The story of Ellen Strange has throughout the years changed in various way. And just like the age-old game of ‘chinese whispers’, what was once originally factual has, in some sense of the word, been taken out of context with plenty of misinterpretation that has clouded the story ever since the tragic events of 1761…
Category: Podcast
It Was Misadventure – Wasn’t It? The Hameldon Hill Tragedy of 1928
In this video, we delve into the story of young Joseph Turner who was aged just eleven when a series of events would unfold that would lead to tragic consequences. When two groups of young boys came together, no-one would have ever imagined that one of them would never return home. This is the true…
A Double Murder in Skipton (1882)
On Tuesday, 25th April 1882, a shocking tragedy took place in Skipton and in a field known as Park Hill, which was and still is situated behind Skipton Castle today. A man by the name of Matthew Jackson Hunter, who was 27 years of age, would be found lying on his left side on the…
The Suspicious Poisoning of Samuel Hutton (1871)
The death of a child is always one of sorrow and grief and for some people, especially the parents of the child, it is often said that they have felt great pain and regret, with some placing blame onto themselves because they feel they hadn’t done enough to prevent the death. Victorian times saw a…
The Brewery Street Siege (1958)
“Ta-ta. You won’t see me again. Im going to shoot my wife and baby,” – those were the last words spoken by 26-year old, Henry King on Friday 12th December 1958 to an acquaintance named Sheila Whipp at the Dun Horse Hotel in Blackburn. Her reply to such a statement was simple enough, “don’t be…
The Sad Tragedy of Julian Brookfield (1994)
When Blackburn Rovers went on to lift the Premier League title in dramatic circumstances on the 14th May 1995, it would be the culmination of 5 years’ worth of investments by a local man named Jack Walker, a lifelong supporter who would eventually change the fortunes of one of the former founders of the football…
The Warner Street Murder (1896)
Just after 10am on the morning of Tuesday, 9th June 1896, a young boy burst into the workshop of John Coates and his son Thomas, which was situated along the cobbled road of Bridge-street, Accrington and just behind the now forgotten, Brown Cow public inn. In a frenzied state of mind, the boy shouted, ‘Oh,…
THE BIRLEY STREET MONSTER (1948)
Emily Holland, 1876; Alice Barnes, 1892 and Helen Chester, 1935. Just three children whose lives were cruelly taken from them at young ages, and the one thing they all had in common is the industrial town of Blackburn, in the north west of England. Emily was aged seven years old. Alice, slightly older and aged…
The Shocking Murder of Elizabeth Ann Holt (1890)
On the morning of Monday, November 10th 1890, 21-year old Elizabeth Holt had left her home in Dunscar to make her usual trek over to the school she was employed at in Belmont, which was roughly three miles away. But this would be the last time she would ever make the journey, and a tragedy…