These are some of the most haunted places in Greater Manchester
From a skeleton that reportedly refuses to be buried, to a mischievous, goblin-like creature who is thought to creep amongst the trees, these spots in Manchester have got some really spooky stories.
If you’re looking for a real fright this Halloween, be sure to check out these frightfully spooky places in Manchester.
From well-known haunted spots like Ordsall Hall in Salford, to some lesser-known spooky haunt, we’ve rounded up some of the most terrifying places in Greater Manchester below.
Keep reading to discover some of Manchester’s most haunted hot spots, perfect to get you in the spirit for Halloween.
Ordsall Hall
Salford
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Many ghostly tales surround Orsdall Hall, which dates back to the Tudor times. There are three main ghosts that haunt the manor house: The White Lady, who has been spotted repeatedly; Cecily, who is a young girl, is said to roam the hall; and Sir John Radclyffe, the former occupant of the hall.
You can tune into their ghost cams between 5 pm – 8 am – or if you’re feeling brave you can attend a ghost night there.
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Barnes Hospital
Cheadle
The hospital was originally opened in the 1870s and was used to treat soldiers in the Second World War. It can definitely be said that the hospital has seen a lot of deaths in its time, which we expect leads to the ghostly activity reported here.
Nurses have reported the feeling of being watched, another nurse was delighted to see one of her patients walked up and down the stairs ready to go home only to find out he died the previous night.
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More recently the bell in the tower has rung excessively by itself and the shapes of patients sitting in their rooms have been seen.
Ryecroft Hall
Audenshaw
Things certainly do go bump in the night at Ryecroft Hall which once used to be a morgue during the war. It dates back to the mid-1800s and visitors have witnessed items being thrown across rooms, a Victorian child wandering around the hall and mysterious apparitions.
The cellar seems to have the most activity with screams and cries being heard from this dismal area. Many believe the grand staircase is haunted by a girl who fell to her death there too.
Boggart Hole Clough
Blackley
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Just three miles outside Manchester city centre lies the beautiful and very ancient woodland of Boggart Hole Clough. Covering 170 acres of dense woodland, the forest has roots dating back to the Bronze Age.
The name comes from the Boggart which is a mischievous, goblin-like creature who is thought to creep amongst the trees. Boggarts have the ability to make objects disappear and even make dogs unable to walk. Boggarts also have a strong penchant towards children and the cases of missing children here has been numerous since the 18th century.
Bramall Hall / Credit: TripAdvisor
Wardley Hall
Salford
Built back in 1500, this manor house is as haunted as they come. The hall is oddly home to the skull of a Benedictine monk who was hung, drawn, and quartered in 1641.
The monk is thought to be St Ambrose Barlow and his skeleton apparently refuses to be buried. It was once thrown into the moat after many unsuccessful burial attempts but this resulted in a terrible storm believed to have been caused by the spirit himself.
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Greengate Brewery
Middleton
This brewery has been visited by the Most Haunted team and made some pretty spooky discoveries. Previous workers have reported strange things like the feeling of someone being behind them, equipment being moved, and some spooky figures being seen in certain areas of the brewery.
The spirit of a lady is often seen sitting in the boardroom, a woman in a dark dress is seen floating down the halls and a man in a white cloak can disappear through cracks in doors.
Bramall Hall
Stockport
This Tudor manor house dates back to the Middle Ages and is haunted by The Maid of Bramall Hall. She has been spotted haunting the bedrooms of the hall and is a regular visitor to the residence.
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The chapel on the grounds has had reports of sounds of a child crying, the Paradise Room is said to be the most haunted room and is nicknamed ‘The Ghost Room’ due to its priest’s hole.
Other sightings have been a man on horseback and ghostly servants.
Smithills Hall & Ring O Bells Pub / Credit: Geograph | Manchester History
Smithills Hall
Bolton
As one of the oldest spots in the North West it is a prime destination for ghost hunters.
Sightings include a preacher who was executed in 1554. The Green Room where he was questioned is particularly active. He stamped on the floor as a gesture to his faith and left a footprint. The room has since had a massive amount of poltergeist activity.
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There is also a story that the footprint bleeds every year on the anniversary of his death. Other sightings and hearings include horses, soldiers, orbs, sudden drops in temperature and the smell of burning wood.
The Ring O’Bells Pub
Middleton
Gin and vodka aren’t the only spirits making a name for themselves in this pub. Named as one of the most haunted places in the UK, it is brimming with strange happenings and ghostly goings-on.
The site has foundations dating back to the Saxon period and is said to sit on land that was once an ancient Druid temple. The practise of dark rituals and even human sacrifice makes the site home to many unhappy spirits.
The resident spirit, known as the Sad Cavalier likes to move glasses along the bar, stomp heavy footsteps makes odd-sounding moans and grunts, and even throws rocks at the landlord or regulars.
Featured Image – Visitor Manchester
Boroughs
Bolton has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2024
Emily Sergeant
Bolton has officially been named Greater Manchester Town of Culture for 2024.
Taking over the reins from Stockport – which held the title in 2023, and recently hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close – it’s now the turn of the north-western Greater Manchester borough of Bolton.
Bolton has long been celebrated as hub of culture and creative activity within our region.
The area has notably produced some big-name stars in the arts, entertainment, comedy, and sporting spheres over the years, as well as having seen significant new residential and commercial developments popping up in recent times, and a blossoming food, drink, hospitality, and nightlife scene that continues to prove popular.
The Bolton Food and Drink Festival, IRONMAN, Bolton Film Festival, and Put Big Light On are all big annual events in the borough.
Bolton has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2024 / Credit: Bolton Food & Drink Festival (via Facebook)
And now, the town has got itself a fancy title to prove it – and along with that, a whopping £50,000 grant to support a year-long programme of events.
In case you’re unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about, it’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region – with Bury the inaugural title-holder 2020 and holding onto it into 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, and then followed by Stalybridge in 2022, and Stockport in 2023 – and it celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Bolton’s programme will have three parts, according to Bolton Council.
The town has taken over the reins from Stockport, which held the title in 2023 / Credit: Wikimedia Commons | The Octagon Theatre
The first is a taster programme packed full of cultural activities delivered in Bolton and its various districts, and then following on from that, there’ll be a grants programme designed to help support Bolton’s smaller cultural organisations, freelancers, and artists.
The grand finale will be the Bolton Gala – which is set to take place next March, and is gearing up to be a celebratory event jointly-organised by all cultural partners, and co-designed by residents too.
Bolton Council says it will be working with cultural organisations, creative practitioners, and residents to “strengthen partnerships” that’ll deliver a collective approach to creative programming, and Councillors hope to build on assets such as the town’s legendary Octagon Theatre, the newly-refurbished Bolton Central Library and Museum, and the Bolton Albert Halls too.
GMCA has awarded the town a £50,000 grant to support a year-long programme of events throughout the year / Credit: Paul Hayes (via Bolton Food & Drink Festival on Facebook)
“It’s fantastic that Bolton has been announced as the latest Greater Manchester Town of Culture,” Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, commented as the town took the title this week.
“Bolton already has some outstanding cultural venues and eventsm from the Octagon Theatre and the Bolton Albert Hall, to the famous Bolton Food and Drink Festival and the Bolton Film Festival, and Town of Culture will celebrate these existing venues and events, but will also shine a light on the smaller venues and events that are happening across the town.
“I look forward to visiting Bolton to join their cultural celebrations.”
Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Nick Peel, says he’s “thrilled” about the town’s new title, and added: “Bolton certainly has a promising future, and will be a great place to live, work, study, visit and invest in the future.”
Featured Image – Bolton Food & Drink Festival (via Facebook)
Boroughs
The Bee Network officially rolls out in Oldham and Rochdale as more buses join local transport system
Danny Jones
The Bee Network just keeps getting bigger with a new fleet of eco-buses having now rolled out in Oldham and Rochdale as Greater Manchester continues to integrate its new transport network.
With many city centre buses having been franchised across the likes of Wigan and Bolton since the Bee Network officially launched back in September 2023, the new centralised public transport system is becoming a real hive of activity (pardon the pun).
Now making up approximately more than half of the region’s wider bus network, with more bright yellow buses put into service across the likes of Bury and Salford as well, the vision for the Bee Network is slowly starting to take shape.
Celebrating this latest phase in the long-term plan for a universal and centralised public transport network across all ten boroughs, Mayor Andy Burnham hopped on board one of the new vehicles to show off the improvements made to bus journeys here in Greater Manchester.
If you live in Oldham, Rochdale or parts of Bury or Salford, the #BeeNetwork has landed!@AndyBurnhamGM is here to tell you more…
The Bee Network has finally arrived in Oldham and Rochdale with more boroughs soon to follow.
As you can see, not only are the new Bee Network buses an obvious upgrade on many existing lines running in and around the city centre for the past two decades, but there are more of them on more key routes, including 50 new zero-emission vehicles and 84 new, best-in-class low emission buses too.
Reducing costs for the likes of those travelling in and out of Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and Salford is also a massive win since these routes have come under local control too, with the combined tram and bus tickets – making most journeys 20% cheaper, to be more precise.
As per the latest stats from Transport for Greater Manchester, the Bee Network is already proving to be offering more reliable service than prior to franchising, with 74.30% of buses on time between 1 January and 19 March compared to 67.62% of commercial services and 62.75% during the same period in 2023.
The number of people using Bee Network services has also increased, with the average number of weekday passengers having grown by over five per cent and hitting a high of 141,720 on 6 March across more than 17 million journeys since it began. The results are plain to see and they’re stopping there.
The goal is to have all of Greater Manchester‘s buses fold into the Bee Network by January 2025 and whilst we’re still in the early days of this centralised shift, it’s great to see such progress being made so far and how it’s already benefiting locals around the region.
This latest chapter comes just a week or so after the brand-new Stockport Interchange was officially opened to the public as well, a borough which is also hoping to see more buses and potential plans for an extension of the Metrolink tram system coming their way.