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Posted: 13-01-2004 14:41 Post subject: Fortean Places in Leeds?

Do you know of anywhere in Leeds or the surrounding areas which are known for strangeness (not Elland Road!) , cryptozoological sightings, hauntings, places of note, general Forteana etc?

Thanks.

Posted: 13-01-2004 15:38 Post subject:

nothing specific but the walk from near the stationto the craft market which takes you unde the station arches, through the dark bits and then over the roaring canal (still under the arches) gggives me and a nimber of sensible friends the shudders!

Kath

Posted: 13-01-2004 16:19 Post subject:

Too right !!!!
It's like something from an old Hammer Horror movie.Any second you expect some kind of ghoul to emerge from behind the archways.

Posted: 13-01-2004 16:30 Post subject:

Stonedoggy, I 100% agree with you about the arches/canal:eek!!!!:

There's a fantastic book of real ghost stories that I've got called Ghosts Over Britain by Peter Moss... absolutely rammed with original 1st person accounts. It's pretty old (70s) and comes up frequently on ebay.

One of the accounts is from a bloke who used to play as a kid in semi-demolished houses during the slum clearances of the 60s. One time, he was looking out of a bedroom window and instead of a wasteland which should have been there, saw a well-kept garden with an old man pruning roses. The kid legged it sharpish because he was afraid of being caught, only realising later that what he saw couldn't have been there. This happened where the Merrion Centre now stands, I think.

Posted: 13-01-2004 16:42 Post subject:

Posted: 13-01-2004 18:36 Post subject:

Off the top of me head...

Leeds Library has a ghost.
Calverley has the ghost of Sir Walter, and the woods there are said to contain a lost stone circle and a few neolithic carved rocks.
Temple Newsam (mansion and grounds) was owned by the Knights Templars and has a notoriously haunted room.
An ABC has regularly been reported from the Shadwell/Roundhay area.
Meanwood Park has a 'Witches stone' shown on very old maps. Thought to be part of a long-demolished circle. Also the scene of UFO activity.
Adel Woods is said to be the site of the Idol Stone, where the tales say ritual sacrifice took place in days of yore...
A carved 'Celtic' head found in a suburb now resides in the city museum.
I don't know if it's true, but Kirkstall Abbey is said to have been in the closing scenes of one of the 'Omen' films. It's certainly spooky enough! :p

No doubt I'll remember some more later...

Posted: 13-01-2004 18:46 Post subject:

not "ritual sacrifice in the days of youre"?????? yeeeee----HA Very Happy

I've woeked on more than one site where the first digger to come up with something which could believavly be labelled "of unknown but ritual use" got free beer.

Never took long... not if your mind works in the right way anyway.

Glad others knew about the arches and canal... reading back my description I realised that it sounded too daft to be true!

Kath

Posted: 13-01-2004 19:00 Post subject:

Posted: 13-01-2004 19:45 Post subject:

some stuff here

in brief:
Man in the Cellar; Golden Lion public house, North Street
Pianist; City Palace of Varieties
Carriage; Potternewton Hall
Abbot; Kirkstall Abbey
Unhappy Butler; Carnegie College
Gabble Retchets; general area
Blue Lady; Temple Newsam
CCTV Figure; East Ardsley Conservative Club

Posted: 13-01-2004 19:58 Post subject:

David - there's a def "jump, jump now" feeling about it for me..... which, actually, might be fortean come to think of it!

still, cracking craft market!

Smile

Posted: 13-01-2004 21:24 Post subject:

there is a program on one of the discovery/ history type channels on sky the is repeated quite often, Ghost hunters or something like that (probably filmed in the late 70's early 80's). similar to the arthur c clark programs.

that seems to have a lot of its material centered around north and west yorkshire.

Posted: 13-01-2004 21:52 Post subject:

Is that the one narrated by William Woolard?

Kath

Posted: 13-01-2004 22:48 Post subject:

I think those arches even get a mention in Frederick Engels' "Conditions of the Working Classes of England" now I think about it! I think there were peole living nearby who were almost always flooded (if my porous memory serves)

David... isn't Sir Walter meant to be summoned by a rhyme? Something like "Oh Calverly, oh Calverly (something, something, something) we'll cut thee into collops unless thee appear"

Posted: 13-01-2004 23:38 Post subject:

not sure stonedoggy, the style looks dated now though.

last time i watched it there was a story about the spirit of a monk haunting a road in upper wortley. but the descriptions sounded more like the stick men described elsewhere on these boards.

I had a wierd experience in Garforth in Leeds a couple of years ago. mentioned it before but can't remember where.

As i was driving home at around 11.30pm and had just checked the time and phoned home when all the street light started to switch off, the one car in front lights went off and my car started to lose power, like a sudden loss off power. everthing went almost to dark then started up again.

When i got home my wife asked why it had taken me over an hour to get home. i didn't think it had, it was a journey i did daily and knew it took exactly 35mins at that time of night.

i didn't believe her until we checked the 1471 service and got the time of my call and then the current time, just over an hour to get home. my watch had lost half hour and my phone needed the time setting as though the battery had been removed.

Posted: 14-01-2004 10:56 Post subject: Thanks

Cheers folks, I'll have a look through that info.