FACT ...or Fiction??

In developing “The girl in the Window”, we researched ghost stories recorded in local history and also endeavoured to find facts to some local legends. Below is a list of resource material we used to create the walk and also some of the story origins.

We would like to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped us find the stories. The facts and stories you heard are based on our direct knowledge of an incident and where possible verified however, we did embellish them, change names and some dates to protect families still living in the area.

ALL THE STORIES WERE ROUTED IN TRUTH.

The Museum

Most of recent stories came from staff at the museum, however its possible to trace the buildings history back through the 1800's as the library hold financial information on “Dolby House” and the doctor Dr George Blake Norman, who lived and worked there.

We found the story of the outlaws in a pamphlet held at Ilkeston library called Punishment in Derbyshire. The small booklet had detailed accounts of how and where crimes were committed and how the criminals were punished.

Staff told us of:

The girl who fell and broke her neck
The sounds in the stables
Dowsing stories
The cleansing of the house by a mystic
Three ghosts 1 on the back stairs one on the second floor and one on the ground floor.

We experienced:

Dowsing
Strange changes in temperature
The chilling effects of certain rooms on certain people
Strange noises from the stables when they were locked and closed

 

The Justice Rooms

This was the Petty courts of the town. We pout this is as we found the “tit-bit” of information about where it was to be interesting and through the research we heard of many crooks who also intrigued us.

In the library records of the Justice rooms – magistrates court can be found, detailing dates and dealings of the petty courthouse.

The first session was held on the 12/04/1860

 

Ilkeston's performers

References to Samuel Taylor and Walter William Fox, Alias Major Mite we taken from http://www.ilkestonhistory.org.uk/Stanton%20Rd%20Cem.htm and various accounts and books held about the Giant.

 

St Mary's Church and Graveyard

Our story of the churchyard was devised to help tell a story told to us by someone we spoke to in the library, who was studying close by. She, as a girl, had heard the crying of a girl when she used to walk through the graveyard down by the side of Hallcroft School . We couldn't answer conclusively who or even if anyone else had heard it, but our friend was convinced. So we researched the life of the church and its yard. In books at the Library we started to build up a picture of the churches history.

We found in a book (reference: Glovers. 942.5ilk, pg5) references as to how the churchyard was at one time used a as a play ground for children, this took us on to look at how the children who were buried there, had died. The biggest killer Cholera filled the graveyard with the bodies of Ilkestonians. Our story of Eliza and the plague came from two different stories relating to the plague of 1700's and a girl who vanished from the yard of a church.

 

The Library

The history of the building and the site is easily found in the library. Our story of the strange moving smell of tea, tobacco and leather came from one of the librarians who was helping us to research. The whole area round there was at one times dwellings and considering textiles was one of the main vocations of the towns folk, its not impossible to imagine a trapped spirit of a worker.

 

Hawthorn House

The Ilkeston Advertiser wrote about the house which stood on Derby Street and multiple references can be found.

 

Extension Street

If you use the references in the library to look for ghosts you will find a reference to the dustman who in 1913 was collecting dust on Extension street .

 

JD's Café

The café has been in the newspaper on many occasions as it is purported to be haunted by two friendly spirits. The landlord also tells of his experiences of the entities and how playful they have been. To get a better picture its best to go in an have a drink and talk to the regulars – they have a few things to say.

 

Unicorn, South Street

In the Ilkeston Advertiser (27/03/1972 p9) you will find reference to the shop on south street called Unicorn and the owners story of a women who vanished a strong smell of leather.

 

The Ritz and Co-op

The stories relating to these two buildings came from multiple ladies who frequented the Ritz as cinema and worked at the co-op throughout the past 30 years. In the Ritz, they tell of a moving smell much like the one on the library. On maps of the 1800's it's possible to see this land used as Mill land, either housing for workers or machinery. The story of the ghosts of co-op – affectingly known as Mary who haunts the cellars.

 

The Scala

The story of the building being built on a cematary is part of urban legends so we set out to prove, or disprove it. On maps of the 1880's we found the land to be referenced as belonging to the chapel and there was a path through it. After some digging we found reference to the construction of the building and indeed it was a graveyard. In an artical in the advertiser dated 06/01/1989 we found stories of the reverend of the late 1800's offering a Christian burial to the bodies in the yard, moving the stones to the St Marys Graveyard. We also found that there was a man, who was old enough to remember before the cinema was built, and indeed it was a walled graveyard, with around a dozen stones. The story we tell is put together from the urban legends of the two spectres.

 

The Girl In the window – the toy shop

This again was found derived from stories in the Advertiser. In the July 19 th edition of 1974, there is an account of the owner seeing the reflection of a ghost in the window behind him and his escape for the spectre.

 

The Barn – Museum

The barn at the museum is our last stop. The story we tell is the most improbable one of the possibilities surrounding the barn. The guts of the story is -

 

 

Our story tries to answer all these occurrences in a clear way as well as rapping up the storytellers role and is not a direct reference to how Dr William Blake of the museum passed.

 

And Finally....

There is still MORE to come, we have other stories that need to be told. When you see the new adverts for the walk remember - its going to be new and different!

We thank you for attending the walk, or simply showing interest in our work.
Sustained Magic is an Ilkeston based professional theatre company, we aim to bring new and interesting productions in to Ilkeston and its surrounding towns. Without your support it will not happen.

Thanks for being part of the magic!