Ghost and mystery stories about Castleton and Winnats Pass

[hillsbro]

I remember seeing the side-saddle used by the eloping couple on display in the gift shop of the Speedwell Cavern - see for example http://ephem.blogspot.com/2005/06/winnats-pass.html

 

In the 1960s I had a school pal who was interested in geology, and we used to visit Winnats Pass at weekends, gathering fossils and rock samples. We often went, equipped with torches, into the Old Tor Mine (on the right-hand side of the pass going up, not far from the top - a path leads to the entrance) but you can't go in it now as there is a locked gate barring the entrance and the roof of the main "cavern" (which had three holes down which you could abseil) has been sealed. Maybe too many people got stuck, as we went a good 150 yards along the passages and never got right to the end. I think the mine was mainly for Blue John, rather than lead, and Blue John was probably still being mined there in the 1960s, to judge from discarded pieces that could be found littering the floor. I still have some nice samples of Blue John - here's a photo of a 5-inch, 2½-pound chunk that came from the Old Tor Mine in 1969: http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u219/twigmore/BlueJohn.jpg

[lyndix]

Its also said that you can hear the woman wailing up there:suspect:

Freaks me out when I go up there

[DUFFEMS]

My husband drives up that way to Manchester at least once a week, has done for years, and he's never seen anything strange. The worst thing about going up Winnats early morning is the occasional dead sheep which some idiot has hit so my husband usually has to get out the car in nice suit/shirt etc. to move said sheep into the edge of the road to avoid anyone having an accident. Other than that, he loves Winnats all year round, ghosts or not!

 

Duffems.

[Cycleracer]

I must admit that Castleton has a firm hold on me as well. I have cycled up Winnat's Pass loads of times and it's (as with all the surrounding area) beauty is breathtaking.

 

The hill itself is breathtaking to, especially when you get to the green salt bin....

[algy]

To go back to the original question, it is supposed to have happened in 1758. A young couple eloping to be married at Peak Forest were robbed and murdered in the pass, and their bodies thrown down the Speedwell mine. The culprits were 3 miners who were never caught. But on his deathbed a miner who knew them said one was killed in a rockfall, one hanged himself, and the other went insane.

[soft ayperth]

Castleton was a favorite haunt of mine when I was growing up. I used to go potholing and yes, Hillsboro, I've been down that mine you mention. Go up Winnats Pass, turn left at the top. Somewhere along that road in a field on the rhs is Giant's Hole, which I went down many times. WP is an eery place at dusk. I've experienced that creepy feeling, but in broad daylight it's a beautiful spot, one of my favorite places. Back in the 60s, every Sunday, the train from Sheffield to Hope used to be filled with rowdy teenagers who ran amok on the train and then off it, as they trekked from Hope to WP. Does that still happen or did it die out?

 

 

I remember seeing the side-saddle used by the eloping couple on display in the gift shop of the Speedwell Cavern - see for example http://ephem.blogspot.com/2005/06/winnats-pass.html

 

In the 1960s I had a school pal who was interested in geology, and we used to visit Winnats Pass at weekends, gathering fossils and rock samples. We often went, equipped with torches, into the Old Tor Mine (on the right-hand side of the pass going up, not far from the top - a path leads to the entrance) but you can't go in it now as there is a locked gate barring the entrance and the roof of the main "cavern" (which had three holes down which you could abseil) has been sealed. Maybe too many people got stuck, as we went a good 150 yards along the passages and never got right to the end. I think the mine was mainly for Blue John, rather than lead, and Blue John was probably still being mined there in the 1960s, to judge from discarded pieces that could be found littering the floor. I still have some nice samples of Blue John - here's a photo of a 5-inch, 2½-pound chunk that came from the Old Tor Mine in 1969: http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u219/twigmore/BlueJohn.jpg

[Fudbeer]

ahh the fun I have had cycling up winnats!

 

I have made a bit of a mission of climbing the "best" hills locally and in other parts of the uk.

 

Winnats is right up there infact the only hill I have been up which is steeper/more difficult is wynrose pass in the Lake district.

[jmdee]

I recently came across a series of novels written by Stephen Booth. He bases his stories in and around the Castleton, and Derbyshire areas, throwing fact in along with his fiction. One incorporated the item of the poor lad trapped in Speedwell Cavern, and knowing the local scenes he describes in the books make them all the more interesting. Give them a try.

[hillsbro]

One incorporated the item of the poor lad trapped in Speedwell Cavern...

 

Could this have been Neil Moss, who was trapped in the Peak Cavern? I remember this well - see http://www.grantham.karoo.net/paul/graves/neilmoss.htm

 

Stephen Booth's novels certainly sound like a good read - I just looked on abebooks.co.uk and they are easily available quite cheaply.

[jmdee]

That's the one. Sad story, been covered on the forum already

 

Could this have been Neil Moss, who was trapped in the Peak Cavern? I remember this well - see http://www.grantham.karoo.net/paul/graves/neilmoss.htm

 

Stephen Booth's novels certainly sound like a good read - I just looked on abebooks.co.uk and they are easily available quite cheaply.