Are you carving pumpkins with your friends, snuggling up on the sofa watching a Halloween classic, or dripping fake blood down your neck as a last minute resort for a costume?
However you spend your Halloween, there is one tradition that everyone loves- ghost stories.
So if the sound of ScaryTarts does not have your blood curdling then never fear, as I have been unearthing South Yorkshire folklore to piece together stories that show this industrial Steel City in a different light.
I am going to start with the notorious ghost tale in Sheffield which originates from 1987..
This haunted location is in a town in South Yorkshire called Stocksbridge.
The Stocksbridge bypass has attracted media attention for a tale that classifies it as one of the most haunted locations in the UK. The tale begins in the 1980’s, when the bypass was first being built…
Andrew Finney, 41, author and host of the Strange Sheffield Ghost Walks said: “Two security guards were watching over the equipment on the construction site at night, and unexpectedly saw children playing by the by-pass. It was midnight, a very odd time for children to be playing, so they turned the car around to get a closer look but then the kids vanished.
“Suddenly this cloaked figure appears in front of the car. This hooded cloaked figure stood in front of the car and kept disappearing and reappearing into thin air. The security men started screaming, and the car would not start. The car felt like it was being pushed around and like there were stones being thrown at the window.
“Due to this the police decided to investigate the bypass and when they arrived the exact same situation unfolded on them, and the hooded figure traumatised them so much that they wrote down an official statement in a police log of everything that had happened.”
Mr Finney added: “Back then they had to keep a police log. It was where local papers could get their stories from. Usually it was boring news but when a Sheffield Star reporter took a look, it attracted a media frenzy with TV productions from Japan and America coming to have a look at this haunted bypass.” Creepy right?
But if eerie bypasses are not your thing then do not fear, as Sheffield has also got a darker history concerning witches within- in early 18th century Sheffield there was a woman called Mary Bateman, who was executed for being an alleged witch.
Morgan Rae Sallis, Spokesperson for Yorkshire History and Herbalism said: “ Mary publicly advertised she had supernatural powers which led her to be eventually labelled ‘The Yorkshire Witch’.
In 1803, Mary Bateman began making potions for the Quaker Sisters and their mother who all 3 women sadly passed away, as the potions had been laced with poison. Mary stole possessions from the family and when later questioned about the deaths said they had died of the plague.”
In 1806 Mary poisoned a couple with Mercuric Chloride and was seized as well as possessions from each person who sadly passed away at the hands of Mary.
She was tried for murder and not witchcraft, and was hung at York Castle on the 20th March 1809, and later had her body dissected by William Hey as a public event which lasted a whole three days.
But there is more than one famous prophetess who is also associated with the North, and goes by the name of Mother Shipton.
Jay Stelling, Marketing Coordinator for the Mother Shipton Cave said: “Mother Shipton is Yorkshire’s famous prophetess, known for her many predictions. Legend has it that Mother Shipton was born in a small cave during a thunderstorm in 1488.
“According to the story, her name was Ursula Sontheil, and she was born with a crooked back and cackled like a witch instead of crying like a baby. Ursula lived in the tiny cave with her mother for two years.
“As she grew older, it became clear that Ursula had a gift for seeing the future. People eventually came to seek Ursula’s advice on everything from love to local mysteries.
“As her name and legend grew she was even known by Henry VII as ‘The Witch of York’. Her most famous prophecies include: The Great Fire of London, the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the invention of the internet.”
With the various witches, haunted caves and roads, there are a number of reasons why Sheffield is more haunted than you think.
It is not just the City of Steel but also a city of folklore, mythical beings and a secret dark history that can make your skin crawl just in time for Halloween.
Image Credit: Unsplash
