The Paranormal Database

Strange Man

Location: Scarisbrick - A570, between Morris Dancers pub and Blue Elephant (now Nellie Indian) Restaurant
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 02 February 2023, approx 20:00h, and Autumn 2004
Further Comments: While walking towards the marina, a witness spotted a man wearing a long woollen coat with a hat, longish hair, and a strange looking face. The witness turned away for a few seconds, during which time the man vanished. The figure may have been seen by another witness, who reported seeing a very similar figure along the same road in 2004.

Well Woman

Location: Scouthead - Old Original public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This female entity that haunts the building is said to have been murdered nearby and her body dumped in the pub's well.

Black Hound

Location: Singleton - Unknown cottage
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A priest was called in to rid a building of a large black dog that had taken up residence - the creature was banished to under the river Wyre, allowed only to come back when the river dried up.

Man in Black Cloak

Location: Skelmersdale - Sports Centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This phantom figure is blamed when electrical equipment inexplicitly cuts out or blows up.

Mrs Eastham

Location: St Annes - Fields connecting Church Road with Heyhouses Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth or early twentieth century
Further Comments: Eastham's ghost was seen by a local man taking a shortcut, a couple of days after her death at a nearby farmhouse. It was seen again a short time later by another farmer, and again by a farmhand who reported her staring into his bedroom window.

The Toll

Location: St Annes on Sea - Off Coast
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ringing of church bells from a church taken by the sea many years ago can be heard prior to a storm.

Sir Ralph Longworth

Location: St Michaels on Wyre - Old Hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Dressed in his officer's uniform, this former commander was reluctant to give up his house even after death; he would bang and crash around the building and materialise outside the front door. He was finally exorcised.

Washing Folk

Location: Staining - High Cross way
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These fairies would arrive in the area at midnight to make use of the stream water to wash their clothing.

Black Haired Child

Location: Stalybridge - Country park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A phantom child with black hair has been reported as haunting the park. Others have heard disembodied voices in the area.

Elderly Lady

Location: Stalybridge - Q public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Short in stature, this ghostly, elderly figure wears Victorian clothing. A labourer is also said to haunt the premises.

Shaking Tree

Location: Stalybridge - Unknown farm
Type: Other
Date / Time: Prior to a death in the family
Further Comments: The leaves in this tree would shake violently just prior to a family member dying, regardless of wind and weather conditions.

Charles Hutton

Location: Standish - General area of village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1963
Further Comments: The last witness to see the ghost of the Reverend Hutton fainted - the figure was seen floating half a metre from the ground, dressed in early twentieth century clothing and wearing a scarf.

Lady Mabel

Location: Standishgate - Mab's Cross
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mab's ghost still walks around the cross and surrounding area, her punishment for remarrying in the mistaken belief her first husband died.

Devil

Location: Stony Hurst - Cromwell Bridge
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The Devil is reputed to cross the bridge once a year - if he looks you in the eye, he'll take your soul!

Running Child

Location: Thornton - River Wyre Country Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 2016
Further Comments: Walking the footpath near the site of the demolished Cockle Hall, this witness heard a child's footsteps running up behind. The witness stepped out of the way and turned - the footsteps ceased, and nothing was there.

Sheet Stealer

Location: Thornton - Unknown house along Windsor Avenue
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1971
Further Comments: A local councillor agreed to spend the night in the house after those living there reported a phantom figure which would remove bedcovers from a toddler's bed.

Baker's Van

Location: Thornton - Unknown road in the area
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1939
Further Comments: A phantom baker's van was reported by two people out cycling at dusk shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Misty Figure

Location: Thornton Cleveleys - Skipool Creek
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn 2008
Further Comments: Four people stopped in the car park here for a few minutes to chat. Three of the four glanced out of the windscreen, just in time to watch a white mist, the height and rough shape of a person, pass the front of the car at a hurried walking pace.

Galloping Horses

Location: Tockholes - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A ghostly herd of horses is said to haunt this area.

Fleeting Shadows

Location: Tockholes - Ruins of Hollinshead Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Maybe not surprisingly, several reports exist of strange shadows and shapes being seen here after dark.

James Bair

Location: Torisholme - Torisholme Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: This shade would pass the time by looking through a wardrobe, examining clothing, and resting on an armchair.

Ugly Man

Location: Tranmere - General area
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One story relays the tale of a floating entity with a deformed face which, in the space of a week managed to terrify a huge number of people in this area before vanishing never to be seen again.

Little Girl

Location: Tyldesley - Private house along Manchester Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1993 onwards
Further Comments: A family along this road share their home with the ghost of a young girl, who was spotted on the staircase. She is a playful spirit and is said to cause electrical interference with the television, music system and lights. The little ghost has also been felt as she tugs on people's clothing while they sit at the dining table.

An old woodcut, coloured red, of a fire breathing dragon.

Hungry Dragon

Location: Unsworth - Exact location unknown
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local dragon which feasted on the local women and children was killed by the local landlord who fired a dagger at the creature using his musket.

Knocking

Location: Upholland - House next to the White Lion Inn (house demolished during 1930s)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa 1904
Further Comments: This noisy haunting centred around two boys who lived at the site and consisted of strange sounds and knocking which emerged in the corners of rooms. Lights would also flash in some of the rooms, although the property had no electricity.