Strange figures in the Galleries of Justice, mysterious sounds at Nottingham Castle and Annesley’s woman in white are among the area’s most famous spooky stories and landmarks – but Notts is home to hundreds of other less typical haunting tales.
Here are a few places with solid ghost stories which you may not have heard before.
1. British Transport Police Station, Nottingham Station: The toilet visitor
This red brick building is still the regional headquarters of British Transport Police and is home to a ghost story which first started among officers in the 1970s. The most common version involves an officer working alone at night in 1977 who heard a heavy door slam. Upon investigating he found a set of wet footprints leading to the toilets, even though the weather outside was dry. On following the trail into the toilets he found them empty.
Thirty years later in 2007 another officer saw a man walk into the toilets when he and a colleague were supposed to be the only people at the station. On looking inside he also found them empty.
2. The Queen’s Medical Centre: Diligent nurse and a wandering girl
Nottingham’s major hospital is supposedly home to several apparitions, but two in particular have led to multiple versions of similar-sounding stories.
The first involves a nurse who wakes staff when they fall asleep on breaks in a rest room on night shifts. She is often described as a black woman who says “come on dear, time to get back to work” or a similar line. One version even suggests some staff avoid sleeping in the room altogether and instead drift off elsewhere, such is their fear of being woken.
The second story involves a mysterious little girl who roams East Block. A number of people have posted first-hand accounts or stories they have heard on Facebook. One version involves a girl sighted near the lifts, always on D or E. One staff member wrote: “When I was training everyone I knew would avoid the area at all costs at night. I have no idea about any ‘backstory’.”
Another wrote: “One night I could of swore I saw a little girl stood at the door looking through the glass at me I went to speak to her just in case she was lost n couldn’t find her. the lights were dimmed on the corridors so I thought I was my imagination. Scary stuff.”
3. The A52: Mysterious AA man on his bike
This story dates back decades, possibly as early as the 1930s, and always involves an AA man on patrol on a motorbike who appears and disappears. It is not known if he’s ever stopped to help anyone. If you ever break down and a headlight appears before you’ve even called…
4. The Round House pub: People disappearing through walls
(Photo: John Sutton)
While the Round House off Maid Marian Way is now a pub, less than a century ago it was the Jubilee wing of the old Nottingham General Hospital. It is not uncommon for bar staff to see people walking through the pub when it’s closed before swiftly disappearing through walls, or patrons to feel a cold breeze pass right through them. Being close to the castle and Standard Hill, the site has seen plenty of history which could be connected to the sightings.
5. Fanum House (NEMS building): ‘Average man’ appears in doorway
This building on the corner of Derby Road and Triumph Road is best known in recent years as home to out-of-hours medical service NEMS. There are several stories of an ‘average-looking’ man in 20th century clothes who appears in doorways and disappears when approached, and an upstairs corridor staff over the years have been prone to avoiding. The tales seem to go back to the 1960s and also include poltergeist activity in the form of a tea urn moving around a room.
