The ghost of Mary Lane
Learn about the ghost of Mary Lane who haunts the Swan Hotel in Whalley...
The Hotel was built in the year 1781 and the first landlord was a chap called Cunningham, who employed Mary as a scullery maid. Mary through no fault of her own suffered from learning difficulties. When the poor girl became pregnant to an unknown guest Cunningham told her that he did not think her fit to be a mother, and informed her that when she gave birth the baby would be fostered outside the Ribble Valley.
Mary gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby girl and Cunningham kept his promise - the baby was adopted . Mary pined and pined for her baby girl. She became so desperately depressed that she decided to terminate her life in the hotel. They say that Cunningham could not stand the guilt of Mary's death and left the premises soon after.
Mary's ghost has been seen on many occasions, one of the most famously talked about stories relating to her took place in 1967, when a family from Ipswich Suffolk were travelling through the village, and decided to break up the journey by staying the night in Whalley. They choose the Swan Hotel, but this family were not the average family, the mother was a medium. As soon as she entered the hotel she stopped in her tracks.
She went upstairs and placed her suitcase on the bed, Mary's ghost came to her and apparently they had quite a conversation, relating to Mary's death and her hatred for Cunningham. This lady from Suffolk who had only been in the building for some 15 minutes knew all about the poor girl's past. She went downstairs and had a word with the landlord, he was drying some glasses when she informed him of her ghostly encounter. The glass slipped through his hands smashing on the floor. He asked her if she had ever been to Whalley before, "No" she said "I have never been to Lancashire in my life."
Every December the village stages a truly fantastic event called the Pickwick Night, it has proved so successful that they have a park and ride from the railway station, the village comes alive with street entertainment, and everyone is encouraged to wear Dickensian clothing. All the shops and pubs are open to the public with thousands of visitors from far and wide. A couple from Manchester went in to the Swan and made their way to the restaurant area, and noticed a mirror on the wall, one of them quickly combed their hair and looked in to the mirror, but the face that looked out of the mirror was not their's. There was a scream and everyone in the bar turned round and a hush filled the room. The face in the mirror was non other than Mary Lane. The pair quickly made their way back to Manchester - no doubt with a story they would tell their grandchildren!
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