Durham Prison
In December 1947, an inmate murdered a fellow prisoner in the main wing of
Durham Prison with a table knife. Shortly after the murder a prisoner put into
that cell was found next morning crouched in the corner of the cell gibbering in
fear. After the warders calmed him down, he told them he had seen the entire
crime re-enacted in front of his eyes. After several other prisoners objected to
being locked up in the cell, it was left empty, to later become a storeroom.
Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle built in the 11th century was also the jail for Mary, Queen of
Scots, it holds a mysterious ghost that once appeared to a soldier in 1842. When
he lunged at the figure with his bayonet, the figure disappeared. The soldier
died several hours later of shock after telling his comrades what had taken
place.
The Dirty Bottles
Over 200 years ago, the owner of the "Cross Keys" pub in Alnwick suffered a
heart attack as he changed the display of bottles in the pub window and and was
said to have cursed the bottles as he died. A few years later, the bottles were
moved again only for the same fate to befall the person concerned. The bottles
have remained there ever since, untouched and covered in dust and cobwebs.
Man of the House
A newly married couple from the East End moved to Baxter Road, Town End Farm
Estate. Even from moving in the couple had no peace, they would hear someone
moving around upstairs and the lights would switch off and on by themselves. One
day when the couple came home they went into the kitchen, to see the ghostly
figure of an old man sitting or hovering above a seat at the kitchen table. When
the husband had shouted the old man had vanished. It was the neighbours who told
the couple that the old man they had seen, was the former tenant who had died in
the house.
Raining Fish
On the 24th August 1918 the people in the area of Commercial Road to Canon
Cockin Street in Hendon Sunderland could not believe their eyes. Fish were
falling from the sky, the fish that were about three inches long looked like
sand eels. What was more surprising as it was mid August was that some of the
fish were frozen solid and broke when they hit the ground. No explanation has
been found for this phenomenon.
Langley’s Headless Horse
Langley Old Hall is now no more than a ruin, but the driveway is said to be
haunted by a ghostly carriage drawn by a headless horse. The story behind this
is that the former owner of the hall was a very nasty person who treated his
wife terribly, and when she tried to leave him he chased after her on horseback
and cut off her head. She is now said to ride inside the carriage, doomed to
spend all eternity reliving her tragic attempt at escape.
Nuisance of Newbottle
The Robbie Burns Inn, in Newbottle Street, is said to be haunted. In one
incident a landlady said she was attacked by unseen hands in the cellar. Also
upstairs there have been seen the figures of a fair-haired lad, an old lady
dressed in black and a man drifting round the bar. Some believe the man drifting
around the bar is the ghost of a barman killed in an accident in 1876.
