A Ghostly Adventure in York

A week or so ago, Val mentioned that Melbourne has a series of 'Ghost Walks' on Tuesday nights. This reminded me of a never-to-be-forgotten time in York, UK, one Saturday evening in late February, 1993.

Richard, Sara and I had travelled up from Bristol to spend a weekend in York, which happened to coincide with the end of the Viking Festival week. York is a city of immense beauty and interest, so we spent as much time as possible roaming the streets and visiting many of its attractions, including the magnificent York Minster.

Saturday evening found us enjoying my favourite part of York, the very old area known as 'The Shambles', where the streets are so narrow that the buildings almost meet overhead. We came upon a group of about 30 people gathered in a small square and being addressed by a tall man in a tophat and long Victorian overcoat. This man, whose name we later learned was Trevor Rooney, was inviting the group to come with him on a Ghost Walk through the streets of York, and all for a mere £5 per person. We paid our money believing that we weren't the only ones being fooled if it turned out to be a hoax.

But 'Looney Rooney', as he was more commonly known, was true to his word and he and his assistant, dressed in a monk's long brown habit with blue sneakers incongruously poking out underneath, led us through the nighttime streets of York and regaled us with more ghost stories than we thought possible. With a rumoured 140 ghosts within its city walls, York is one of the most densely haunted cities in England and it is just the type of city people would expect to be haunted. In the dead of a windy night its ancient buildings, huddled together in dark passages, creak and groan quietly as though lamenting their violent past.

The centuries-old Minster, Bootham Bar and Micklegate Bar tower over narrow streets lined by shops and homes no less old. Between the houses twist and writhe narrow walkways where the sunlight rarely penetrates. Grotesque oddities such as the Red Devil that leers down into the Coffee Yard off Stonegate seem to emphasize the mystic atmosphere of York.

There is the Phantom Patrol; The Black Dog; The Grey Lady; A Decapitated Spectre; Spectral Cats; The Ghostly Duke; The Haunted Pew; A Treacherous Brother; and A Mischievous Poltergeist, to name just a few.

For the next 90 minutes we followed 'Looney Rooney' and his 'assistant', often in single file, down darkened alleyways, along riverbanks and even through a crowded restaurant, much to the surprise of the diners, but not the restaurant owners who were quite familiar with this regular 'invasion'. At times the assistant would disappear only leap out of the dark a short time later at an appropriate time in the current story. 'Looney Rooney' had an inexhaustable supply of ghost stories, delivered in suitably sombre tone, interspersed with hilarious repartee with his assistant and the crowd.

It was a wonderful evening which we still comment on more than 14 years later - and to think that we happened upon it quite by accident.

York UK, by night.

The Shambles, York UK

Viking enthusiasts heading into 'battle'

Richard and Sara enjoying a snowfight

Coney Street, York UK

Stonegate, York UK