The Paranormal Database

Jacobite armed with Dagger

Location: Manchester - Rover's Return trinket shop
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This former soldier has been seen loitering at the foot of a bed on the property, weapon in hand.

Woman in Black

Location: Manchester - Royal Infirmary, nurses' home
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1912
Further Comments: A nurse spotted a woman in black with her back turned; when the nurse moved to tap the figure on the shoulder, it vanished. Porters searched for anything out of the ordinary but found nothing. Other staff told of a figure which would dart along corridors before disappearing, and another witness awoke to feel a hand over her face.

Nurses and Friends

Location: Manchester - Ryecroft Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: A few ghost hunts have taken place at the hall, with perceived entities including nurses, children, soldiers and the Seventh Earl of Stamford.

Samuel

Location: Manchester - Samuel Alexander Building, University of Manchester
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008-2012
Further Comments: The ghost of Australian-born, British philosopher Samuel Alexander was said to have been spotted by teaching staff in the hall which bears his name.

Shakespeare Hotel, Manchester.

Girl on Fire

Location: Manchester - Shakespeare Hotel, Fountain Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: Reportedly built on the site where SHC had killed a young maid, the hotel is now home to the ghostly girl. She has been seen standing at the top of a flight of stairs, once appearing to be on fire.

Darting Lights

Location: Manchester - Skies above Bury
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Late 1990s
Further Comments: Several circular bright lights were observed by a man walking his dog in the night sky. The balls were all different sizes and travelled very fast in a zigzag motion, creating no sound. The man was left shaken after watching the display but did not contact the authorities fearing they would think he was mad.

Does an executioner haunt this prison?

Man in Dark Suit

Location: Manchester - Strangeways Prison, condemned cell, B Wing
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This phantom man wearing a dark suit and carrying a briefcase has been reported by staff. If followed, he vanishes near the condemned cell. Some have named him as John Ellis, a former executioner who committed suicide in 1932.

Victorian Woman

Location: Manchester - The Angel public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October / November 2009
Further Comments: It is said that the owners of the pub experienced mild poltergeist occurrences until the site was blessed by a priest. However, shortly after the blessing, a group of Australian tourists took a picture in the building - a girl dressed in Victorian clothing was visible.

The Palace Theatre, Manchester.

Grey Lady

Location: Manchester - The Palace Theatre, Oxford Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A cleaner who died in the building, this figure has been seen drifting around in a grey mist, and seen once in the ladies' toilet, sitting in a corner before vanishing.

Grey Lady

Location: Manchester - Trafford Park Hotel (as of 2020, not operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990
Further Comments: Traditionally the haunt of a grey lady (in this instance, a maid who had fallen or jumped to her death in the 1900s), the phantom which made its presence known in 1990 could be heard laughing and causing the air to crackle.

Francis Downes

Location: Manchester - Wardley Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This building is reported to have had a skull bricked up within its walls, to prevent it from accidentally being removed and condemning the house's occupiers to misfortune or death. The macabre relic is thought to belong to Edward Barlow, a Catholic executed by Protestants in 1640.

Footsteps

Location: Manchester - Waste ground close to West Avenue and Bridport Avenue, above Moston Brook
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Summer 1982
Further Comments: While walking across knee-high grass, this witness could hear footsteps following him, even though no one else could be seen.

Green Dorothy

Location: Manchester - Worsley Old Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The lime-coloured ghost of this woman is said to re-enact her last moments - falling down the staircase, breaking her neck on the final step. Another story says Sir Richard Brereton once haunted the site; his ghost was banished, but he returns once a year in the form of a swallow.

Emily

Location: Manchester - Yang Sing Hotel (closed 2009)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2008
Further Comments: The hotel put out a call to help identify a ghost that staff nicknamed 'Emily', a young girl that had manifested and sang to guests in two different rooms. Staff had also heard the singing but not seen the ghost.

Old Canky

Location: Middleton - Canky's Ginnel - passageway between Church Brow and Lodge Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Canky was a resurrection man who, with his motley crew, stole fresh bodies from the churchyard and sold them in Manchester to doctors and medical students. His shade still lurks in the shadows of the long dark passageway.

Floating Orbs

Location: Middleton - Charmed Nightclub
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 2004
Further Comments: Several strange events resulted in the owner of this nightclub calling in a psychic, including a phantom scream, glowing balls of light which floated around, and reports of a ghostly human form seen in both the basement and in the upper part of the building.

Old Man

Location: Middleton - Council house in Alkrington area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This entity is thought to belong to an old man who died in the house; his body remained undiscovered for several days after he passed away. While the child who lived in the house appeared to like the spirit, the boy's mother was not so keen.

The poet Samuel Bamford.

Burnt Flag

Location: Middleton - Old Grammar School
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Samuel Bamford wrote that the school flag had a hole in the shape of a burnt hoofprint. Students had summoned the Devil and had to be saved by the school's headmaster who managed to exorcise the fallen angel, although the ritual damaged some of the building.

The Thing

Location: Middleton - Private residence, Lorton Close, Langley (since redeveloped)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: November - December 1968
Further Comments: Dorothy Moulton fled her home in November after a poltergeist, referred to as The Thing, ransacked a bedroom. The entity had previously been heard walking around and was blamed for moving cushions. Moulton later returned, but she, her husband, and a lodger claimed that by December the entity had started to manifest, both as a black shadow and a misty white shape. After a blessing, the activity ceased.

Cavalier

Location: Middleton - Ring O'Bells public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The remains of several bodies were found under the floor of the basement, dating back to the civil war. The forlorn ghost seen lurking about the site is believed to be the spiritual echo of one of the corpses. A more contemporary shade is one of a man in a grey suit, of whom little is known.

Ghosts of the Future

Location: Middleton - St Leonard's Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 01 November (All Souls' Day) (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: The souls of all those who will die by the following All Souls' Day walk through the church at midnight. A former member of the clergy is also reported to haunt the church, though his appearance is not date related.

Large Dog

Location: Middleton - Stanicliffe Hall
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This dog was thought to contain the soul of a man named Blomeley, who shot several people on the site. Accompanying poltergeist-like activities made it difficult for anyone to live in the house.

Noisy People

Location: Middleton - Tonge Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2003?
Further Comments: Not much is known about these ghosts, other than the current owner claims that they can be a little on the loud side.

Mother

Location: Oldham - Adjoining private residences, Kingsbridge Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: One of these properties was said to be haunted by a mother upset with her children, while the next door site was home to a poltergeist who would turn electrical goods off and throw small items around.

The ghost of Birchen Bower.

Madame Hannah Beswick

Location: Oldham - Birchen Bower (building no longer stands, but replaced by Ferranti Works), Bower Lane, Hollinwood
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: clear nights. Last seen 1950s
Further Comments: Though the building no longer stands, the ghost of Beswick was also said to haunt her former lands, watching over the gold that she had buried to protect it from thieves and soldiers. The shade reportedly stands tall, wearing a black silk dress and frilly cap, although sometimes she was headless. According to legend, her presence grows stronger every seventh anniversary of her death (in 1758), and she was also seen on clear nights. During the 1950s it was claimed that 35 Ferranti workers had seen her on different occasions.