Ghostly Tyne and Wear E-Book

Rob Kirkup

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

Seitenzahl: 146

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

From reports of haunted castles, pubs, theatres and shopping arcades, to heart-stopping accounts of apparitions, poltergeists and related supernatural phenomena, Ghostly Tyne & Wear investigates thirty of the most haunted locations in Tyne & Wear today. Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, this selection includes a phantom highwayman at Blacksmith's Table Restaurant in Washington, a Carry On film legend who haunts the Empire Theatre in Sunderland, a mischievous poltergeist at the the Central Arcade in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as well as sightings of phantom soldiers at Arbeia Roman Fort in South Shields. Illustrated with over sixty photographs, together with location and access details for each location, this book is sure to appeal all those interested in finding out more about the area's haunted heritage.

Leseprobe

GHOSTLY

TYNE & WEAR

ROB KIRKUP

To my wife, Jo.

First published 2009

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2013

All rights reserved

© Rob Kirkup, 2009, 2013

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 5241 5

Original typesetting by The History Press

Contents

Foreword by Richard Jones

Acknowledgements

Introduction

A–Z of Haunted Locations in Tyne & Wear

About the Author

Sources & Recommended Reading

Foreword

Ghost stories are an extremely important part of our heritage. They often reflect famous and well documented historical events. More usually, however, the occurrences that ghost stories recall are not so well known, and precious little historical documentation survives about them. Indeed, there is little doubt that the events that have given rise to many ghostly tales would have been long forgotten were it not for the fact that the protagonist who was involved in a bygone saga has for some reason found themselves condemned to haunt the location at which they either died or suffered some trauma. Thus ghost stories are often, in my opinion, not just accounts of an actual haunting, but they can also provide an insightful record of historical characters and events. As such they are an important and valuable resource.

I also think that ghost stories are the last bastion of the oral tradition. In my researches around Britain and Ireland I have, on many occasions, found myself in an old inn or hotel bar late at night when somebody has brought up the subject of ghosts. There is often a mixed reaction with some people admitting to be fervent believers in the supernatural and others claiming to be ardent sceptics. Yet within a few moments of the subject of ghosts being brought up everyone in the room begins recounting their own experiences of the supernatural and the great British tradition of storytelling has everyone chatting, laughing and trying to spook each other!

Of course these story-telling sessions are impulse sessions which are, more often than not, soon forgotten as everyone goes their separate ways. For a ghost story to find its way into the wider arena of local tradition it needs to be collected and written down. The problem is that there are very few people willing to do this and even fewer who take the trouble to go to a location, interview the people who have seen the ghost and then take the trouble to accurately investigate the history to try and find a possible explanation for the haunting or even, on occasion, identify exactly who the ghost is, or was.

A lack of well researched, well informed and well told ghost stories is something that will not occur in Ghostly Tyne & Wear. Rob has put together an excellent A–Z of the ghostly happenings in the area and the finished publication is a great, and in parts chilling, read. He has done a superb job at researching each of the haunted locations and has taken the trouble to bring his accounts right up to date by interviewing the people who now live or work at each of the locations featured.

One of the stories that I found particularly gripping was that of the ghost of the great comedy actor Sid James who is reputed to haunt the Sunderland Empire Theatre. I can actually remember hearing the news report that Sid James had died on stage. However, I had no idea where the theatre was at which the tragedy occurred. Rob recounts the events of the night on which Sid James died and then provides details of the haunting. It is a perfect example of how his book seamlessly welds together both historical and contemporary accounts in such away that you find yourself just wanting to turn the page to find out what happened next.

However, Rob doesn’t stop there; he also provides the intrepid ghost hunter with every detail they will need to pay a visit to and/or learn more about a property, by providing full addresses, telephone numbers, directions, opening hours and even the websites of his featured properties. Such attention to detail really does place Rob’s book above the standard of the average local ghost study and it is destined to become a classic, valuable, and no doubt well thumbed, inclusion in the library of anyone who enjoys ghost stories.

Richard Jones, 2009

Acknowledgements

I would like to begin by thanking my family for their support throughout the writing of Ghostly Tyne & Wear; in particular my wife Jo, my parents Tom and Emily, and my brother Thomas. I would also like to express my gratitude to my in-laws, Michael and Patricia, my brother-in-law James, and Norman and Margaret, Jo’s grandparents.

Many thanks go to John Crozier and Andrew Markwell for accompanying me on the countless trips out to theatres, pubs, castles, pubs, museums, and pubs, researching each location, and taking the photographs that you see throughout this book.

My close friends have offered no end of encouragement during this project and I would like to thank them all; in particular Dan Armstrong, Harry Dalton, Ryan Elwell, Brian Moore, Peter Slater, John Gray, Andrew Davidson, Paul Morton, Richard Stokoe, Paul Bicker, Karl Railton, David Henderson, and Mark and Lesley Harrison.

I have spent many, many hours reading books on the subject of the paranormal written by Richard Jones, and I was thrilled when he agreed to write the foreword for Ghostly Tyne & Wear. Thanks Richard.

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

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; Suzanne Hitchinson, Darren Ritson, Carole Chipchase, Pauline Haughey, Paul Stothard, Jay Brown, Pat Adamswright, Mike Hallowell, Tommy Harrison, Steven Hickman, Liz Harrison, Steve Taylor, Ethel Turnbull, Lee Foster, Melvyn James, and Paul and Pam Cajiao.

Last, but by no means least, I would like to thank everyone at The History Press, Matilda Richards in particular, for the faith they have showed in me, and their support and guidance throughout.

Introduction

As I write this it is nearing midnight on Hallowe’en, the night on which many believe the dead return and walk amongst the living. Outside the streets are eerily quiet; the heavy rain is rapping at my window and the wind is howling through the trees. However, the only run-in I’ve had this evening with brain-eating zombies, cackling witches, and blood-sucking vampires has come in the form of the never-ending stream of horror films on television, and the constant knocking at my door by children in fancy dress asking for sweets or loose change. It’s fascinating to think that, despite our modern traditions of bobbing for apples and ghoulish outfits, the origins of Hallowe’en date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts believed, as we do now, that the ghosts of the departed returned to Earth, they also thought that on the night of Samhain the veil between this world and the next was at its thinnest. To appease these spirits they would light a huge bonfire and burn bones from freshly slaughtered animals while wearing costumes made of animal skin. They would then light their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire, believing this would prevent evil spirits from entering their homes. The Celts believed in ghosts unquestionably, but over 2,000 years later in the year 2008, it’s a question which divides mankind like no other. Do you believe in ghosts?

I was thrilled to be asked to write a book as a follow-up to Ghostly Northumberland, and, in my opinion, Tyne and Wear was the perfect area to write about. I live in the region and there are literally hundreds of haunted places with widely varied histories; from locations with horrific, bloody pasts, dating back many hundreds of years, to relatively new buildings with little history to speak of, but still home to all manner of supernatural phenomena. The Centre of Life in Newcastle-upon-Tyne is a perfect example; opening in April 2006, not many would consider the popular science centre as a building that fits the description of the traditional ‘haunted house’. However, what few people know is that the centre was built on the site of Newcastle’s first hospital, and when the foundations of the centre were being dug, hundreds of human bones were discovered and removed. The builders started hearing unusual ‘other-worldly’ noises, and tools and equipment began to go missing. Only when the bones were reinterred in consecrated ground did the disturbances cease.

Tyne and Wear has such a wealth of places worthy of inclusion, that one of the hardest aspects of compiling this book was narrowing the locations down to the places that feature in these pages. Every one of them is open to the public, and each chapter includes a visitor information section to help you plan your trip should you dare to visit them for yourself.

Bear in mind that throughout the ages, virtually every square inch of Tyne and Wear is likely to have witnessed violent murder, executions, plague, or brutal invasions by the Vikings, the Romans, and the Scots; so there are many, many more places that are liable to be home to all manner of paranormal happenings. If you live in Tyne and Wear maybe your local pub is haunted, or church nearby, or even your place of work. Perhaps you’re not even safe from the spirits of those long dead in the one place you would expect to find sanctuary – your home . . .

The photographs throughout this book are the authors own, unless otherwise stated.

Rob Kirkup, 2009

A–Z of Haunted Locations in Tyne & Wear

Angel View Inn

Overlooking the world-famous Angel of the North is the Angel View Inn. It was originally built as a farmhouse and stables, and the original stonework of the buildings can still be seen. Today it is a twenty-seven bedroom hotel, restaurant, conference and banqueting venue.

There is a legend at the inn of a young girl who was tending to a horse in the stables when the horse bolted and kicked out, hitting her in the face and killing her instantly. Is it said that she walks the corridors of the Angel View Inn, and those who have seen her have described her as having a gaping hole where her face should be. Staff members have also witnessed a man wandering the building on a number of occasions, most commonly near room 14; upon being approached he vanishes.

One of the current housekeepers was cleaning one of the rooms; she cleaned the bathroom, and then made the bed. She heard a noise in the bathroom and when she went back in all of the taps had been turned on fully. The same housekeeper had finished cleaning room 15, and as she left the room and was closing the door, she noticed an imprint on the bed in the shape of a person lying down, with an impression in the pillow where a head appeared to be.

One night, a couple staying in room 16 complained that they had been kept awake for hours by the sound of children running and laughing outside their room. There were no children staying in the hotel that night.

I spent an evening in the company of Tommy Harrison, who has worked as the night porter at the Angel View Inn for the previous six years, and has experienced some of the ghostly goings-on for himself during the many nights he has spent there. This is what he told me:

The previous night porter had no knowledge of the legend of the ‘faceless’ girl, and one night he sat down and started drawing as he often did. He drew a young girl with a dark void where her face should have been.

There was one night when a woman and her two young children were staying in room 9. She awoke during the night and one of her sons was sat at the bottom of her bed. She then realized to her horror that both of her children were fast asleep and that the child sat at the bottom of her bed was in fact a ghost. She was very shaken and upset.

The Angel View Inn. (By kind permission of the Angel View Inn)

There have been a lot of disturbances in the kitchen with pots and pans being thrown about when the room has been empty. We had a medium stay at the Angel View Inn and we were told that the building is home to six spirits.

It is interesting that the Angel of the North itself is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a Second World War Nazi recruitment officer, despite the 66ft-high landmark having only been erected in 1998. A number of visitors to the Antony Gormley sculpture have reported seeing the phantom, most commonly in the twilight, just after the last traces of sunlight have faded beyond the horizon.

Room 9; the room in which a lady customer woke during the night to find the ghost of a young boy sat at the bottom of her bed. (By kind permission of the Angel View Inn)

Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North.

Visitor Information

Address:

The Angel View Inn

Low Eighton

Gateshead

Tyne and Wear

NE9 7UB

Tel: [phone]

Website:www.angelviewinn.co.uk

Email: [email protected]

Opening Hours: Food is served in the restaurant Monday–Saturday midday– 9 p.m. Sunday lunch is served midday–6 p.m. Main menu served from 6 p.m.

How to Get There: From A1 north or south follow the brown tourist signs for the Angel of the North. At the immediate roundabout take the exit signposted Wrekenton onto the B1295. Take the first left into the Angel View Inn car park

Additional Information:

• For further information about the Angel View Inn’s facilities for banqueting and functions, please visit their website or call on the number above

• The Angel View Inn also caters for wedding receptions; further information is available on their website

• The hotel offers standard doubles and twins, and also superior doubles. All rooms are en-suite and many have stunning views of the Angel of the North. Family rooms are also available. Breakfast is included

Arbeia Roman Fort

Arbeia is the remains of a large Roman fort in South Shields built in around AD 158 on a low headland overlooking the River Tyne. Human occupation on this land predates the arrival of the Roman in Britain by many centuries. Archaeological evidence of the the earliest settlements date back to 3000–4000 BC. An Iron-Age roundhouse dating from 400 BC was recently excavated in the south-east corner of the site.

The Roman army had a firm grasp on the north east of England by the time the Roman fort was built in the second century. The fort covered a site of 4.1 acres and was home to 120 cavalry and 480 foot soldiers. By the early third century, the garrison numbers were reduced somewhat and most of the barracks were demolished to make way for stone granaries. The fort became a supply base for Hadrian’s Wall in Wallsend, four miles to the east, for the campaigns of Emperor Septimus Severus in AD 208–210.

In the early fourth century the fort was attacked and burnt down, but it was quickly rebuilt. Close to the end of the Roman rule a squadron of Syrian bargemen from the Tigris were garrisoned here, they gave the fort the name it is known by today – Arbeia; meaning ‘Fort of the Arab troops’. The Romans had previously called it Lugudunum. The unit occupied Arbeia until the Romans left Britain in the early fifth century.