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

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

The Senseless Slaying of a Superintendent

It may (or may not) surprise you to learn that the seaside town of Blackpool is not all ‘fresh air and fun’ for beneath its gaudy exterior lies a much darker underbelly. It isn’t the drunken girls nights out I refer to nor the bawdy stag parties, but it’s links with organised crime. This planned

The Senseless Slaying of a Superintendent

It may (or may not) surprise you to learn that the seaside town of Blackpool is not all ‘fresh air and fun’ for beneath its gaudy exterior lies a much darker underbelly. It isn’t the drunken girls nights out I refer to nor the bawdy stag parties, but it’s links with organised crime. This planned

The Senseless Slaying of a Superintendent

It may (or may not) surprise you to learn that the seaside town of Blackpool is not all ‘fresh air and fun’ for beneath its gaudy exterior lies a much darker underbelly. It isn’t the drunken girls nights out I refer to nor the bawdy stag parties, but it’s links with organised crime. This planned

The Retributory Haunting of Bannister Doll

Ladywell Street in Preston is renowned for a very grisly haunting indeed. The spectral figure has been known to shape-shift as her residual energy has the ability to take on various forms. Sometimes her existence is only marked by eerie tripping footsteps or the sight of sinister peg-a-lanterns, others have witnessed a small child or

The Boggart beneath the Buttery Stone

Intersecting the Roman road from Ribchester to Lancaster, just outside Longridge in the village of Grimsargh you will find the aptly named Written Stone Lane. Perhaps unsurprisingly at the top of said lane, beside Written Stone farm (formerly Cottam House) you will find the ‘Written Stone’, a sandstone slab of considerable length bearing the legend

The Blackpool Brew that Caught a Killer

The general consensus on a young James Hanratty was that he wasn’t ‘quite right’ – he displayed evidence of impaired intellect and delayed development (his personality having been described as anti social, disinhibited and egotistical.) By the time he was ready to move up to St James’Catholic High School In Barnet, North London, his teachers

Military Murder at Princess Parade

When vacationing families return to their rooms and day trippers journey home, the bright lights of Blackpool are often witness to more sinister sights. On such an evening, during wartime in 1944 the body of a local girl was discovered in an air raid shelter by North Promenade. Perhaps surprisingly, she had not fallen victim