I Took The Haunted Haworth Ghost Tour.

The nights come in quicker, and the atmosphere gets eerier. We’ve just had the night of Samhain, where the veil between the living and the dead is at its weakest. What perfect time to talk about the ghosts that walk the beautiful streets of Haworth?  

On most Friday and Saturday nights, you can take a walk around the village with self-proclaimed ‘ghostologist’, Adam Sargant. Earlier this month, I took the Haunted Haworth Ghost Walk tour as part of my Halloween celebrations, and here’s how it went...  

I meet Adam outside the Black Bull pub, said to be home of a number of spirits, from vodka and rum to the ghost of Branwell Brontë and the weeping woman. He greets everyone with a big grin and takes his time to get to know everyone, asking where we’re from, and what we like to do. It’s a very warm welcome, especially on such a cold night.  

The Black Bull pub, Haworth. 

The walk is assured to be accessible, taking place for only 90 minutes, most of which is spent listening, and thankfully none of the walk is uphill. You’re taken to the old mortuary, the White Lion pub, a couple of old houses, the parsonage and the churchyard. It’s a small circle, which without the talks would take around fifteen minutes. Adam holds a small microphone, so we are able to hear him, and he has earpieces to go along with it for those who particularly struggle with hearing.  

In an interview with Adam Sargant, he claims to have been researching ghosts since childhood. He grew up in an area ‘riddled with devil lore’, and would love to read about ghosts, under his bedsheets with a lamp, then continued to indulge his passion throughout his life. Although Adam has never seen an apparition, he has experienced small hauntings, such as when he, his wife and their young daughter had gone to a stone circle below the Peak District where they had felt ‘brutally’ kicked out, manifesting by him and his wife getting more and more agitated with themselves as they walked through, and only calming down once they’d left. It is speculated that spirits feed off negativity and can play with your emotions in such ways.  

On asking Adam his favourite story on the tour, he said the story of Lily Cove. Lily Cove, who died in a ballooning accident, is now said to haunt a room in the White Lion. As multiple people come approach Adam with their stories of Lily, as she seems to manifest in two ways. Indirectly, via a dream where you’re falling, and when you wake up the room smells of her perfume, or directly – where you wake up to the feeling of a cat jumping on you – but when you wake up, she’s there, staring right at you. She’s wrapped in white sheets, like a shroud, and disappears as you turn the light on.  

Matthew Gurteen, who’s researching ‘gothic tourism’ took the tour as part of his studies. When asked, he found the tour to be informative, fun and liked that Adam even doubted some of the claims – such as Emily Brontë haunting a local café, as there is only one source for this. He even enjoyed hearing about the ‘Witch’s house’ on the tour. Matthew did take some issue with myths that were pushed on the tour, such as the parsonage being an isolated from society. He claims if the Brontës were isolated, it was as they isolated themselves through class pretentions.  

Matthew’s favourite story was the final one, about a highwayman that was buried by the church in an unmarked grave. The best part of this, as soon as Adam said, “That marks the end of the tour.”, the church bell cried out! Perfectly timed, like he’s done it before. 

I also caught another man researching the tourism around the Parsonage, known as Toby Aitchison. He was a believer of ghosts and had spoken to people around Haworth about the ghosts through the day and began to tell me of ghosts that weren’t part of the tour. The most interesting one being the fish and chip shop where there were screams of a little girl heard, despite the shop being empty. 

It seems that the village is too haunted to condense into a ninety-minute walk.  

Full of comedy and heartbreak, and appropriate for all ages! The tour indulges your childhood creativity and sparks the imagination. I left wanting to conduct my own paranormal investigation.  

Find some clips of the tour here!