The Paranormal Database

Older Lady

Location: Scarborough - A171
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 05 November 2019
Further Comments: While travelling as a passenger on a Whitby bound bus, a witness noted an older lady on the bottom deck sitting a few seats behind. The lady cast a dim reflection in the window, and the witness could see her from the corner of the eye. The lady had no way of exiting the bus, but disappeared before the bus reached its destination, with no possible means of leaving. There are stories of the lady joining people in their cars on this stretch of road.

An old postcard showing Scarborough's Grand Hotel.

Lady in Red

Location: Scarborough - Grand Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: Along with the phantom woman in a red dress, other reports from this old hotel include laughing, singing, and poltergeist-like activities.

Lydia Bell

Location: Scarborough - Old Mansion House, St Nicholas Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered nearby in 1804, the ghost of the teenage Lydia has been reported still haunting her former home. She wears a pink or red dress.

Strong Perfume

Location: Scarborough - Private residence, Hoxton Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: A couple who moved into this flat were forced to call in a vicar to bless all the rooms to dismiss a poltergeist who would play with lights, disrupt the shower system, and create a smell of perfume.

Glowing Light

Location: Scarborough - Reasty Hill, Silpho Moor
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 21 November 1957
Further Comments: A forty-six centimetre disc covered with strange hieroglyphics was found by three men who were investigating the sighting of a ufo which glowed eerily in the night sky.

An old postcard showing Scarborough Castle.

Piers Gaveston

Location: Scarborough - Scarborough Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Beheaded in 1312, Piers spent his last free days in this castle - he now returns, walking the paths. A darker version of the story says he tries to lure visitors to the cliff edge before pushing them off.

Edith

Location: Scarborough - Sitwell House, aka Woodend Creative Workspace
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2009
Further Comments: The Scarborough Evening News reported that a ghost hunt on the site had discovered a several entities on site, including a 'signal' received from poet Edith Sitwell.

The Future Dead

Location: Scarborough - St Mary's Churchyard
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 24 April (St Marks Eve) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: All those who will die between this date and next year's St Mark's Eve appear in this graveyard on the stroke of midnight and walk into the church.

Headless Woman

Location: Scarborough - Three Mariners (formerly an inn)
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This headless phantom would appear as a warning to any sailors staying in the building not to go to sea - those who did see her but ignored the warnings normally drowned.

Bride?

Location: Scarborough - Woodland near Open Air Theatre, Peasholme Park
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 01 July 2023
Further Comments: Two people watched, through a phone screen, a bride or nun-like figure standing in woodland. The figure vanished soon after being spotted.

Young Girl

Location: Scawsby - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2010
Further Comments: A woman in a bedroom became aware of a girl sitting on the bed. Believing the girl to be her sister's daughter, who was staying in an adjoining room, she reached out to touch the girl, but her hand passed through the figure.

Governess

Location: Scorton - Kiplin Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A grey haired woman, thought to be a Victorian Governess, has been observed in the building. A pilot from the 1940s is said to haunt a kitchen, while mild poltergeist behaviour has been attributed to phantom children. Disembodied sobbing has also been heard and the smell of old pipe smoke detected.

Long Legs

Location: Seascale - Road between Seascale and Whitby
Type: Other
Date / Time: 05 August 2013
Further Comments: Driving back to a campsite, the passenger of a vehicle spotted a pair of extremely long white male legs, to just above the thigh, quickly bound across the road. The stride was too long and too fast to be human. Despite the passenger crying out 'what's that?', the driver did not see anything.

Pterodactyl

Location: Seaton Burn - Skies over the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa 1990
Further Comments: A Pterodactyl-shaped creature with a six metre wingspan flew around six metres over the top of houses. The creature moved at around 30mph and made absolutely no sound.

Man in Velvet

Location: Selby - Town Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 2010
Further Comments: A member of staff locking up the building spotted a dark haired man in a long velvet jacket on the balcony. When the staff member called out to the figure, he moved towards the staircase, the only exit. The staff member unlocked the door to the staircase to let the figure out, but there was no one there.

Big John

Location: Selside - Railway Line
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sometimes seen on the track by signalmen, this large male figure would suddenly vanish without warning.

Woman in Dress

Location: Semerwater - Countersett Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Little is known about this female shade that stalks the building.

Don't Upset the Tramp

Location: Semerwater (aka Simmer Water, aka Simmerwater) - Lake
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A tramp (or angel or witch, depending on the source) looking for a place to rest was turned away from every house in the neighbourhood, until he came to a farm on the hillside where the occupants of which gave him food and shelter. He thanked his guests and punished the other households by flooding the valley. The lake also once had two large rocks on its banks which were known as the Mermaid Stones, said to have been thrown there by the Devil and a giant.

Local Giant

Location: Sessay - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A giant terrorised this area for many years, bullying and killing the locals. The massive man was finally slain when, after a day of abhorrent behaviour, he fell asleep by a watermill - the miller ran outside and hacked him to death with an axe. Another version of the story, in which the giant was accidently knocked out by windmill sails, names the giant slayer as Sir Guy Dawnay, who just happened to be passing through the area.

Running Woman

Location: Settle - Beggar's Wife Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Named after the wife killed by her mad spouse, she can still be seen running over the bridge, trying to escape her fate. The figure has no face, only a spider's web where the details should be.

Gas Breather

Location: Sexhow - General area
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A winged fire breathing dragon once terrorised this area. Demanding the milk of nine cows every day, the creature took residence on a hill. As well as breathing fire, the creature released poison gas which killed anyone venturing too close. It was finally killed after a long battle by a wandering knight who then went on his way without demanding a reward or revealing his name. The skin of the dragon was stored in the local church for many years, but what happened to the item is not known.

Greed isn't Good

Location: Sexhow - Unnamed farm in the area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Likely pre-nineteenth century
Further Comments: The ghost of a recently deceased woman appeared to a farmer and asked him to dig up her hidden treasure - he could keep all the silver but had to give all the gold to her niece. The farmer dug up the treasure and kept it all to himself. The woman returned and haunted him day and night until he died soon after, her ghost witnessed by neighbours just prior to the farmer's body being found on his horse.

Gabriel Hounds

Location: Sheffield - Area around parish church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These hounds are said to have the faces of men, and have been heard passing the church on dark, still nights.

Former Maid

Location: Sheffield - Ashdell Grove house, Westbourne Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This building is reportedly haunted by a maid who committed suicide after her secret lover, a local policeman, left her. Her pacing has been heard down a corridor, and she also moves items around in the building's offices. The figure of a middle aged man has also been seen.

Pregnant Girl

Location: Sheffield - Ball Inn, Darnall (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This thin, grey ghost is said to be a member of staff who committed suicide at the inn when she discovered she was with child. She walks the upstairs corridors, while in other parts of the building, strange noises are heard in the night and well secured shelves fall without warning.