The Paranormal Database

Cleaner

Location: Calverley - Thornhill Arms public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The polt in this pub is said to tidy the bar if left in a mess.

Woman

Location: Castleford - Carlton Street
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1999, a Friday afternoon
Further Comments: While walking towards his car, this witness spotted a woman who he had known for some twenty years. In a hurry, the witness walked straight past her without speaking. The following day the witness was told that the woman had been found dead on the Thursday night.

Angry Landlord

Location: Cleckheaton - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The landlord wanted to be buried in a coffin filled with beer, though his family decided against it when he finally died. His ghost now haunts the building in want of his missing alcohol. An unknown farmhouse in the village was haunted by an old woman, before being exorcised by three parsons.

Elderly Woman

Location: Cookridge - Cookridge and Ada hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer 2003
Further Comments: A paramedic with a colleague pushing a stretcher approached a lift in the hospital. Just ahead of them, an elderly woman entered the lift and the doors closed. The paramedic dashed and hit the lift call button before the elevator could move and the doors reopened - the woman who had entered moments before was nowhere to be seen.

Savaged Lambs

Location: Denby Dale - Farms in the area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Summer 2000
Further Comments: A large cat was blamed for several sheep killings in the area after one farmer watched a big black feline skulking around on his land.

George

Location: Denholme - Private home formerly St Paul's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2020
Further Comments: Owner Debs Kennedy-Tallis witnessed a ghostly figure, nicknamed George, enter the bell tower. During renovation, two workers refused to lay flooring near the tower due to a presence.

Highwayman

Location: Dewsbury - Cow field, Thornhill Edge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 26 December 1982
Further Comments: Two friends out sledging spotted a figure on horseback, resembling a highwayman in tutor style clothing, staring at them. The friends were terrified and left the area. They returned the following day and although their sledge marks were visible in the snow, there was no sign of any horse tracks. The area is said to be haunted by Black Dick of the North (aka Sir Richard Beaumont).

Black Tom of Scothill

Location: Dewsbury - Dewsbury Parish Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Black Tom is the name of the bell in the church and is tolled the number of the year (ie, in 2007 it was tolled 2007 times) to ensure Old Nick does not visit the village during the following twelve months. The last peal must occur on the stroke of midnight to ensure success.

Beelzebub & Friends

Location: Dewsbury - Heath Farm, and surrounding heathland
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth / early twenty-first century
Further Comments: One occupier named the apparition 'Beelzebub' - it appeared only in mirrors and was described as very hairy and possessing a 'sly look'. Another ghost has reportedly been seen on site, that of a boy who sits and cries.

Young Boy

Location: Dewsbury - Rugby Club grounds and buildings
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This entity that caused upset at the club was exorcised at the start of the 1990s.

Black Dick of the North

Location: Dewsbury - The Temple, aka Black Dick's Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 05 July (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Known locally as Black Dick's Tower, this building is said to be the home of a phantom highwayman once a year.

Charlie

Location: Drighlington - Lumb Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nicknamed by the building's owners, Charlie's cloaked form has been seen skulking around the hall.

Leathery Coit

Location: Elland - Area around The Great House public house, also known as The Fleece Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered inside the public house in the 1700s, the figure known as Leathery Coit now drives his coach towards his place of death. It is said that his blood that was spilt inside the pub has permanently stained the wooden staircase.

Friend Peel

Location: Farsley - Box of Cards shop
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: May 2013
Further Comments: A photograph taken of the front of this card shop revealed a figure reflected in the window which shopkeeper Alison Lambert was convinced was deceased First World War soldier Friend Peel. Alison had previously seen John and Samuel Hollings, former owners of the shop during the eighteenth century.

Innkeeper's Wife

Location: Flockton - George and Dragon public house (aka Jack's Craft Ale House)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Somewhere in the deep past, the innkeeper's wife was found murdered and hanged on chains in front of the fireplace. The woman's ghost is said to remain on site.

Yellow Eyed Creature

Location: Golcar - Bunny Woods
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 2007?
Further Comments: One witness reported throwing a stone at a large black shape, not realising it was a large cat until it opened its yellow eyes.

Echoing Boots

Location: Greetland - Crawstone (or Crawthorne) Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of the building's previous owners was an enthusiastic hunter and went to check on this pack of beagles late one night. The following morning only his boots were found in the kennels, and it is the sound of these that now breaks the silence in the hall.

Grey Lady

Location: Guiseley - Esholt Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The site of a twelfth century nunnery, the hall is said to be home to a grey lady who occasionally pops up in various parts of the house. There are also reports of doors locking themselves, lights being turned off and on, and disembodied coughs and voices.

Someone on the Bed

Location: Guiseley - Glebe Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: Footsteps have been heard ascending and descending the staircase here, and once the lights are off, the sensation of someone sitting on the end of a bed has been reported.

Born in a Barn

Location: Guiseley - Hawksworth Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century (page boy)
Further Comments: Possessing at least three ghosts, the hall is home to one female spirit that passes through the house opening all the doors it comes across. Another shade takes the form of a hooded monk, while another manifests as a little black page boy who is blamed for leaving a head-sized imprint in the bed pillows.

Hopping Roo

Location: Guiseley - Hollings Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 27 April 1989
Further Comments: Three motorists reported seeing a 1.5 metre tall kangaroo jumping down the road. The creature narrowly missed a car and vanished over a wall.

Disappearing Passengers

Location: Halifax - A7 stand, bus station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2017, approximately 12:10h on a Tuesday afternoon
Further Comments: A passenger waiting for the bus to depart watched from the window as two woman holding shopping bags approached and began to embark. The passenger wished they would hurry up, as he was late for a meeting, but then realised both women had disappeared, and there was nowhere they could have gone.

Murdered Nun

Location: Halifax - Exact area not known
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Before the foundation of Halifax, a nun was murdered by a deluded priest convinced the woman was Satan. The priest decapitated the nun and hung her head from a tree. Local villagers tried to take the head down, but the hair had become rooted to the trunk; this was considered a miracle and attracted many pilgrims to the area, some of which stayed and formed the town of Halifax. Another similar story says the head of John the Baptist was buried here.

Whistles and Bells

Location: Halifax - Former police building, Prescott Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: When in use, some police officers reported strange occurrences in the building, including whistling, doors opening and closing themselves, cold spots, and ringing bells that were connected to empty cells.

The Catbeast

Location: Halifax - General area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Ongoing since 2005
Further Comments: Dubbed 'catbeast' by local press, this alien big cat would appear to be more than one entity, as descriptions range from 'black panther' to 'tiger'.