The Paranormal Database

Grey Lady

Location: Croston - Southport Road and Highfield Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Likely to be the same entity wandering around Gradwell's Farm, this phantom woman has been seen standing in the middle of a hedge along Southport Road, and sitting on a bench along Highfield Road.

Titmouse Brown

Location: Croston - Trees in the local area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An entity resembling a cross of fairy and ghost, this local figure has been observed leaping from treetop to treetop. He is said to warn people of any immediate danger, reportedly saving one lad from a speeding lorry. Titmouse Brown is also known as Shrewfoot and Marsantos, and sometimes chases a phantom stag through the trees.

Kate

Location: Cuerden - Cuerden Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1998
Further Comments: When the building was used as a Sue Ryder home, residents reported encountering a nurse wearing a grey and red uniform. One witness claimed the entity introduced herself to him as Kate. The Lancashire Evening Post reported the site to also be haunted by former owner Lord Townley Parker, seen by a lamppost at the rear of the building. Both ghosts were considered non-threatening.

Hunting for the Child

Location: Darwen - Old cemetery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman in white is said to haunt the old cemetery, looking for her child. She either died in childbirth or was murdered by men who then stole her baby. A local myth says that by speaking the words 'white lady, white lady, I stole your black baby' she will appear.

Figure in Long White Coat

Location: Denton - Old Denton Police Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1974-1978
Further Comments: Over this four year period, three different people at the police station encountered this spook. One officer spotted the ghostly white figure walking into a disused locker room which had no other exit, while three years later another PC spotted it in an office - when the PC entered, the figure vanished. Knowing he was alone in the station, the PC summoned a dog unit to catch the intruder, but they could not detect anything. The last sighting came from a cleaner who witnessed the entity looking through a door leading to the courthouse.

An old illustration of Robin Hood firing his bow.

Thrown Stone

Location: Denton - River Tame
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Robin Hood, with the help of some fairies, threw a stone the 'size of a man' from the top of Werneth Low, which was later found within the waters of the River Tame.

Actor

Location: Didsbury - Capitol Cinema, School Lane (no longer standing, now replaced by a block of flats)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1958-1998
Further Comments: The death of an actor (during a live broadcast of a show called 'Underground') inside this building resulted in a haunting that spanned five decades.

The Curate's Wife

Location: Didsbury - Fletcher Moss Museum, was the Old Parsonage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1865 (wife), late nineteenth century (others)
Further Comments: It was rumoured that a former curate was responsible for his wife's death in the property, but he disappeared before being questioned. Regardless, strange things would happen and drive out new occupants for years after the event. Later in the nineteenth century Rev Fletcher Moss documented bells in the building ringing for no reason and the sound of footsteps and of doors opening during the night.

Gatley Shouter

Location: Didsbury - Road to Gatley (was Carr Lane, since renamed?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: This phantom, nicknamed the Gatley Shouter but said to be a Jim Barrow in life, was said to emerge from the northern churchyard and head off towards Gatley, gibbering and singing 'Milk and water should I ever, weight or measure gave I never'. The Gatley Shouter was banished by a parson, cast under a large stone by the parson's gate.

Four Balls

Location: Didsbury - Sky looking north
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 04 May 2008, 23:10h
Further Comments: Four orange balls of light were spotted silently floating in the sky, forming a pyramid. They remained for quite some time.

Woman in Silk

Location: Didsbury - Swivel House (since demolished, rebuilt and renamed)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: After the death of Sam Dean, who made his fortune selling swivels (for handlooms), a phantom woman in a green silk dress started to make an appearance on the site. She moved from room to room, her dress rustling as she moved. Since being renamed/rebuilt, the phantom has not been heard or seen.

Disease Cure

Location: Didsbury - Well in churchyard (may no longer be present)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A well here was said to cure disease. People would also leave pins close to it for luck.

Internal Rain

Location: Eccleston - Bank House
Type: Other
Date / Time: February 1873
Further Comments: Rain fell inside this house so hard that it ruined furnishings, though the ceilings themselves remained dry.

Bridegroom

Location: Eccleston - Stanley Arms Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nicknamed the Gillars Green Ghost, this fellow may have befallen a tragedy relating to his wedding day.

Leering Man

Location: Edgworth - Toby Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A phantom man caught on film showed him leering at the back of the bar. Customers had reported seeing strange apparitions prior to the photograph being taken.

Lady with the Lamp

Location: Euxton - Armetriding Farm, and Mill Lane
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: The pallid ghost of a woman carrying a storm lamp appeared in this building when one of the occupiers was seriously ill with pneumonia.

Grey Lady

Location: Euxton - Euxton Mills public house, Wigan Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The grey lady is only one of several shades reported to walk within the pub.

Rolling Apples

Location: Euxton - Private cottage, Dawbers Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa early twentieth century
Further Comments: The site where a man was killed in an argument, this cottage experienced mild haunting, with events such as the sound of apples rolling down the staircase (although the apples would remain untouched in their boxes), a broken clock which would chime, and something which frightened the pet dog to such an extent it refused to ever enter the home again.

Disguised Devil

Location: Fair Snape Fell - Exact area unknown
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil is said to haunt these rocks, disguising himself as a beautiful woman to lure young men to their deaths. Another version of the story drops the Devil from the story, with the female entity capable of beguiling men to fall from the crags.

Smoky

Location: Fazakerley - Higher Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s onwards, last seen February 2006
Further Comments: Last seen by a policeman in the early hours of the morning, this smoky entity is reputed to appear in front of cars, resulting in accidents.

Hooded Person

Location: Fence - Tynedale Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This farmhouse is said to be haunted by a hooded figure, a monk, a woman in grey, and a lady who sweeps the living room. Moaning and screaming have also been heard.

Gun Shots

Location: Feniscowles - Sheep Brook Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 20 June 2018, 15:30h
Further Comments: A former forensic scientist out shooting in woodland heard male voices shouting and single gunshots close by, but on investigation, nobody was present. He then had an item he was carrying pushed by an unseen force.

Mad Horse

Location: Fleetwood - Bourn Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Moonlit nights
Further Comments: The hall and surrounding area were haunted by a wild mare.

Helpful Horse

Location: Fleetwood - Hackensall Hall
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This boggart took the form of a horse. The entity would plough fields and work around the farm in return for a warm place to spend the night (or a pie, depending on the story).

Old Bill

Location: Fleetwood - Marine Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Bill in 2008, woman in 2023
Further Comments: Stories say that Bill is a former caretaker who now walks around the site. Anne Shipway, waterfront co-ordinator at the hall, reported to the local press seeing a middle-aged man in a white shirt who walked through a wall. In 2023 a ghostly young woman in wet clothing appeared on a live stream; no one could be seen in the area when checked.