The Paranormal Database

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 public house (now closed), Derby Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This pipe-puffing phantom was observed in the living room above the pub.

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.

Slamming

Location: Bolton - The Kings Head public house, Wigan Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Doors would slam closed, and the landlord was once awoken by an oppressive atmosphere that flooded his bedroom. The pub is said to have been built on top of a graveyard, the haunting attributed by some to be carried out by phantom Cavaliers.

Emily

Location: Bolton - Unity Brook Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 2008 onwards
Further Comments: This female ghost, dressed in black, appeared to the assistant manager on three occasions. She was described as slim, late twenties or early thirties, with dark hair and high cheek bones. The entity has been nicknamed Emily by staff.

Older Woman

Location: Bolton - Wilton Arms public house, Belmont Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: Sharing a drink with the landlord after locking up, a witness looked across to the fireplace and smiled at an older lady, between 60 and 70 years of age, who sat there. She smiled and nodded back. The witness continued drinking for a minute before realising that all the doors were locked. Turning back to talk to the woman, she had vanished - all doors remained locked and a search of the pub found no one.

Murphy Incident

Location: Bolton - Winter Hill
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: After spotting a ufo hovering over his field, a farmer reported the sighting to the Manchester Aerial Phenomena Investigation Team. The team reported by were followed by an unidentified man, while the farmer was warned to stop talking about the incident by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, although the government agency denied they had spoken to the farmer.

Middle Aged Love

Location: Bolton - Wood Street Labour Club
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A couple in their late thirties haunt his building - they have been seen romantically holding hands over a table, where they sit and stare longingly at each other. They both wear Victorian clothing.

Bloodied Hands

Location: Bolton - Ye Olde Man and Scythe public house, Churchgate
Type: Other
Date / Time: Late twentieth century (blood story), and 2000s (Geny)
Further Comments: A woman drinking at the public house found her hands covered in blood as she started to leave, though she had no wounds of her own, and no other source for the liquid could be discovered. More recently, the spirit of Geny, an eight year old girl, has been blamed for tugging at skirts, pinching people, and moving items around, while a phantom dog runs around chairs in the museum room. A Roman soldier may also haunt the beer garden.

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.

Waiting Room Phantom

Location: Bury - Bolton Street Train Station
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Christmas 2007
Further Comments: A photograph taken by John Philps of his grandson showed a strange, ghost-like figure, possibly hooded, in the waiting room. The jury is out on whether the photograph shows a ghost or just a reflection.

The Man Vanishes

Location: Bury - East Lancashire Railway Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 September 2008
Further Comments: A couple arrived early so decided to go to the waiting room. Through the glass an elderly man in a blue cap could be seen sleeping on the bench. As they entered the room they were hit by a freezing cold temperature, so cold it hurt to breathe, and the man they had seen was gone.

Flying Brass

Location: Bury - Mather and Platt's Works (closed in 1982), Bradley Fold
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: January 1958
Further Comments: Two designers witnessed brass bushes fly around their office. A bottle of red ink hit a manager and a pencil sharpener also crossed the room unaided, and mugs would fall from surfaces.

German

Location: Bury - Mcphersons paintworks, Radcliffe Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A security guard and his dog encountered a large man dressed in an old German army uniform - the entity caused the dog to whimper and cower. Cleaning staff also reported lights flicking on and off, and of something which would tap them on the shoulder as they worked alone. The site was said to have been a PoW camp during the Second World War, and the ghost a former prisoner who hanged himself.

George Whewell

Location: Bury - The Pack Horse Inn, Affetside
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: If removed from the public house, this discoloured skull which once belonged to executioner George Whewell is said to scream until returned.

Haunted skulls.

Duellists

Location: Chapeltown - Turton Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two skulls are currently stored in the Towers, which when stored in previous places, have been blamed for causing two ghostly men to appear and begin fighting. Poltergeist activity is also attached to the stories, and a woman apparently dressed in mourning costume haunts the staircase of the tower (and possibly an old path outside the tower). The area outside the tower is haunted by a phantom coach.

The unknown ghostly woman of Cheadle Bulkeley.

Ladylike Figure

Location: Cheadle - Cheadle Bulkeley Hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: In the nineteenth century it was written that one of the bedrooms here had a blood stain which nothing would erase, and that a female ghost haunted the site, although her story was unknown.

Fanny Fowden

Location: Cheadle - Fields near Adswood Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Fowden was murdered returning from church, her ghost reported to appear to young boys who are mushroom picking or playing in the fields.

Tom Ward

Location: Cheadle Hulme - Malt Shovels public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1973
Further Comments: Tom, a former landlord of the pub, appeared to the new owner - two years after dying in a motorway accident. His pale form told the new landlord to 'take care' before disappearing.

Lion?

Location: Denshaw - Between the M62 and Denshaw, along the Saddleworth moor
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 19 January 2009
Further Comments: Driver Helen Morris reported to a local newspaper seeing a large cat in the middle of the road. The creature was described as having a tawny coat and long tail, resembling a lioness.