Stork Inn Billinge April 2nd 2005

We arrived at the pub about 9pm. We were given a quick tour of the premises by the landlord. Apparently the building was once a toll tower and also a gaol. So legend has it there is a crypt of an older building beneath the Hotel, a Cavalier was said to have been tortured to death and his ghost haunts the whole building. Also the Hotel is haunted by a highwayman who was a regular visitor to the Hotel his name was John Lyon. And his ghost has been seen galloping on his horse through the Village, as well as being heard.
We split into two groups and went into the cellar first. Group 1 went into the part of the cellar where the old cell was supposed to be. Brenda said that the first word she got was 'inquisition'. She said she had the feeling of Catholic priests being tortured and felt like there were loads of hands grabbing at her. She picked up on a small man with dark matted hair, rotten teeth (some missing) and a glass eye (left).

There was a bang heard behind the boarded up part of the cellar (we couldn't go into this part because it was flooded). Brenda felt that the story of the cavalier didn't ring true although she could not say why. She said she felt it was a cell rather than a gaol, that it had originally been part of the church and people had been chained there 'to rot'. There is a strange smell that appears to come from the boarded up part of the cellar that seems to waft through the entire building. There was a smell of horse manure that was experienced by several members of the group.

Brenda saw a woman wrapped in a blanket, she had a child with her and appeared to be hiding from someone or something. The temperature dropped considerably. Something moved behind the boarded up part of the cellar.

Brenda went into trance and a 'not very nice’ man came through and grabbed Mick by the wrist. Mick said he had a very strong grip. Someone called Kirby (a man) came through and asked for water, followed by a mute girl called Jess. She pointed to something in the corner. The temperature dropped at this point. Jess kept touching her mouth and shaking her head. She spelt out her name on the palm of Mick’s hand and communicated by tapping the palm of Mick’s hand, gesturing, nodding and shaking her head and by counting on her fingers. She communicated that she was 17 years old, ground flour and made food. She was some kind of hired help during the time of Charles 1. Brenda came out of trance then we moved to the upper rooms while group 2 went into the cellar.

Group 2 report on cellar

Team 2- Mike,Dave,Gaz,Paul,Kelly,Katie Although the whole building was a fairly comfortable place, We did experience a few strange events in the cellar in the main part which was blocked off and apparently backed onto an old prison/holding cells.
One of the first sensations we felt was like a twisting or buckling of our feet, with a scalding or burning sensation...this was felt by Mike and Dave.Although it was said that this was a prison Mike felt that people were shackled there but not for long periods of time, it was more a go between place where people awaited the next form of punishment. Mike picked up on a very strong presence of a nunlike figure. she was not in black and white as we have come to expect but rather all in white with a cross around her neck and a hat very similar to the shape that Dutch milk maids used to wear (sorry closest description of hat) she was there to get across the fact that there was no mistreatment in this place, although if it was a prison in this time period you would expect that to be so. The whole team felt very nauseous and heady around this time. especially Paul, Dave and Mike who all felt a crushing pain to the rear of our skulls, this was fairly uncomfortable and lasted for all a good 5 minutes. Shortly after this the room started to feel very full like there were a number more people there than the six of us, We all felt closed in and Paul felt a very large presence directly behind him, kind of leaning towards him. We approached the area with an e.m.f meter and as drew near the presence lifted from Paul, he felt a breeze rush past.  Mike was knocked back and Dave felt something brush past his leg towards the blocked off area. The figure Mike picked up on was a man 30-40 years of age, although his fe was very weathered and hard making him look older suggesting long periods in the outdoors.  He had a 2-3 inch scar under his left eye and a mucky blond basin cut hairstyle, his clothes were dark in colour maybe brown or maybe just muddy, He was quite menacing and had a very sarcastic feel about him like he was glad we were acknowledging him. This sarcastic/egotistical feeling stayed with Mike all night. Whilst in the downstairs area Katie was tapped on the head and there were a few items knocked down by unseen persons.

We all went upstairs and did vigils in bedrooms 1, 2 and 3 and on the landing. We did not pick up anything in any of these areas. If there were any ghosts in these areas then they did not show themselves while we were there.

The one focal point of the pub was the staircase which was taken from a 16th century manor house.