There are are several ghost stories associated with Strines. We know of three spooky tales - George Woodhead: The Sportsman's Ghost, The Old Man of the Fox and The White Lady on the Bridge - but if you know of any other supernatural happenings in Strines, why not share them with us by emailing them to spooky@strines.org.uk, and we will include them on this page!

It was a cold night in 1863 when George Woodhead left the Navigation after a heavy drinking spree. Whilst walking along the towpath towards his home in Strines, rather the worse for drink he stumbled and fell into the Canal. Disorientated, he managed to clamber out and started on his way, but what happened next probably sealed his fate. He sat down maybe to take a rest and fell asleep. A watchman patrolling the canal side found him and, concerned about his condition, took him to The Sportsman's arms.

They tried to warm him up, but sadly the drink and the cold had taken their effect and George didn't last the night. Possibly George is the presence felt by many people over the years in the Sportsman's Arms. Maybe he's still trying to get home, who knows?, but a former Landlady of the Sportsman reported that members of staff had felt very uneasy in the cellars of the pub, one even claiming to have seen a figure.

A landlord conveyed a story to me about a busy lunchtime when he had noticed that a lady who was dining with friends seemed to be staring into space looking towards the corner of the room. When she approached the bar she asked him had he ever had a problem with spirits, quickly he replied "No, we've always had plenty, whisky, gin, you name it we've got it!". The lady laughed nervously and said "No,I mean ghosts". The landlord, slightly unnerved, said he had felt uncomfortable from time to time, but hadn't actually seen anything himself. She then proceeded to inform him that she was a medium and there was a man who had been stood in the corner of the room, looking round for the last 20 minutes. She couldn't shed any light on what exactly he was looking for, but said he looked puzzled and was waring a hat with a plume of feathers and had a beard and long moustache! Doesn't sound like George so maybe they have two spirits trying to find something!

The Landlord once told me that several people over the years have seen their Ghost. An old man sits at a table in the corner of the pub. He never does any harm, but is sometimes a bit mischievous - playing pranks by moving things around. Who ever their unpaying guest is, he doesn't seem to cause any problems!

A local family told me that in the late 1970's, their son was walking from Marple Bridge on his way for a drink at the Sportsman's Arms before going home. He decided to take a short cut through the Lakes. When he approached the Bridge, there was an old lady walking across it in what appeared to be a long white nightdress. By the time he got to the bridge and crossed it, there was no sign of her.

Apart from thinking it was slightly odd, he didn't give it much thought until the next day when he mentioned it to his mum. When she told him the following story as you can imagine the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Apparently, many years ago, an old lady was for reasons possibly only known to herself, trying to cross the bridge in her nightdress. The river was high and at the time the bridge had no handrails; she either fell or was washed off and swept away.