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Ghost of m’lady still walks alone

Eve Dugdale
5/11/2003

MOST pubs serve spirits, but for the Rose and Crown in Stalybridge they're spirits of a different kind.

Legend has it that an old woman from London who died suddenly while waiting for a train at Stalybridge railway station haunts the Market Street pub.

Owner Jim Sharkey said: "She dropped dead and was brought here as the cellar used to be a morgue.

"Those who've seen the ghost say it's an old woman with a long dress and boots, which is the way they would have dressed back then."

Jim said: "This place is over 200 years old and there's definitely something here, without a doubt.

"I'm not a believer in things like this but when I'm on my own at night I sometimes feel hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I'm here all the time as my staff won't go in the cellar to change a barrel as they're too scared. But I have to put it out of my mind or I'd never get any work done."

Barmaid Gemma Hunt said: "A couple who were in last week when I was cleaning up after the pub had closed were telling me they'd hurry up so I could lock up. I told them not to worry because I didn't like being there on my own as I get scared. I don't know why. Although I've never seen anything, there's just an eerie atmosphere."

Local psychic investigator, Dave Bezer said: "It's certainly possible there's a ghost. There's lots of different types of ghosts.

"There are those that come back for anniversaries or trapped spirits. Sometimes they come back when there's been change at the residence and they're wondering what's happening."