Notoriously haunted
Each issue we investigate the most ghostly places in Britain. Here we take a look at the famous town of Blackpool, Lancashire
Even in the depths of winter, when Blackpool Pleasure Beach has closed its gates to visitors, someone’s keeping an eye on The Ghost Train, one of the amusement park’s most famous rides.
It’s said a former Ghost Train operator nicknamed Cloggy loved his job so much, he still visits the ride where he once worked, and where he is now a ghost himself.
Cloggy was named after the footwear he always wore to work. Maintenance staff claim to hear his clogs while they work on the ride at night and it’s thought Cloggy turns ride lights on and off.
Stephen Mercer from Supernatural Events, who holds regular ghosts walks and paranormal investigations in Blackpool, says: ‘Many people have told me that when they were riding on the ghost train they noticed a shadowy figure in the darkness, or heard clogs clicking on the track the carriages travel on.
‘I think Cloggy could well come back to oversee his beloved ride, to make sure the current operators are doing a good job and to ensure the ride doesn’t break down.’
The Pleasure Beach — which first opened its gates back in 1896 and has seen generations of holidaymakers enjoy its attractions ever since — isn’t the only reputedly haunted institution in the seaside town.
There have been numerous reports of the spectre of a man looking over one of the balconies in The Regent, a former cinema which is now an antiques emporium and tearoom and shows old films in the refurbished cinema room.
Other people say they’ve seen the spirit disappearing through a locked door, or running out of a fire escape on to the street outside.
Some believe the ghost may be the spirit of infamous serial killer George Joseph Smith, who drowned his wife Alice in the tub of a Blackpool boarding house while they were honeymooning in the resort in 1913.
Alice was one of three women Smith murdered in the same way after marrying them for their money or to claim on their life insurance. Smith was hanged for his grisly crimes, which became known as the Brides in the Bath murders, in 1915.
When Stephen stayed alone overnight at the Regent to raise money for charity, he saw a spectral figure on the balcony on which the ghost has often been spotted.
And as the night wen
