On 27 March 1634, John Bartendale stood on the scaffold outside Micklegate Bar, York with a noose around his neck. Bartendale was a piper, a wandering musician who had turned to crime and been convicted of a felony. It seemed his piping days were over. The hangman pulled the lever, and Bartendale dropped through theContinue reading “The Yorkshire Piper who Came Back from the Dead”
Category Archives: Yorkshire mysteries
Terror in Todmorden: Who was the Tod Shaker?
Over Christmas 1903 Todmorden was under a reign of terror, according to local and national press. For over two weeks at the end of December, a series of bizarre attacks by a strange new ‘bogey man’ created a sense of panic and alarm on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border. Just who was this bogey man, asked theContinue reading “Terror in Todmorden: Who was the Tod Shaker?”
A Halifax Christmas Ghost Mystery
Christmas Eve with a Ghost – or Murdered Thirty Years Ago… Here’s a strange Christmas ghost story that was supposed to have occurred in Halifax in 1875. Unfortunately, it’s not at all clear which Halifax is meant. It was reported in the notorious true crime tabloid the Illustrated Police News on 1 January 1876. OnContinue reading “A Halifax Christmas Ghost Mystery”
The Halifax Witch Bottle
In February 1844 a woman called Nancy Houldsworth and an unnamed friend burst into the newspaper office of the Halifax Guardian. Nancy proceeded to tell the astonished journalists a true ‘tale of mystery’.[i] A tale of love, death, curses and witchcraft. The story begins in 1841 with two sweethearts, Mary Wilson and Samuel Bottomley, bothContinue reading “The Halifax Witch Bottle”
Yorkshire Zombies: The Medieval Dead
Yorkshire in the 1300s was a strange and frightening place. The living dead crawled from their graves, wandered round the lanes and accosted the villagers, at least according to accounts written by an anonymous monk. But these zombies were very different from the gut munchers of modern popular culture, and it wasn’t your brain theyContinue reading “Yorkshire Zombies: The Medieval Dead”
Chinese Balloons Over Hebden!
In the summer of 2008 the skies over the Calder Valley were invaded by mysterious lights, seen by witnesses from Mytholmroyd to Todmorden. MYSTERY LIGHTS FUEL UFO SPECULATION was the headline in the Hebden Bridge Times of 21 August 2008. All the sightings were remarkably similar. In Todmorden on 26 July, Gemma Kipping’s guests hadContinue reading “Chinese Balloons Over Hebden!”
The Blue Hand ~ a Hebden Ghost
A grave danger faced the terrified pupils of Central Street Infants School in Hebden Bridge in the early 1970s: The Blue Hand. This ghostly hand scuttled around the school’s corridors and was apt to pounce on unsuspecting children, especially if they were alone in the toilet. The spectral hand would gouge out the little one’sContinue reading “The Blue Hand ~ a Hebden Ghost”
Slippery Sam ~ Yorkshire’s ‘Nessie’
During the 1930s Britain’s north coast was regularly visited by a mysterious sea monster. At least, this is what many witnesses attested at the time, including a former lord mayor and two well-known Labour politicians. The press loved this recurring silly season story and the creature was dubbed The Humber Monster and the Withernsea VisitorContinue reading “Slippery Sam ~ Yorkshire’s ‘Nessie’“
Yorkshire Cave Girl Mystery!
In the summer of 1924, a shroud of mystery descended on the West Yorkshire village of Eldwick, near Bingley. Rumour had it that a beautiful but excitable young woman whose only companion was a grey cat had taken up residence in a cave in the nearby popular beauty spot of Shipley Glen. On her visitsContinue reading “Yorkshire Cave Girl Mystery!”
Monster Fly Attacks Yorkshire!
A monster fly three feet in length and with an 18 inch dagger like tongue caused mayhem when it escaped from a laboratory and went on the rampage in Yorkshire in February, 1932. This is according to a contemporary Bulgarian newspaper and reported by Reuters in several British papers a few months later when itContinue reading “Monster Fly Attacks Yorkshire!”
Paul Weatherhead 