Ghostly Cumbria E-Book

Rob Kirkup

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 149

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

From reports of haunted castles, stately halls, hotels, public houses, Roman forts, stone circles and even England's deepest lake, to heart-stopping accounts of apparitions, poltergeists and related supernatural phenomena, Ghostly Cumbria investigates twenty of the most haunted locations to be found in the area today. Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, this selection includes a phantom friar said to walk the lanes near Grey Friars Lodge Hotel in Clappersgate; the ghost of Mary, Queen of Scots at Carlisle Castle; a cavalier at Moresby Hall in Whitehaven; and several ghosts at the Kirkstone Pass Inn at Ambleside, including a young boy killed by a coach outside the building, a young woman who died whilst travelling along the road during a snow storm, and a seventeenth-century coachman who lurks around the bar. Illustrated with sixty photographs, together with access details for each location, this book will appeal to all those interested in finding out more about Cumbria's haunted heritage.

Leseprobe

GHOSTLY

CUMBRIA

ROB KIRKUP

For Mam and Dad

First published in 2014

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2014

All rights reserved

© Rob Kirkup, 2011, 2014

The right of Rob Kirkup to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 5989 6

Original typesetting by The History Press

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Haunted Locations in Cumbria

About the Author

Sources & Recommended Reading

Foreword

Ghosts. Phantoms. Spectres. Whatever we choose to label them, nobody rightly knows what they are or indeed where they come from. Are they really the faded forms of previously living souls, perpetually walking paths that they once did when upon this mortal coil, or are they something completely different altogether? No matter what, one thing is abundantly clear; Britain has an absolute plethora of them!

From phantom battles complete with spectral soldiers, to ghostly hitchhikers who vanish into thin air from the backseat of your car, Britain has them all. It is my honest opinion that this country is the most haunted and most paranormally active on the face of the planet. Why do I say this? Because during my twenty-four years or so as a paranormal investigator and author, and via my work within the media on the subject, no other country continually amazes and fascinates me with its tales of things ‘going bump in the night’. I have travelled extensively throughout this land, which sometimes appears to be a dark and foreboding one, all in the name of uncovering a ghost or two, or learning a new story. I have spent countless nights in cold and draughty castles, manor houses, pubs, inns, forts and more. I have driven thousands upon thousands of miles along the length and breadth of our roadways, some of which are haunted too! And all of this stems from the time when I was a young boy of about eleven years old.

Throughout my childhood, and on into the present day, I have read many books that have captured my imagination with the stories they contain; I am always on the lookout for something new on the horizon. I was intrigued, and curious, when the author of this very book contacted me and permitted me to read it. I did not rightly know what to expect; would this publication live up to my high expectations that were set many years before by the books I had read? I am pleased to say there was no reason to worry. In keeping with so many other good books about ghosts and the paranormal, Rob Kirkup has also managed to capture my imagination with the stories contained within, and I am sure he will do the same for those readers who will follow in my footsteps. Surprisingly, Rob has also included accounts of which I had not previously heard and that is testament in itself to the research that has gone into this publication.

Whether you are a veteran paranormal investigator or indeed someone new to the subject of ghosts and hauntings, I have no doubt that you will find this book a very interesting read.

The beautiful, yet haunting, Castlerigg Stone Circle; one of the oldest stone circles in Europe. (By kind permission of English Heritage)

And of course, one of the best things about reading books like this one: you don’t have to personally spend endless hours researching the stories, staying up late into the night, sifting through page after page of notes, or shivering endlessly on those winter days when gathering a story means braving the elements that all too frequently get thrown at us in this haunted country; Rob Kirkup has already done this for us!

So grab a warm drink, sit back in your favourite armchair and lose yourself in Ghostly Cumbria … if you dare!

Phil Whyman, 2011

Author and Paranormal Investigator

Acknowledgements

I’d like to begin by expressing my gratitude to my family for their support and encouragement during the writing of my fourth book; Ghostly Cumbria. I would particularly like to thank my wife Jo, my parents Tom and Emily, and my brother Thomas. I would also like to thank my in-laws Michael and Patricia, my brother-in-law, James, and Norman, Jo’s grandfather.

Many thanks go to my good friends John Crozier and Andrew Markwell for joining me on many, many road trips, spanning literally thousands of miles to visit the locations you will read about throughout this book, and helping me to conduct research and take the photographs that you see on these very pages. All images featured in this book I photographed myself, unless otherwise stated.

I would also like to extend my thanks to the heroic farmer who saved the day when John and I went to Muncaster Castle for a Halloween ghost walk, and he towed my car out of a hole with his tractor.

My close friends have offered no end of encouragement during this project and I would like to thank them all. Especially David Henderson, Richard Stokoe, John Gray, Dan Armstrong, Paul Morton, Andrew Davidson, Brian Carmichael, Ryan Elwell, Brian Moore, Peter Slater, and Paul Bicker.

I was thrilled when Phil Whyman agreed to write the foreword for my book. His book, Phil Whyman’s Dead Haunted: Paranormal Encounters & Investigations, published in 2007, was a brilliant guide on how to conduct a paranormal investigation, and definitely made a lasting impression on me. Thanks Phil.

I am indebted to the staff and owners of the locations included in this book; they could not have possibly been more helpful and I am grateful to them all for allowing their properties to be featured.

A number of people were kind enough to talk to me about their personal experiences at the locations that I chose to include in this book. I would like to extend my gratitude to them all; David Scanlan, Ann Winsper, Angela Chatterton, Sue Dent, Jonathan Downes, Christopher Terry and Steve Taylor.

Last, but certainly by no means least, I would like to thank everyone at the History Press, Matilda Richards, Anna O’Loughlin, and Kerry Green in particular, for the faith they have showed in me throughout the Ghostly series, and their support and guidance in the writing of Ghostly Cumbria.

Introduction

The picturesque county of Cumbria has always been viewed as a mysterious corner of England. Over 15 million visitors flock to Cumbria each year, with the natural beauty of Lake District, in particular, drawing holidaymakers from all over the world. But beneath the peaceful and serene surface is a plethora of strange, supernatural secrets. The pre-historic monuments and ancient buildings situated in Cumbria also provide the ideal haunting space for the hundreds, if not thousands, of ghosts that reside in this truly haunted county.

Cumbria has many connections with Arthurian Legend and could stake a strong claim for being the territory of King Arthur and his legendary knights. There is, in fact, a henge monument near Penrith, known as Arthur’s Round Table.

The atmospheric ruins of Pendragon Castle are found in Kirkby Stephen, and are reputed to have been built by Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur. According to legend, Uther Pendragon and a hundred of his men were killed here when Saxon invaders poisoned the well.

According to Sir Walter Scott’s poem, ‘The Bridal of Triermain’, written in 1813, Castle Rock of Triermain played host to King Arthur, and his daughter Gyneth was cursed to an eternal slumber by Merlin. The curse lasted for 500 years, after which she was eventually awakened by Sir Roland de Vaux. An alternative legend, also based upon Scott’s poem, tells of King Arthur entertaining a group of fairies at Castle Rock and Merlin cursing one of the fairies to sleep forever more. Legends of fairies are commonplace in Cumbria and feature throughout the history of the ancient county.

The Beetham Fairy Steps are found near to Beetham Church and are cut into the limestone rock. It is said that if you can climb them without touching either side then you will be granted a wish by the fairies. Another location with links to fairy lore is Castle Howe, the site of a fairy home on the banks of Bassenthwaite Lake, near Kendal. Also a stone circle known as Elva Hill is said to be a place of fairy ritual; sadly only fifteen of the original thirty stones remain.

There are centuries of legend and folklore associated with Cumbria, and unusual occurrences continue to this very day. There are reliable reports on a weekly, possible even daily basis of encounters with ghosts and phantom creatures. One such bizarre occurrence was a little over a decade ago in 1998; Nursery Woods in Beckermet hit headlines across the country when a 7ft-tall bigfoot-type ‘monster’, covered from head to toe in ginger hair, was seen drinking from a pond. Apparently it then stood upright and ran off into the trees. This was followed later that year by reports of a huge winged creature flying over Nursery Woods; one of the eye witnesses described the beast as resembling a pterodactyl from illustrations they had seen in books of dinosaurs and the Jurassic Park movies.

A truly remarkable story appeared in the Cumbrian local press as I was putting the finishing touches to Ghostly Cumbria. On the 1 September 2010, the CCTV in the lounge of the General Wolfe Pub in Penrith captured what can only be described as a bona fide recording of a ghost. A ghostly glowing image appeared in the deserted bar at 12.18 a.m., then hovered in the air for thirty-one seconds before moving quickly and purposefully through a wall.

The landlord of the General Wolfe revealed to journalists that he has seen dark figures in the bar, and his dog has refused to go into the bar area on several occasions. The building, and the adjoining Thomas Cook travel agents, was at one time a funeral parlour. This could explain why Thomas Cook’s security cameras recorded something every bit as astounding exactly one week later. The recording shows a computer mouse move across a desk in the empty office. The movement of the mouse causes a computer monitor to come on, which bathes the office in a soft light, seconds before a large sign hanging on the inside of the shop’s window falls down.

Amy Dryden works in the Thomas Cook shop and, when interviewed by a local newspaper, said:

I have found it difficult to sleep since seeing the footage. It’s scary. This place used to be a funeral parlour and when I go upstairs to where we keep our brochures I often get the feeling that I’m being watched. I was amazed when I saw the CCTV from the pub next door.

All of the twenty locations you will read about within the pages of Ghostly Cumbria are open to the public, and each chapter contains all of the information you need to go and visit for yourself: the history, the ghost stories, opening times, contact details, and even directions to help you get there. So why not use this book to help you plot out your very own ghost trail across one of Britain’s most haunted counties … if you’re not too afraid?

Rob Kirkup, 2011

Aira Force

The most famous of the Lake District waterfalls, Aira Force, drops an impressive 66ft from beneath the arched stone footbridge, which was once a packhorse bridge. It offers a spectacular view from the top; you can see the water making its magnificent leap, sending spray high into the air. The word ‘force’ is used in many parts of northern England and comes from the Old Norse word fors.

In the 1780s, the Howard family, of nearby Greystoke Castle, owned a hunting lodge near Aira Force and renovated the lodge into what is now Lyulph’s Tower. They landscaped the area around the Force, planting over half a million trees. In 1846 an arboretum was created in the area below the waterfall, with over 200 specimens of firs, pines, spruces and cedars being planted.

The poet William Wordsworth paid many visits to the area around Aira Force; it is believed he was inspired to write his poem ‘Daffodils’ (with the famous opening line, ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’) as he saw daffodils growing along the Ullswater shore. The fall is mentioned in three of William Wordsworth’s poems. In ‘The Somnambulist’, written in 1828, Wordsworth tells of a tragic medieval legend. The former hunting lodge at Aira Force was once the home to a girl named Emma who was engaged to a knight, Sir Eglamore. Sir Eglamore had sailed to foreign shores to do gallant deeds worthy of his true love, but months passed and he did not return. Emma grew distracted and each night she could be found sleepwalking alongside the waterfall. One night Sir Eglamore returned and, as he neared Aira Force, he could clearly see in the moonlight a white, robed figure walking silently alongside the roaring waterfall; at once he could tell it was his beloved Emma. He rushed to her and as he touched her shoulder she awoke. She saw the face of her beloved, but was so surprised that she fell backwards into the angry torrent of Aira Force. The knight jumped in to save her, and she died in his arms. The heartbroken knight built himself a hermit’s cell in a nearby cave and saw out his days there alone.

Although the sad tale of Emma, and her death at the force, appears to be nothing more than a legend, there have been reported sightings of a spectral lady dressed in white at Aira Force on several occasions over the last 200 years. On one such occasion, back in 1839, a Miss Smith decided to explore Aira Force alone and successfully climbed up alongside the waterfall for about half an hour, but then she found herself trapped within a cave. She managed to find her way out but this route took her to the brink of a chasm with nowhere to go. She began to panic; all around her were rocks and she saw no exit. She considered leaping down the chasm, although she would have had little or no chance of escaping with her life. All of a sudden, around 180m in front of her, she saw a young lady dressed all in white. The young lady beckoned to Miss Smith, who followed her and immediately found a safe exit; why she had not seen the exit herself perplexed her greatly. She now found herself on the other side of the Force with the mysterious White Lady. The apparition guided Miss Smith safely to a path which led to the base of the Force. At this point the White Lady vanished.

The powerful Aira Force, the Lake District’s most famous waterfall. (By kind permission of the National Trust)

Visitor Information

Address:

Ullswater Property Office

Tower Buildings

Watermillock

Penrith

Cumbria

CA11 0JS

Tel: [phone]

Website:www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-ullswaterandairaforce-2

Email:[email protected]

Opening Hours: Aira Force is accessible at any reasonable time.

How to Get There: 3 miles along the A592 from Patterdale and about 150 yards from the junction with the A5091.

Additional Information:

•Aira Force has a car park with five designated disabled parking spaces

•There are toilets at Aira Force car park, Patterdale (opposite the White Lion public house) and Glenridding tourist information centre

•There are baby changing facilities in the women’s toilet at Aira Force car park

•Dogs are allowed but must be kept on a lead

•There are picnic spots at Aira Force

•There are seasonal tea rooms at Aira Force and at Side Farm, also ran by the National Trust

•There is a campsite at Side Farm, tel: [phone]

•Information stewards are based at Aira Force car park through the main season to offer advice and assistance

•The paths to the Victorian Glade and Aira Green are suitable for wheelchairs, but the path to the waterfall is not, due to being steep, rocky and narrow in places. The lakeshore footpath has recently been made more accessible and is classed as ‘a path for many’

Beacon Hill

High above the town of Penrith is Beacon Hill, standing 937ft above sea level. Its name comes from the beacons that were lit here in times of war, as far back as 1296, when there was the constant threat of invasion from the Scots, and at which time they would have been constructed of piles of branches. Beacons were used as a warning and a distress signal to call for aid from across the north. Others would have been lit at Carlisle, Kirkoswald and Orton Scar. There has been a building upon the hill for over five centuries, and a signal fire was last lit during the Napoleonic wars. In 1719 the most recent monument was built and is known as Beacon Tower. It was built from sandstone taken from the hill, to replace the previous structures.

Beacon Tower.