Haunted cafe owners are sceptical.
But ex-tenants tell of noises in the night.
A practical demonstration of laying a ghost would seem to have been carried out by Mr A. Houldsworth, of the Beehive Cafe, Duke Street. His equipment: strong bolts and a bag of cement. While previous tenants, alarmed by unexplained noises and by growing rumours that the building was haunted, have left the cottage after only a short stay, Mr Houldsworth, believing that there is a rational explanation for everything, got down to the job of making it “ghost proof.”
Meanwhile, earlier occupiers of the cottage have this week told the “Formby Times” of un-nerving expriences. The manifestations – in the form of noises heard in the small hours, often upon two or three nights a week – have been variously described.
Mr George Dacre, now of Ormskirk, told a reporter: “I lived in the cottage for 12 months and have no doubt that it is haunted. Two or three nights a week my wife, myself and friends staying with us would hear a man’s heavy footsteps along the top passage. Several times I ran out to investigate, but saw nobody. On almost every occasion, however, I found that a door on the top passage, which I had bolted before retiring, was swinging open. I grew almost accustomed to this, but what upset me was another form of happening. We would be awakened by the crash of the back door being opened and the sound of some heavy-footed intruder rushing across the cafe and out of the front door. I invariably found on getting up that both doors were bolted on the inside as I had left them. Once an employee of mine decided to make a determined effort to trap the ‘ghost.’ He sat up all night at the top of the stairs with the lights on. That night the same manifestation occurred. My employee ran downstairs and stood between the two doors. He saw nothing. He returned upstairs, white as a sheet, and said he had distinctly felt something brush past him.
“A maid whom we employed complained one night that there was another woman in the room. My wife and I went to investigate but found nobody there. This links with the legend current locally, that in a fire some 70 years ago, which destroyed the original building, an old lady was burned to death.”
It is understood that two other previous occupants, a Mrs Thompson and a Mrs J. Southam, also quit the tenancy after a short period, complaining of weird noises.
A reporter who called at the Beehive Cafe yesterday found the present occupants, Mr and Mrs Houldsworth, unshakeable in their disbelief of the ghost. While admitting that on many occasions he had, at the request of his wife, got up in the night to investigate strange noises. Mr Houldsworth reiterated that everything had a cause. “Mrs Houldsworth,” he said, “would be susceptible to ghosts if anyone is. She has had premonitions in the past which have come true. In this house, however, she has seen nothing, nor does she feel that the atmosphere is in any way unusual. We have had a spiritualist staying with us who drew blank. For some time after I took over the premises, we heard strange noises in the night – footsteps, scratchings and the like. My first act was to fix stronger bolts on the doors. Then I found a number of large rat holes. I bought a bag of cement and stopped them up.
“One night we were awakened by the sounds of footsteps along the upper passage. I went out to see who was there and found that the sound was produced by the wind rattling an old-fashioned latch. another ‘ghostly’ noise in the night I discovered to be caused by the fact that our front porch, which is wide and deep, has long been popular among courting couples.”
Footnote: As the “Times” reporter finished his cup of tea and get up to go, a little girl came in to buy some sweets. One hand was held behind her and the fingers were firmly crossed.
Formby Times, 30th August 1947.
Solution.
So the Beehive Cafe is haunted, is it! But the answer’s quite simple. This used to belong to a wines and “spirits” merchant. Still, the spirits ought to learn how to beehive themselves.
Formby Times, 6th September 1947.
‘Haunted’ Cafe Draws Crowds.
While dozens of curious visitors, their interest aroused by last week’s “Formby Times” story, called at the “haunted” Beehive Cafe this week, others living close at hand were startled to discover what had been going on almost under their noses. An old lady of 85 had lived for years in an adjoining cottage without any idea that “ghosts” were about. When she read the “Times” story her chief emotion seemed to be annoyance at having missed the interesting happenings.
Meanwhile one previous tenant doesn’t believe in the “ghost” at all. “I spent over two years as a tenant at the Beehive Cafe,” stated Mrs K. Southam. “Part of the time I had only my young children as company while my husband was with the forces. At no time did I complain of ghostly noises, and most certainly did not leave the premises on account of them.”
On Saturday, the cafe will resound to a different kind of noise from any described in last week’s story. The happy uproar of a party of 50 children on an outing from Liverpool should go a long way to making the place untenable for any ghosts who may chance to remain.
Formby Times, 6th September, 1947.
Beehive Cafe
Duke Street
Under new management
Open now for morning coffee, lunches, afternoon teas and suppers
Parties a speciality.
Formby Times, 2nd October 1948.