The Sisters who fell from the Skies

Avro Air Crash 1935, Blackpool Saturday the 7th September, 1935 was set to be an exciting day for Blackpool townsfolk and tourists alike, as Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus were in town. Although based at Squires Gate airfield the avian stunts and aerobatics could be seen all across the borough as planes looped the loop

Murder of a Blackburn Babe

Sweet little June Anne Devaney was just one month short of her fourth birthday. The child had been hospitalised at Queens Park Hospital, Blackburn, due to a bout of pneumonia, but after ten days confinement was on the mend and due to head home the following morning. Heartbreakingly, she was never to return. In the

Easter Saturday Tour @Layton Cemetery, Talbot Rd Blackpool

Unsolved Murder of an Undergraduate

A quarter of a century has passed since twenty year old student Janet Murgatroyd, from Penwortham, Lancs, was barbarically killed and her battered, naked body was discovered floating along the River Ribble. Janet had taken a part time position as a clerk with Lancashire Police to supplement her income as she studied at The University

Death of a Demimondaine

On the Eve of All Hallows’, 1951 a young Blackpool woman became the victim of a treacherously cruel act. Blackpool has had its fair share of notorious women and by the early 50s sisters ‘Madge & Mary’ were well known to the local constabulary. They were working girls, demimondaines paid for their services. Of Mary

Cemetery Tour

Click the above link to reveal a cemetery slideshow from today’s tour 🖤🪦 Today’s Gruesome & Grisly tour was a pleasure to host, heartfelt thanks to all who attended 🖤

Lament of Lovesick Lizzie

If you were to visit the picturesque village of Chipping in the postcard pretty Ribble Valley you would be forgiven for thinking you had stepped back in time. Chipping can boast the oldest shop in the United Kingdom (which dates back to 1668) The grade ll listed Woolfen Hall, made from slobbered rubble, three almshouses

From Misunderstanding to Murder

In the summer of 1950, twenty year old Fred Hardisty, of Devonshire Road Blackpool, was enjoying a break from his studies at Manchester University. The son of a coal merchant and former attendee at a most prestigious private school was enjoying a rather charmed life; having enough funds to to enjoy foreign holidays and to

Double Walker

Allow me to share with you an anomalous encounter which happened one night, albeit several years ago, in the house where I still live . . . After checking on my infant son, who was nestled beside the chimney breast in his carry cot, I climbed jadedly into my bed and pulled the covers tightly

Walking between the stones (a taster tour)

youtube.com/watch A taster walk around the cemetery . . . We hope you enjoy it 🪦 Learn something of the stories beneath the stones, walk with Juliette Gregson, Heritage Photographer, and I as we share a little of its history . . .