings his praises to God in the basement of the pub, while upstairs a ghostly woman haunts one of the rooms. The bar area is also said to be haunted by a couple of people.

Smashing Glasses

Location: Altrincham - Victoria public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000
Further Comments: Beer mugs and wine glasses were thrown off the shelves by an invisible presence, while mysterious cold spots appeared over the building.

Figure on the Track

Location: Ashton under Lyne - Ashton Moss Rail Junction
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1975
Further Comments: At least two signalmen have reported a strange figure walking along the track that vanishes if approached.

Pale Man

Location: Ashton under Lyne - Hartshead Pike, Lily Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer 2006, around 13:30h
Further Comments: Two women walking up Lily Lane towards the Pike passed a man with a pale, almost grey, face wearing clothing from the 1960s or 1970s. So strange was he that the women turned to look back at him a few seconds later - the figure had vanished.

Miner

Location: Ashton under Lyne - House along Ellison Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1903
Further Comments: Said to have been seen by several people, a miner started to appear in this property, covered in coal dust and carrying a pickaxe. He was thought to be a man killed in the nearby pit whose family had recently moved out of the house.

Factory?

Location: Ashton under Lyne - Knott Hill Reservoir
Type: Other
Date / Time: 05:15, Sunday 28 August 2012
Further Comments: A witness spotted light coming from the ground close to a gate. When they investigated, they saw four interlinking windows, through which 'normal' looking people could be seen moving around a long walkway. One of the windows was open, from which a man's face appeared and said, 'you're not supposed to be here - go home'. The witness fled, terrified, although they returned later in the day and found nothing but piles of dirt.

Grandfather Tom

Location: Ashton under Lyne - Oddfellows public house, Kings Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A family pub owned by three generations, it is reported that the first two proprietors are still seen, though both died many years ago.

Ernie

Location: Ashton under Lyne - Tameside Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1978
Further Comments: Jack Douglas of Carry On film fame reported seeing this male ghost several times, standing above him in the upper circle and slowly melting away when approached.

Bed Bricks

Location: Atherton - Unnamed cottage, Crabtree Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 10 July 1921
Further Comments: Mr and Mrs Peacock found their bed bombarded with bricks and stones that appeared to have dropped from the ceiling. A police officer who stayed the night had an apron dropped at his feet by an unseen agency.

Unnamed Problem

Location: Blackley - Unnamed nursing home
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: A council care worker was disciplined after drawing a crucifix on the wall of this home to try to reduce what she believed was paranormal activity. During the 1990s, a Catholic priest had been summoned to the same location to lay reported ghosts.

Hand on Bottom

Location: Bolton - Albion Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1978 / 79
Further Comments: The female owner at this hotel felt something grab her bottom as she climbed into the bath. The ghost is also said to play around with the beer pumps.

Men with Light Bulb Heads

Location: Bolton - Alleyway in town, exact location unknown
Type: UFO
Date / Time: November 1926
Further Comments: A local lad escaped one night from his house to play hide and seek with his friends. While searching for them, he observed three figures in grey rubber suits and fishbowl helmets in a back yard; they also possessed pallid faces shaped like upside-down pears, with slits for eyes and mouth. When they moved towards the boy, he ran home.

Smell of Smoke

Location: Bolton - Alma Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1974-1975
Further Comments: A former landlord of the public house reported the smell of cigar smoke in the ladies' toilet, though there was never any evidence of smoke or ash.

Noosed Highwayman

Location: Bolton - Belmont Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This shade, mistakenly hanged for highway robbery, still has the hangman's noose tied around his neck when he appears. They also say his eyes look as if they're ready to pop out of his head. Another report says that the road is also haunted by a fatal car crash from the mid-twentieth century which killed a family - the screech of brakes followed by screams is heard but no accident can be seen.

Roman Soldiers

Location: Bolton - Boar's Head public house (no longer standing, replacement building is currently Hogarth's)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pub demolished 1999
Further Comments: The Boar's Head was said to be haunted by Roman soldiers. They were only seen chest upwards and could be heard marching through the building. When the pub closed, archaeologists discovered medieval artefacts (including a cellar) before the site was concreted over.

Minnie Stott

Location: Bolton - Bradshawgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1987
Further Comments: A teenager who worked for a nearby garage watched a mist as it formed into a human-like shape at the top of a set of steps. The teenager was shocked when later shown a picture of Minnie Stott, a young woman murdered in the 1940s, as that was the figure she had seen manifest.

Crying

Location: Bolton - Churchgate Public House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: There is a story that the pub is haunted by a woman thrown out of the pub one winter's evening, after becoming pregnant with her employer's child. She died in the cold, and her child's cries can now be heard in the building. During the 1950s, bones were unearthed under the site and were thought to belong to a Cavalier who haunts the bar and cellar. Finally, a dog has been seen running upstairs but when chased nothing is found.

Smoking Man

Location: Bolton - Derby Arms, Derby Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This phantom complete with smoking pipe has been observed in the living room of the building.

Black Cat

Location: Bolton - Farnworth cemetery, Darcy Lever
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 11 October 2012, 14:30h
Further Comments: Alanah and Sherri-Lee Belk spotted a large black cat from around fifteen metres away in a field. The creature ran off in the opposite direction.

Ghost of a murderer walking through slums.

Murder Suicide

Location: Bolton - Former Tax Office and ABC Capitol Cinema, Churchgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1800s onwards
Further Comments: The Tax office and Cinema were built upon former slums Antelope Court. In one of the slums a murder suicide occurred in the 1800s. Ever since, workers of both building reported equipment activating by unseen hands, lights flickering on and off and the spectre of an old man, thought to be the murderer, and his wife, the victim, have been seen.

Phantom Runner

Location: Bolton - Hall i' th' Wood Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Runner between 25 December - 6 January (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Always heard but never seen, this spook frequents the old staircase, the footsteps always rushing. Other ghosts reported here include an old woman seen in the kitchen and two men, one dressed in black and the other green.

A phantom in a nightdress.

Husky Voice

Location: Bolton - Halliwell Lodge (public house, no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This female ghost would materialise wearing only a nightdress in the early hours of the morning. It was also said her deep husky voice could be heard making suggestive remarks to any men still awake.

Granny

Location: Bolton - Moss Bank Cottage, Smithels
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Even though she had never seen her grandmother, a young girl described the ghostly figure of an aging woman who stood over her bed to her aunt, who identified the figure as the girl's grandmother, dying many years earlier. The cottage was also said to be haunted by another old woman, this one sitting in the living room wearing a red shawl.

Vida Swift

Location: Bolton - Octagon Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post-1968
Further Comments: Dying while carrying out the role of wardrobe mistress, Vida has been seen walking around the corridors and frequenting the stage control box.