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Haunted Tunnels

Spudrick68

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
3,631
Hello, this is my first post on here so please be gentle with me :!: I come from Preston originally and the remains of a long disused railway line are still present. The line ran from Preston railway station and up past Red Scar Industrial estate and up to Longridge to the North. A tunnel runs from near the University, under the city and comes out near Deepdale Road. I think the nickname miley tunnel comes from the fact that its almost a mile in length. Local legend states that this tunnel is haunted and still today many kids and students dare each other to enter it.
The Preston to Longridge Railway ran from 1836 to the 1930's. Local legend stated that the tunnel was haunted by the spirit of a little girl. The story told that she was dragged under a train by a man. interestingly enough, a girl was indeed dragged under the train, see link:

prestonlancs.com/pages/artic ... pdale.html
Link (and domain) are dead. The MIA webpage can be accessed via the Wayback Machine:


https://web.archive.org/web/2008092...s.com/pages/articles/tragedy-at-deepdale.html

Whether this is local fancy or has some basis in fact, who knows. Access to the tunnel is onviously illegal but it can be gained from the University end. I have often though of taking a couple of people through it, but am more wary of rats and potential lunatics in there than i would be of any spirits.
 
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We need to organise an exploration party. :D
 
In around 1988 I walked the disused Woodhead Tunnel which is in the frequently weird Longendale hospot type area. It was great fun, and the tunnels are all locked up very tightly these days so I'm glad I did it when I could.

The disused station at the Dunford Bridge end was also very cool, as the buildings and even a lot of their contents were intact then.

There's some info here.
 
_Lizard23_ said:
which is in the frequently weird Longendale hospot type area.

Cheers for the link. Looks an interesting site. Meanwhile,. can you elaborate on your comments above?
 
Erm well, the Longendale Lights were always quite a big thing, the Woodhead Road kind of turns into the infamous Stocksbridge Bypass and as a kid I was always fascinated and terrified by the Devil's Elbow on the Glossop to Woodhead Road, where "t'Owd Lad" himself is reportedly sometimes to be seen .... there are plenty of boggart and devil-related names up on that part of the moor suggesting strangeness going back many, many years, and it's a beautiful part of the world too ... and I still can't help keeping an eye out for Old Scratch as I throw the bike around that bad bend .....

/edit/ sorry - didn't mean to threadjack - there are probably threads on Longendale and Stocksbridge already, somewhere ... I was just trying to be encouraging about spooky tunnel exploration :)
 
I reckon peeps will have to wait until spring now but it is definitely an idea that I will get around to. I will post on here when I do.

I don't want to appear like a luddite but is there a way of putting your own photo's on here or can it not be done?
 
Orright.

You need somewhere to host your images first. Imageshack or something. Then when you have a link to a pic, just click on the Img box above, then enter the link, then click on the Img box again.

When you've done, try a preview. Your image should be there.

Alternatively, if they are sexual images, just send 'em directly to me. :roll: :lol:
 
As the link says, the Woodhead Tunnel carries power cables to save despoiling the valley with pylons - it's pretty much spoilt by them already TBF. They run in coolant I believe and there's still a railway, a narrow gauge one to service the infrastructure.

The railway had a sinister reputation because of the number of railway accidents and was considered an unlucky spot to cross the Pennines. I spoke to one old boy who drove steam locos on the line and he said because of the gradients and smoke inside the tunnel normal practice was to tie the regulator, cover your face with a wet handkerchief and hit the footplate. For that reason it was electrified and at the time of closure the most modern electric route in the country. There's lots of talk of re-opening it for rail but whether it happens is anyone's guess.
 
Here's a creepy tunnel in northeast Tennessee about which ghost and paranormal stories are told ... Photos and location map(s) can be found within the linked articles.
The creepy legend of Sensabaugh Tunnel in Kingsport, Tennessee

People have reported hearing a baby’s cry and seeing a man in their rearview mirror when inside Sensabaugh Tunnel.

On the backroads of Kingsport, Tennessee, lies Sensabaugh Tunnel, one of the most allegedly haunted places in the state. Sensabaugh Tunnel has been discussed among various chat rooms and blogs online.

Legend has it that if you turn off your car’s ignition while inside the tunnel, a series of ghostly happenings will occur.

People have reported hearing a baby crying, seeing a man in the rearview mirror, seeing a figure sitting in the back seat and finding a child’s handprints on their car after leaving the tunnel.

Rumors of the tunnel’s haunting started in the 1960’s but continue up to today. The tales of its haunting, like any haunted place, vary depending on who’s telling them.

Some say that a homeless man attempted to rob the nearby Sensabaugh and fled with a baby after being discovered. His getaway route included Sensabaugh Tunnel, where he panicked and drowned the innocent baby in the shallow pool, now called Crybaby Pool.

Another version of the story says that Ed Sensabaugh, a man who lived in a house near the tunnel, went crazy one night, murdering his wife, kids and finally himself with a gun inside the tunnel’s walls.

Adding to these rumors is the legend of a young woman whose car broke down inside the tunnel. She exited and walked towards the Sensabaugh House to seek help. However, she never made it home, either getting murdered inside the Sensabaugh House or disappearing inside the tunnel itself.

Today, Sensabaugh Tunnel is a common place for young thrill seekers to drive through, halting their engine to find out if any of the legends are true.

While no records exist of any murders in the tunnel or the house nearby, the rumors still persist among locals and believers of the paranormal. ...
FULL STORY: http://www.theutcecho.com/the-creepy-legend-of-sensabaugh-tunnel-in-kingsport-tennessee/

See Also:

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/4913-sensabaugh-tunnel.html

https://supernaturalmagazine.com/ar...ingsport-tn-haunted-history-or-local-folktale
 
when I was young and daft we heard of a tunnel from a local church to a old tower,
we visited the church and asked the vicar if we could have a look, he refused point blank,
we got talking to him and he offered that the tunnel did exist but was said to be haunted
and that the last man to venture down it came out raving mad and never recovered, ence
the total ban on access.
 
... I come from Preston originally and the remains of a long disused railway line are still present. The line ran from Preston railway station and up past Red Scar Industrial estate and up to Longridge to the North. A tunnel runs from near the University, under the city and comes out near Deepdale Road. ... Local legend stated that the tunnel was haunted by the spirit of a little girl. The story told that she was dragged under a train by a man. interestingly enough, a girl was indeed dragged under the train, see link:

prestonlancs.com/pages/artic ... pdale.html
Link (and domain) are dead. The MIA webpage can be accessed via the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/2008092...s.com/pages/articles/tragedy-at-deepdale.html

Here's the full text of the MIA webpage ...
Tragedy At Deepdale Station

IN the early days of the Preston and Longridge Railway the motive power was supplied by means of horses. The carriages were drawn from Preston to the terminus at Longridge, by horses. On the return journey, owing to the downward gradient, the carriages ran by their own momentum to an area near Grimsargh Station and were afterwards horse-drawn to Preston. In connection with the Longridge line there were two stations at Preston, one in Deepdale Road and the other in Maudland Road. Both of them were of a very insignificant character, especially the latter, which consisted of nothing more than a narrow platform and a wooden, sentry-like box, from which the tickets were issued.
Steam was first used on this line in 1848. On 12th June of that year, a special inaugural train ran from Preston to Longridge and back. The engine was named "Addison" after Thomas Batty Addison, Esq., the chairman of the company and about 150 persons invited and accompanied by the directors, were in the train.

The railways were always of interest to the town's residents and spectators often visited the stations to watch the steam engines go by. The Deepdale Station of the Longridge Railway Company had its share of visitors. Often children would gather on the platform to await the arrival of a schedule train. Such an occasion was on Sunday 16th December, 1866. That afternoon a number of girls waited on the platform for the train from Longridge due at about three o'clock.

When the train arrived at Deepdale Station, a passenger named Henry Whittaker, a woolstapler, from Haslingden, saw a man smoking and held his hand out for a light. The train was stopped at the platform for about four minutes and the girls —about eight in total, had been dancing and chattering as it drew into the station.

As the train moved off, the girls walked along the side of the platform and it was there that tragedy struck. First one girl appeared to grab for Whittaker's outstretched hand and then another, who was 15-year-old Margaret Banks, the daughter of Mr. Thomas Banks, Secretary of the Spinners and Minders' Association. Whittaker's and the girl's hands were clutched together as the engine gained speed. Her friend, Mary Flynn, shouted "Maggie, Maggie, leave loose; but she did not free herself from Whittaker's grasp. The girl then appeared to twist round with her crinoline becoming hooked up to the carriage. She fell on her side, then slipped down between the platform and the wheels of the carriage and was killed instantly. The train passed over her head and also over one of her legs and arms. Immediately she was removed from the rails to the Station Tavern and a doctor was sent for. Her friends were in a state of great agitation and felt that the train passenger had been responsible for the tragedy, having held on to the teenager's hand for an instant too long.

When the Inquest was held on the Monday afternoon at the police station, the father of the deceased girl was present, as was the passenger on the train Henry Whittaker. The girl's friend, Mary Flynn, was the first witness called and she stated how her friend had struggled to get away from Whittaker, and had told the man: "Leave go", or something of that sort.

Rawstorne Whittaker, brother of Henry Whittaker, was in the same carriage and told the Inquest that he did not see his brother put his hand out, but had heard him asking for a light or a match. He was sat at the other side of the carriage and did not see what developed. When he heard the scream he thought his brother was sitting down in the carriage.

Henry Whittaker himself said the deceased got hold of his hand and she afterwards let go, how she got under the wheels he could not tell. He was also asked if when his hand was out of the carriage he had used the words: "Who'll have it". His response was that he never spoke a word to anyone.

The Coroner, in summing up, pointed out to the jury that the evidence was of a contradictory nature and said if Whittaker got hold of the deceased's hand and stuck to it, he would be guilty of manslaughter, but if the girl got hold of his hand and stuck to it, then he would not be answerable for her death.

The jury subsequently returned a verdict of "Accidental Death" and they then asked that some caution ought to be given to the railway company that they ought not to allow girls to go about playing on the station platform.

Mr. Walmsley, secretary of the Preston and Longridge Railway responded by saying that the booking office was on the platform; that the gates were closed until a short time before the trains arrived, that it was impossible to keep persons out of the station. Two out of three witnesses who gave evidence, he pointed out, had stated they went to the station for the purpose of going to Maudlands, and as the ticket office is on the platform we have no chance of preventing them from going there.

He continued by stating that the guard had distinctly told him that he had looked the length of the platform, and that everything was clear when he gave the signal to go on. If people will after that, when all the doors are locked, and when the signal to go on has been given, deliberately rush to the carriages, you cannot blame the Company for the consequences. The proceedings then terminated.

That was not the end of the matter, however, as in the first week of January, 1867, Henry Whittaker appeared in Preston Police Court charged with having caused the death of Margaret Banks, the 15-year-old power loom weaver. Once again the events of the tragic afternoon were related and varying accounts were given of the incident. Police Constable John Bennett told the court that on the Sunday afternoon he was on duty in Deepdale Road, and was standing on the bridge when the train came in. He said: "I saw the train stop and a man put his hand out of the carriage window. 1 saw some girls on the station, and one of them moved towards it and then Margaret Banks pushed her away and put her hand towards the hand that was out of the carriage window; I do not know which got hold. The train afterwards started and Margaret Banks was dragged about three yards and then she fell down between the train and the platform. 1 ran down to the platform and found the girl on the rails dead".

After the submissions of various witnesses who once again gave evidence of a contradictory character, the magistrates retired to consider their verdict. Ten minutes later they returned to inform Henry Whittaker that the evidence had been well weighed and considered and they felt it was not sufficient to commit him for trial. He was then discharged.

Keith Johnson
 
I have never been on the track bed but have looked down from a bridge on the line
very tempting for a walk, didn't the railway serve a asylum? I seem to remember that
they did not charge a fair on the bit from Longridge to the asylum.
 
when I was young and daft we heard of a tunnel from a local church to a old tower,
we visited the church and asked the vicar if we could have a look, he refused point blank,
we got talking to him and he offered that the tunnel did exist but was said to be haunted
and that the last man to venture down it came out raving mad and never recovered, ence
the total ban on access.

Reminded me of Chislehurst Caves. These man-made chalk and flint mines comprise over 22 miles of tunnels.
They used to do an overnight challenge - until a couple of guys suffered mental breakdowns.
I did the tour around 3 years back and found it incredibly atmospheric.
If you're not too far from South London, I wholeheartedly recommend it!

http://www.chislehurst-caves.co.uk/
 
when I was young and daft we heard of a tunnel from a local church to a old tower,
we visited the church and asked the vicar if we could have a look, he refused point blank,
we got talking to him and he offered that the tunnel did exist but was said to be haunted
and that the last man to venture down it came out raving mad and never recovered, ence
the total ban on access.
Can you remember where?
 
The town of Picton, approx 45 minutes south of Sydney and around 45 minutes north of where I live is often regarded as one fof the most haunted towns in Australia, having many historic and convict built buildings.
One place notorious for paranormal activity is the old disused railway tunnel, now more well known today as the Mushroom Tunnel.

picton.jpeg


Not too many years ago, ghost/paranormal tours took place here and much activity was recorded and experienced here, much of it found on YouTube. You could also easily walk though them anytime day or night.
These days it's privately owned and access is now restricted.

More information can be found here: https://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-west/picton/attractions/mushroom-tunnel
 
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Enola Gaia - I have copies of the original newspaper reports of this incident at Deepdale train station somwhere on a PC folder and of the subsequent court case.

The case wasn't proven either way but some people suspect that this is the 'ghost' that people have allegedly seen. Although a request to Preston Historical society elicited no witnesses, either historical or contemporary.

Sadly, it looks like local legends with little to support it.
 
The town of Picton, approx 45 minutes south of Sydney and around 45 minutes north of where I live is often regarded as one fof the most haunted towns in Australia, having many historic and convict built buildings.
One place notorious for paranormal activity is the old disused railway tunnel, now more well known today as the Mushroom Tunnel.

View attachment 24002

Not too many years ago, ghost/paranormal tours took place here and much activity was recorded and experienced here, much of it found on YouTube. You could also easily walk though them anytime day or night.
These days it's privately owned and access is now restricted.

More information can be found here: https://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-west/picton/attractions/mushroom-tunnel
Thanks for the info, this looks like one of the better videos on it ..

Ghost of Emily Bollard haunts Picton tunnel

 
Thanks for the info, this looks like one of the better videos on it ..

Ghost of Emily Bollard haunts Picton tunnel


That's a really well done video. I've seen a number of others on the topic but none of this quality. There are some great old buildings in Picton, an old hospital, now a residence and the pubs the George IV & the Imperial are supposedly quite haunted too. An interesting place.
 
The Belchen Tunnel (Belchentunnel) in Switzerland:

https://structurae.net/en/structures/belchentunnel

... has been alleged to be the site of ghostly incidents (e.g., phantom hitchhikers).

In January 1981 a modern myth circulated, dealing with a "white woman" (weisse Frau) of the Bölchentunnel. Shaped as an old white-clothed hitchhiking woman, a ghost (though not initially recognized as such) appears out of nowhere in front of the drivers and sometimes even speaks to them.

The first known Belchen ghost was actually male. The first written reports of the phenomenon, dated June 1980, involve a male hitchhiker who was picked up but eventually vanished from the vehicle, despite the driver's high speed.

Towards the end of 1980, the "white woman" began appearing in or near the tunnel. On January 6, 1981, the tabloid Blick wrote about the sightings, followed by other media also adopting the story. Basel Police received many phone calls, dozens of which had to be logged.

The Bölchengespenst, or "Bölchen ghost", became a popular subject for 1981's Shrove Tuesday carnival. Even the musicians of the Oberbaselbieter Ländlerkapelle discussed the legend. Reports of the ghost then dwindled, until the 1983 edition of the book Baselbieter Sagen reported further sightings of the white woman. Two female jurists picked up an inconspicuously dressed, clumsy, pale, middle-aged woman in Eptingen. When they later asked her if she was feeling better, she answered:

No, unfortunately not. I am not well at all. Something really awful is going to happen, something very dreadful! ...

When they looked at the back seat, the woman had disappeared.

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belchen_Tunnel
 
That article has a hyperlink to a wiki article about jurists, who are (apparently) experts of law or someone who researches jurisprudence.
Judges, legal scholars, legal writers, law lecturers and law practitioners. Supposedly these would be expert witnesses in a ghost case.

Never heard of this use of the word myself, but I'm not a jurist.
 
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