The Gubberford Bridge Ghost
Garstang, Lancashire 1664
“Only when on the horse would she reveal herself to the rider, showing that she was nothing more than a skeleton”
I’ve always hated bridges. Not just because I have an intense fear of drowning, so much so that I have regular nightmares that I am starting to believe are actually premonitions to my own death, but because they are always in the centre of mischief. Demons meet there, goblins hide under... ghosts linger on them. Our next folklore fable has both ghost and bridge involved.
This ghostly tale begins in August 1664 in Garstang. It is said that during the siege of Greenhalgh Castle by Cromwellian troops, Peter ‘Hallelujah’ Broughton (this peculiar nickname originating from his battle cry) took a break to lean on Gubberford Bridge and take in his surroundings. During his contemplative moment, he was approached by his estranged wife. Despite leaving him for another man, she claimed to have journeyed over to sort out their differences and start anew.
Broughton was overjoyed, and the two chatted away on the bridge. Captain Rupert Rowton, an enemy of Broughton, intervened by plunging his knife into the chest of Broughton’s wife. Understandably confused, Broughton drew his weapon and asked Rowton to explain himself, immediately! Supposedly, according to Rowton, during their estrangement, Broughton’s wife had illegally married Rowton and promised her heart to him. However, Rowton had caught wind of a her plan to meet up with a third party that very evening - Captain Lord Alban.
Despite being political enemies, the two decided to keep the murder quiet and bury the woman incognito on the bank of the Wyre. Recorded in George Mould’s ‘Lancashire’s Unknown River’, the ghost of this unnamed woman reappears every August to try and find Boughton, as if stuck in a loop.
Daniel Nelson, illustrator of ‘Map of Lancashire Folklore’, states that not only does this ghostly woman reappear, but would try and hitch a ride on passing by riders over Gubberford Bridge. Only when they accepted and let her onto the back of their horses would she reveal herself to be a skeleton in a robe (which feels very Sleepy Hollow!).
Sources
https://festivalofmaking.co.uk/projects/graduate-micro-commissions/daniel-nelson/
https://wyrearchaeology.blogspot.com/2007/10/murder-and-skulduggery-in-fylde-wyre.html
https://greenhalgh-web.co.uk/Greenhalgh%20Castle.htm
