Anyone had any scary/paranormal experiences on the bank?

[Matthew McIntire]

so not bank side related but a ghost story all the same, I used to work in a hotel called the old rosins near Darwen as a chef. There was a flat above the kitchen which I stayed in sometimes when I had the breakfast shift the next morning. so there were lots of weird things that happened there like the upstairs restaurant lights going on and off and odd bangs, now this night I'm in the flat and apart from the odd resident in the hotel I'm alone.

now if they left the hotel section or I left the flat all the alarms would go off, at god knows what time in the early hours I wake up to what sounds like the kitchen downstairs being ransacked. it went on for a while maybe 10-15 mins and I didn't dare move thinking we were getting broken in to. now like I said if anyone was down there the alarms would have been going off and they weren't.

so 4 o'clock comes round and I get up for work and am greeted by the kitchen being turned upside down, large stock pans at the other end of the kitchen, fridge doors open and food out, benches tipped over ect....

no break in, no nothing.

At a pub called the cross guns in Egerton there was a girl called Sarah that had been killed in the back barn way back when. I had bee told all the stories when I started working there, until one night I saw her for myself. we had a bit of a lock in, maybe 10ish locals. Me and the landlord were behind the bar, now he saw her first and then the rest of us, she walked from the toilet side of the bar to the other.

now you kind of try brushing it of like you just had a brain fart until you realise that one of the guys sat at the bar had made a mess of his pants if you catch my drift.

it then all became very real. again weird stuff happened there but it kind became normality.

I probably have more but I won't bore you all with them.

 

[Derek Funcks]

so not bank side related but a ghost story all the same, I used to work in a hotel called the old rosins near Darwen as a chef. There was a flat above the kitchen which I stayed in sometimes when I had the breakfast shift the next morning. so there were lots of weird things that happened there like the upstairs restaurant lights going on and off and odd bangs, now this night I'm in the flat and apart from the odd resident in the hotel I'm alone.

now if they left the hotel section or I left the flat all the alarms would go off, at god knows what time in the early hours I wake up to what sounds like the kitchen downstairs being ransacked. it went on for a while maybe 10-15 mins and I didn't dare move thinking we were getting broken in to. now like I said if anyone was down there the alarms would have been going off and they weren't.

so 4 o'clock comes round and I get up for work and am greeted by the kitchen being turned upside down, large stock pans at the other end of the kitchen, fridge doors open and food out, benches tipped over ect....

no break in, no nothing.

At a pub called the cross guns in Egerton there was a girl called Sarah that had been killed in the back barn way back when. I had bee told all the stories when I started working there, until one night I saw her for myself. we had a bit of a lock in, maybe 10ish locals. Me and the landlord were behind the bar, now he saw her first and then the rest of us, she walked from the toilet side of the bar to the other.

now you kind of try brushing it of like you just had a brain fart until you realise that one of the guys sat at the bar had made a mess of his pants if you catch my drift.

it then all became very real. again weird stuff happened there but it kind became normality.

I probably have more but I won't bore you all with them.

No Matthew, please keep going.

 

[Alex Gowney]

'" I didn't feel I was leaving, I felt I was escaping "

There is a stretch of the Cherwell called Northbrook, and it was like this exactly. Even on a sunny day it always felt like you were being watched or followed. I never night fished it and seldom went there in the daytime either.

 

[Chris Belcher]

Hi Chris...I thought I read your story was of a friends experience not yours...however I hope you are still raving it does help.

Lol no worries it was me and yes I probably am still a 'casualty'. All future Alzheimer's aside if I didn't have responsibilities in life I would still be smashing it every weekend; fishing however seems to fill the gap quite nicely and with far less risk (apart from my anglers OCD) . . .;-)

 

[Richard Bruton]

so not bank side related but a ghost story all the same, I used to work in a hotel called the old rosins near Darwen as a chef. There was a flat above the kitchen which I stayed in sometimes when I had the breakfast shift the next morning. so there were lots of weird things that happened there like the upstairs restaurant lights going on and off and odd bangs, now this night I'm in the flat and apart from the odd resident in the hotel I'm alone.

now if they left the hotel section or I left the flat all the alarms would go off, at god knows what time in the early hours I wake up to what sounds like the kitchen downstairs being ransacked. it went on for a while maybe 10-15 mins and I didn't dare move thinking we were getting broken in to. now like I said if anyone was down there the alarms would have been going off and they weren't.

so 4 o'clock comes round and I get up for work and am greeted by the kitchen being turned upside down, large stock pans at the other end of the kitchen, fridge doors open and food out, benches tipped over ect....

no break in, no nothing.

At a pub called the cross guns in Egerton there was a girl called Sarah that had been killed in the back barn way back when. I had bee told all the stories when I started working there, until one night I saw her for myself. we had a bit of a lock in, maybe 10ish locals. Me and the landlord were behind the bar, now he saw her first and then the rest of us, she walked from the toilet side of the bar to the other.

now you kind of try brushing it of like you just had a brain fart until you realise that one of the guys sat at the bar had made a mess of his pants if you catch my drift.

it then all became very real. again weird stuff happened there but it kind became normality.

I probably have more but I won't bore you all with them.

Not boring me one bit Matt, please keep them coming.

 

[Craig Lea]

Lol no worries it was me and yes I probably am still a 'casualty'. All future Alzheimer's aside if I didn't have responsibilities in life I would still be smashing it every weekend; fishing however seems to fill the gap quite nicely and with far less risk (apart from my anglers OCD) . . .;-)

 

[Julian Peacock]

I know a couple of people who had weird experiences on withy pool though one was the bivvy shaking violently in the middle of a calm still night
the other was a mate who woke in the middle of the night and he said it felt like someone was kneeling on his chest and he couldn’t get up

i remember many years ago probably mid 80,s I went in the close season to have a walk round the blue lagoon in arlesy it was around midday and it was sunny and warm I parked up and walked across the field to the lake which is a very large gravel pit I got about 50 yards down the bank and had a weird oppressive feeling and felt like I had to leave can’t explain it but just didn’t want to be there so left immediately

Ref Blue Lagoon, that would have been the motorbikes, bonfires, immense amount of rubbish and hordes of topless teenagers of both sexes

 

[Gavin Burt]

That feeling of someone kneeling on one's chest at night is a classic symptom of sleep paralysis, which may also account for strange noises being heard. Science can't explain the cause.

Sleep paralysis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I had this during the Summer on the Avon this year.

Couldn’t move and vaguely remember shouting my mates name out. Very scary at the time.

 

[Graham Elliott]

Apart from being charged by a herd of cows and diving into a blackberry Bush to escape, related before.

Fishing the Kennet in the day to feel a nudge in the back. Looking round, a massive Hereford Bull
Looking at me. 20 minutes before it reversed and set of to service the cows. Meanwhile I considered if I could swim to the far bank, sod the tackle!

And again on the Kennet. Having a dozen gunshot pellets land in the water in front of me.

Just stood up and shouted, luckily heard and a shout of sorry in return!

I rarely nightfish. Just that the odd sounds around me I find very unsettling. Also now have concerns with the dregs of Society now the boxing skills are slower.
On the Thames at Windsor once had three interbreds from the travelling circus turn up, asking questions.
Never turned my back on them. Got two long sharp bank sticks from my holdall and put them down by me just in case. They definitely would have tried it on but I was younger then.!

 

[Chris Belcher]

Apart from being charged by a herd of cows and diving into a blackberry Bush to escape, related before.

Fishing the Kennet in the day to feel a nudge in the back. Looking round, a massive Hereford Bull
Looking at me. 20 minutes before it reversed and set of to service the cows. Meanwhile I considered if I could swim to the far bank, sod the tackle!

And again on the Kennet. Having a dozen gunshot pellets land in the water in front of me.

Just stood up and shouted, luckily heard and a shout of sorry in return!

I rarely nightfish. Just that the odd sounds around me I find very unsettling. Also now have concerns with the dregs of Society now the boxing skills are slower.
On the Thames at Windsor once had three interbreds from the travelling circus turn up, asking questions.
Never turned my back on them. Got two long sharp bank sticks from my holdall and put them down by me just in case. They definitely would have tried it on but I was younger then.!

Lol - have plenty of fisherman vs pikee tales!

 

[David Craine]

Another strange “paranormal “experience I was involved in was many years ago. I was a Police officer for all my working life , one night I was on mobile patrol in the small town of Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire. The following is a true account of an incident that occurred there, but first….
The Rochdale Canal runs through Sowerby Bridge, and on its bank there is a nice pub called the Navigation Inn. The Inn dates from the 15 th Century and was the site of the Moot Hall before it was a Public House, It was It has been the scene of many strange occurrences. I used to frequent the inn on the odd occasion, and even when the pub was full of customers strange things used to happen, the kitchen of the pub was behind the bar and up some steps,amd you could see into the kitchen from the public side of the bar ,the lights were always on in the kitchen, the shelves in the kitchen can be seen from the bar, sometimes even when the kitchen is not being used shadows could be seen flitting across the front of the cupboards and tins of condiments etc would slide along the shelf as if by magic whwn the kitchen has no staff working .

Back to that evening . It was a warm summers night ,At about 0200 am the control room sent us on a “Shout” to the Navigation Inn, the landlord who lived upstairs could hear intruders in the bar area, as we were not too far away we responded , along with another mobile and together we arrived. No lights or two tones, just a quiet approach.
We parked up a short distance away and approached on foot , as we approached we could hear the sound of banging and crashing coming from the bar area, The landlord was leaning out of an upstairs window , he told us that the noises had been going on for a good ten minutes, he was scared to go downstairs to see what was happening.The curtains were drawn in the bar and we could not see inside, the lights inside were off anyway . We seperated and searched the whole of the premises outside, there was no sign of any forced entry and all the bar doors and kitchen access door were locked , the banging noises were getting louder and it was apparent that something was going on in the bar. As everywhere was locked we could not get in, and the landlord refused to come downstairs to let us in as the access was down a staircase next to the bar door.The pub doors were double locked and bolted from the inside so we could not open them from the outside anyway .

Anybody inside would need to get out, so we called for another mobile, when there were six of us coppers outside, we eventually convinces the landlord we could not get in and he had to open up and let us in. He came downstairs armed with a large steak hammer for tenderising meat of all things and let us in, he unlocked the door to the bar area where there were still noises coming out. As we entered everything went quiet. The lights were put on and inside the bar area was in carnage, chairs upturned, tables tipped over A decorative coal scuttle by the fire had been tipped up and lumps of coal were all over the floor, In the kitchen tins and packets of foodstuffs were scattered around and the cutlery drawers were open and cooking utensils thrown around.

We thoroughly searched the whole premises, there was nobody there apart from the landlord himself, he had been upstairs leaning out of the window talking to us when we had heard the noises coming from the downstairs bar area so that discounted any involvement he could have had . We did all notice however that the temperature in the bar was far colder that anywhere else in the pub,

The Landlord was well aware of the pubs reputation and had experiended the odd strange goings on but had never been bothered , this was on a whole new level and he sold on and moved soon afterwards.

We never discovered what had been the cause of the above, but the landlord did say that recently there had been an increase in the sightings of moving shadows in the kitchen , the kitchenware moving along the shelves etc .

So there you have it .

David

 

[Neil Smart]

Another strange “paranormal “experience I was involved in was many years ago. I was a Police officer for all my working life , one night I was on mobile patrol in the small town of Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire. The following is a true account of an incident that occurred there, but first….
The Rochdale Canal runs through Sowerby Bridge, and on its bank there is a nice pub called the Navigation Inn. The Inn dates from the 15 th Century and was the site of the Moot Hall before it was a Public House, It was It has been the scene of many strange occurrences. I used to frequent the inn on the odd occasion, and even when the pub was full of customers strange things used to happen, the kitchen of the pub was behind the bar and up some steps,amd you could see into the kitchen from the public side of the bar ,the lights were always on in the kitchen, the shelves in the kitchen can be seen from the bar, sometimes even when the kitchen is not being used shadows could be seen flitting across the front of the cupboards and tins of condiments etc would slide along the shelf as if by magic whwn the kitchen has no staff working .

Back to that evening . It was a warm summers night ,At about 0200 am the control room sent us on a “Shout” to the Navigation Inn, the landlord who lived upstairs could hear intruders in the bar area, as we were not too far away we responded , along with another mobile and together we arrived. No lights or two tones, just a quiet approach.
We parked up a short distance away and approached on foot , as we approached we could hear the sound of banging and crashing coming from the bar area, The landlord was leaning out of an upstairs window , he told us that the noises had been going on for a good ten minutes, he was scared to go downstairs to see what was happening.The curtains were drawn in the bar and we could not see inside, the lights inside were off anyway . We seperated and searched the whole of the premises outside, there was no sign of any forced entry and all the bar doors and kitchen access door were locked , the banging noises were getting louder and it was apparent that something was going on in the bar. As everywhere was locked we could not get in, and the landlord refused to come downstairs to let us in as the access was down a staircase next to the bar door.The pub doors were double locked and bolted from the inside so we could not open them from the outside anyway .

Anybody inside would need to get out, so we called for another mobile, when there were six of us coppers outside, we eventually convinces the landlord we could not get in and he had to open up and let us in. He came downstairs armed with a large steak hammer for tenderising meat of all things and let us in, he unlocked the door to the bar area where there were still noises coming out. As we entered everything went quiet. The lights were put on and inside the bar area was in carnage, chairs upturned, tables tipped over A decorative coal scuttle by the fire had been tipped up and lumps of coal were all over the floor, In the kitchen tins and packets of foodstuffs were scattered around and the cutlery drawers were open and cooking utensils thrown around.

We thoroughly searched the whole premises, there was nobody there apart from the landlord himself, he had been upstairs leaning out of the window talking to us when we had heard the noises coming from the downstairs bar area so that discounted any involvement he could have had . We did all notice however that the temperature in the bar was far colder that anywhere else in the pub,

The Landlord was well aware of the pubs reputation and had experiended the odd strange goings on but had never been bothered , this was on a whole new level and he sold on and moved soon afterwards.

We never discovered what had been the cause of the above, but the landlord did say that recently there had been an increase in the sightings of moving shadows in the kitchen , the kitchenware moving along the shelves etc .

So there you have it .

David

That's a very compelling and chilling account. Was there any body worn or audio recording Dave? Maybe a trapped fox, badger or just a restless departed soul ...

 

[Anthony James]

That's a very compelling and chilling account. Was there any body worn or audio recording Dave? Maybe a trapped fox, badger or just a restless departed soul ...

A badger?!!!!??! Must have been some badger

 

[David Craine]

That's a very compelling and chilling account. Was there any body worn or audio recording Dave? Maybe a trapped fox, badger or just a restless departed soul ...

Long before any sort of personal technology Neil, we did have Command and Control Computers though, and if you know anything about Policing, you will know that every incident logged had to have a closing code to finalise the log .We explained to the controller what had happened and he informed us that out explanation was not good enough as there was no closing code that fit the circumstances, we just left it with him. It was more difficult for him to press the point because we had a Sergeant and Inspector with us, so it was not just a couple of Uniform Bobbies making up a story .

No animals in the pub either , it was searched thoroughly because owing to the circumstances everything pointed to a person or persons being responsible, there was nobody there but the Landlord , amd he had been in our sight and speaking to us from an upstairs window when the noises where coming from downstairs .

David

 

[Alan Palmer]

Another strange “paranormal “experience I was involved in was many years ago. I was a Police officer for all my working life , one night I was on mobile patrol in the small town of Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire. The following is a true account of an incident that occurred there, but first….
The Rochdale Canal runs through Sowerby Bridge, and on its bank there is a nice pub called the Navigation Inn. The Inn dates from the 15 th Century and was the site of the Moot Hall before it was a Public House, It was It has been the scene of many strange occurrences. I used to frequent the inn on the odd occasion, and even when the pub was full of customers strange things used to happen, the kitchen of the pub was behind the bar and up some steps,amd you could see into the kitchen from the public side of the bar ,the lights were always on in the kitchen, the shelves in the kitchen can be seen from the bar, sometimes even when the kitchen is not being used shadows could be seen flitting across the front of the cupboards and tins of condiments etc would slide along the shelf as if by magic whwn the kitchen has no staff working .

Back to that evening . It was a warm summers night ,At about 0200 am the control room sent us on a “Shout” to the Navigation Inn, the landlord who lived upstairs could hear intruders in the bar area, as we were not too far away we responded , along with another mobile and together we arrived. No lights or two tones, just a quiet approach.
We parked up a short distance away and approached on foot , as we approached we could hear the sound of banging and crashing coming from the bar area, The landlord was leaning out of an upstairs window , he told us that the noises had been going on for a good ten minutes, he was scared to go downstairs to see what was happening.The curtains were drawn in the bar and we could not see inside, the lights inside were off anyway . We seperated and searched the whole of the premises outside, there was no sign of any forced entry and all the bar doors and kitchen access door were locked , the banging noises were getting louder and it was apparent that something was going on in the bar. As everywhere was locked we could not get in, and the landlord refused to come downstairs to let us in as the access was down a staircase next to the bar door.The pub doors were double locked and bolted from the inside so we could not open them from the outside anyway .

Anybody inside would need to get out, so we called for another mobile, when there were six of us coppers outside, we eventually convinces the landlord we could not get in and he had to open up and let us in. He came downstairs armed with a large steak hammer for tenderising meat of all things and let us in, he unlocked the door to the bar area where there were still noises coming out. As we entered everything went quiet. The lights were put on and inside the bar area was in carnage, chairs upturned, tables tipped over A decorative coal scuttle by the fire had been tipped up and lumps of coal were all over the floor, In the kitchen tins and packets of foodstuffs were scattered around and the cutlery drawers were open and cooking utensils thrown around.

We thoroughly searched the whole premises, there was nobody there apart from the landlord himself, he had been upstairs leaning out of the window talking to us when we had heard the noises coming from the downstairs bar area so that discounted any involvement he could have had . We did all notice however that the temperature in the bar was far colder that anywhere else in the pub,

The Landlord was well aware of the pubs reputation and had experiended the odd strange goings on but had never been bothered , this was on a whole new level and he sold on and moved soon afterwards.

We never discovered what had been the cause of the above, but the landlord did say that recently there had been an increase in the sightings of moving shadows in the kitchen , the kitchenware moving along the shelves etc .

So there you have it .

David

OMG I liked that story, but you must have had a few restless nights after that

 

[Alan Palmer]

I do like ghost stories and have just got this, …only read first chapter so far but that was good

 

[Kevin Earley]

Not bankside, but....

Have had one or two strange occurrences over the years. One incident I can't discount as fluke is in my youth my mate & I used to help a guy doing house clearances. Once we were in a large Victorian house and were tasked with bringing some furniture up from the cellar, as the electricity was off we had a couple of torches. As we walked down the cellar steps the atmosphere grew heavier with each step, it was like wading through treacle, with heavy weights strapped to your chest. We finally reached the cellar grabbed the first bit of furniture and beat a hasty retreat. I am not exaggerating to say it felt like rising from a grave.
My mate refused to go back down, bearing in mind he wasn't given to flights of fancy and later joined 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment, so not a guy short of bottle. The job had to be done otherwise we wouldn't have got paid, so I went back down on my own. Casting the torch about the cellar I saw painted diagrams & symbols on the wall that meant nothing to me, it was only years later I discovered they were satanic symbols.

Neither of us had been primed about the place, it was just another empty house with furniture that needed shifting and we had been in lots of them, cellars, attics and never experienced anything like it before or after.

I don't know if something diabolic was down there or the actions of the people that used it, had tainted the place and frankly I don't want to know.

 

[Jon Young]

Apart from being charged by a herd of cows and diving into a blackberry Bush to escape, related before.

Fishing the Kennet in the day to feel a nudge in the back. Looking round, a massive Hereford Bull
Looking at me. 20 minutes before it reversed and set of to service the cows. Meanwhile I considered if I could swim to the far bank, sod the tackle!

And again on the Kennet. Having a dozen gunshot pellets land in the water in front of me.

Just stood up and shouted, luckily heard and a shout of sorry in return!

I rarely nightfish. Just that the odd sounds around me I find very unsettling. Also now have concerns with the dregs of Society now the boxing skills are slower.
On the Thames at Windsor once had three interbreds from the travelling circus turn up, asking questions.
Never turned my back on them. Got two long sharp bank sticks from my holdall and put them down by me just in case. They definitely would have tried it on but I was younger then.!

The odd sounds definitely put you on edge when you’re on your own so it’s not just you that gets freaked out by that. I find if you fish a peg often enough you learn the sounds in that swim. Unless an animal starts creeping around you then you’re back on edge til you see what it is. Whenever I fish a peg for the first time I normally get freaked out by the noises. No matter what the noise is it always sounds like someone creeping up behind you lol.
As long as I feel safe on a stretch I can happily fish on my own into dark but one thing I do get occasionally is if there are other anglers there close enough so you can hear them and they leave as it’s getting dark I suddenly get the feeling that I’m on my own and feel on edge for a while. If I’d been on my own from the start I’d have been fine

 

[Gerry Giles]

I truly dont believe in ghosts or any of this nonsense the reason ?

Well I reckon I have spent more nights that most alone on the banks often in the middle of nowhere so I would have the perfect opportunity if it existed

I started Carp fishing in the 60s and got completely addicted I used to often fish in the week then go to work the next morning and of course fish every weekend
and in those days I would always be totally alone in fact on one large lake in the coln valley I would fish a week and never see a soul
so
if ever there was a chance I would see something in all the YEARS !! I spent but nothing !
I did see god knows how many shooting stars though used to love laying on my bed and watching the sky
and nighttime wild life love rats I used to love the solitude I have never ever been worried or scared used to hate using lights prefered using my natural night vision

 

[Bob Watson]

I truly dont believe in ghosts or any of this nonsense the reason ?

Well I reckon I have spent more nights that most alone on the banks often in the middle of nowhere so I would have the perfect opportunity if it existed

I started Carp fishing in the 60s and got completely addicted I used to often fish in the week then go to work the next morning and of course fish every weekend
and in those days I would always be totally alone in fact on one large lake in the coln valley I would fish a week and never see a soul
so
if ever there was a chance I would see something in all the YEARS !! I spent but nothing !
I did see god knows how many shooting stars though used to love laying on my bed and watching the sky
and nighttime wild life love rats I used to love the solitude I have never ever been worried or scared used to hate using lights prefered using my natural night vision

Same as. I've been spooked out of my skin on a few occasions, especially on a pitch dark night, do ghosts prefer dark nights?? but I go back, the rational me knows it was a badger, deer, rabbit, demon!

None of which can hurt me