The pub has a long history of paranormal activity. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 David Dixon
The owners of a historic pub in England have written to a Chinese artist who allegedly stole their ghost.
The bizarre dispute centers around Ye Olde Man & Scythe, a drinking establishment in Bolton, England which is said to be haunted by the ghost of James Stanley, the seventh earl of Derby, who was believed to have died after being beheaded just outside the building in 1651.
Reports of paranormal occurrences at the property had been going on for years, but now things seem to have gone rather quiet and the pub's owners are pinning the blame on Lu Pingyuan - a Chinese artist who maintains that he has actually caught the ghost and taken it with him.
Lu, who claims that the ghost agreed to be captured so that it could be featured in an exhibition, writes on his site that he took the spirit as "a symbolic act in reaction to the UK's colonialist past."
Now the pub's owner Richard Greenwood has written to the artist to ask for the ghost's return.
"I feel very strongly that James Stanley's ghost should remain in Bolton and at Ye Olde Man and Scythe to preserve the natural order of things," he wrote.
Alleged footage of the troublesome spirit, which was filmed back in 2014, can be viewed below.
Britons! What do you mean by that? Many years ago, one of my most memorable (!) nights was spent in an allegedly haunted inn in the Altstadt of Heidelberg. After an evening drinking under the counter schnapps, for some reason that I cannot recall, I ended up back at my hotel painted bright blue and wearing only my boxer shorts and one shoe!
Unfortunately, no - at least I don't think so. I was in Heidelberg to meet someone at the university to discuss a research project. As I vaguely recall - and this was nearly thirty years ago - after dinner I had a look around the Old Town and in a bar got into a conversation with some students. They told me about the "geist" room of one of the inns, near the Old Bridge, where apparitions were said to appear after midnight. So we went there to join one of the regular vigils. However, during the evening I got into a drinking competition with one of the students, and I can't remember much a... [More]
My hometown! I've been to the Olde Man and Scythe many times. It's one of the ten oldest pubs in Britain, dating back to 1251, and has a plethora of ghosts. One of its resident spooks is that of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (ancestor of the 16th Earl of Derby, the governor of Canada who invented the Stanley Cup), who was beheaded outside the pub in 1651 for his part in the Bolton Massacre during the English Civil War. He has his last meal in the pub, and the chair he sat on during it, and the axe used to behead him, are both displayed in a glass cabinet in the pub. A large monument with a ... [More]
The axe used to behead the 7th Earl of Derby in 1651 and the chair he sat on whilst eating a meal in the pub the night before his execution are both displayed in the pub. The history of Ye Olde Man and Scythe: Ghost is seen through window on video:
My 'red flag' always goes up when I hear Ghost, restaurant, Pub, or Inn together. I've seen a few debunking of ghosts in bars that were actually tricks by the owners. Ghost = money.
Please Login or Register to post a comment.