Literature & Spoken Word

This October local writer Zowie Swan is drawing on local folklore to give us 31 days of spooky stories. Today, we learn about Sarah Siddons whose captivating Lady Macbeth still haunts theatre goers today. Lancaster's Grand Theatre was built in 1781 and was one of the first permanent theatres in Britain. Today it is the third oldest theatre in England and has number of spooky residents that still tread the boards. Most famous of all its spectres is that of the legendary Sarah Siddons. Sarah was the premier actress of Georgian Britain and cut a mesmerising figure on stage. "She…

A historical gem is crumbling and sinking into a boggy Lancashire hillside, abandoned by its owners who were too frightened to return. On day seven of our Hallowe'en Tales, drawing on local folklore, we find out more about the rotting remains of Extwistle Hall. Extwistle Hall in Briercliffe, is one of the oldest buildings in the district of Burnley. It lies in withering ruins, empty since 1975, it sits alone on a bleak hillside, with only its memories and spirits for company. This land is old. The hills and valleys are littered with cairns, standing stones and remains of old…

On day six of spooky season, we find out about Old Scrat, the troublesome impish form of the Devil himself, and his strange connection to a nearby Lancashire village. When carrying the shopping home or pushing a trolley around a supermarket do you ever feel like the load you're carrying suddenly feels so much heavier? Making your arms leaden and your knees tremble, waying you down until you find yourself wiped out completely? Well if so, Old Scrat himself may be responsible for causing you a mischief! Sharing ancestors with the Schrat or Schritel of Germany, the Skrat of Scandinavia…

Built in 1851 as a Vicarage, the Old Coach House in South Shore is a site worth of investigation – historical and paranormal. On day five of 31 Hallowe'en Tales inspired by Fylde folklore, we find out what may be lurking there. Today's instalment was just as surprising to me as it might be to some of you! This place is as local as local can be and yet is little recognised for both its fascinating history and its alleged hauntings. Without realising it, each day, both locals and holidaymakers pass by the oldest remaining building in what was once…

On Day four of her 31 days of Hallowe’en Tales, looking into local folklore and ghostly happenings, Zowie Swan explains why a visit to the Raikes Hall pub might spell an encounter with a spirit of a different kind The Raikes pub is a firm Blackpool favourite, located just off Whitegate Drive in a once grand part of town. Today most of us would find nothing more sinister there than a mixed grill and a pub quiz, but it has a very interesting and sometimes disturbing past. The impressive and palatial Raikes Hall was originally built in 1760 by William…

In the third instalment of 31 Days of Hallowe’en Tales, sourced from local folklore, we learn about Hugh Dagger, a quiet man with a strange and eerie ability to predict death. On Friday 18 June 1937 The Fleetwood Chronicle reported a very peculiar article entitled The Ghost-seer of Weeton. The article described the eerie and precise predictions of a local man named Hugh Dagger, specifically those who prophesied the death of two people. Hugh Dagger himself was a respected, older gentleman of Weeton village, who often drank in the Elizabethan Eagle and Child public house, known today as The Eagle. He was renowned…

Local author Zowie Swan shares the second of her 31 Hallowe’en tales for Blackpool Social Club readers this October. Each piece is based on archive reports and eyewitness accounts, as well as the local folklore of Blackpool, the Fylde Coast, and Lancashire. Before Blackpool erupted into the hub of entertainment and tourism that it is today, the market town of Poulton was known as the "Metropolis of the Fylde". It was the central place of administration, justice and punishment for the area. Even now, when you visit Poulton, the old stone stocks and whipping post can still be seen in…

This October, local author Zowie Swan will be sharing 31 Hallowe’en tales with Blackpool Social Club, sourced from our local area. The pieces will be based on archive reports and eyewitness accounts, as well as the local folklore of Blackpool, the Fylde Coast, and Lancashire. Located on Stocks Lane, opposite the sleepy Robins Lane, Carleton Crematorium and its adjacent necropolis Carleton Cemetery occupies a huge tract of land straddling Poulton, Blackpool, and Bispham. Built in 1935 by Blackpool Borough architect, J C Robinson, it is one of the oldest crematoriums in the country. Robinson based his design on his interpretation…

Local journalist-turned crime writer Michael Davies is back with a third instalment of his Quaint Bookshop mysteries – and this time his amateur sleuths are up against the world of espionage. From Murder With Love is the third outing for the Quaint Bookshop reading group – four amateur sleuths (Professor Stone, Bella Bourton, Lauren Sherwood and Harrison Fforde) who've been putting their detective-fiction habit to actual use since book one, Murder by the Book, saw them investigate the death of their own shop manager. Book two, A Game of Murder, trapped them in a snowbound country house with more than…

From the World Café on Central Drive to the Southbank Centre's New Poets Collective, local writer and community worker Rob Mason is telling Revoe's story on his own terms – in poetry, not poverty headlines. Revoe was once one of the most vibrant areas in town. Its history runs through many of the town's families and, without doubt, its people were the main proponents of the town's tourism offer. Its proximity to the promenade and the town centre made it a prime location for workers to live and raise families. You can still find Blackpool donkeys living up the alleyways…