The Legend of Mother Redcaps

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The Legend of Mother Redcaps

The dangerous game of Wrecking, Smuggling, Gossip and Betrayal at Mother Redcaps ended up in Arrests, Hangings and even Murder in Cold Blood.

A Tavern sat in this spot from 1595 when first built by the Mainwaring Family, but it was in the 18th Century that it became known as Mother Redcaps and was a popular spot that welcomed Smugglers and Wreckers.

It may have long disappeared but the Smugglers legacy lives on and a few unsavoury characters are said to haunt the Nursing Home.

Local Legends have been passed down through generations of the Ghost of Mother Redcaps often spotted near the Location of her old Tavern, fulfilling her duties of guarding Loot and Ill Gotten Gains. 

They say that to this day, a large amount of hidden treasure remains beneath the Tavern Grounds.

The Legend of Mother Redcap Lives on….

Join the Evening Ghost Walks and Find Out More 👻

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The New Brighton Hotel Smugglers

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There are plenty of famous Smugglers pubs dotted around New Brighton, these places were used to hide illegal contraband sourced from trade ships in the River Mersey and were a hive of Criminals, Wreckers and Cut Throats. 

The New Brighton Hotel located on Victoria Road has a whole host of Maritime Tales to tell and features on our Exclusive Maritime History Tours.

Join us on a Sunday Afternoon and find out More 

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The Hauntings of New Brighton Tour

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The New Brighton Ghost Walks

As an eerie darkness falls over New Brighton, Join our Historian & Author as he takes you on a journey to introduce you to the darker side of the Seaside Resort

Come to see the most haunted locations of the Town, the spooky coastline where the dead are restless, the Lighthouse and Battery where Supernatural activity is still witnessed and parts of the old Town where dark deeds of the Pirates & Smugglers have occurred. This is am evening of Dark History, light Comedy, Authentic Truths and Deadly Maritime Tales. 👻⚔️🏴‍☠️⚓️

Book Now and Join us https://poulton-creamery.sumupstore.com/product/new-brighton-ghost-walk

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Saturday Night Ghost Walk

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The New Brighton Ghost Walks

As an eerie darkness falls over New Brighton, Join our Historian & Author as he takes you on a journey to show you the darker side of the Seaside Resort

Come to see the most haunted locations of the Town, the spooky coastline where the dead are restless, the Lighthouse and Battery where Supernatural activity is still witnessed and parts of the old Town where dark deeds of the Pirates & Smugglers have occurred. This is am evening of Dark History, light Comedy, Authentic Truths and Deadly Maritime Tales. 👻⚔️🏴‍☠️⚓️

Book Now and Join us Click Here

St Hilary’s Church Tunnels

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No tunnels are currently accessible from St Hilary’s at the present date, and the vault beneath the old tower was covered by a tiled floor in the late nineteenth century. But according to the rector, Canon Paul Robinson, one of the parishioners remembers going down a tunnel in the thirties, below Swinton Old Hall, the site of the modern rectory, a few hundred years away from the old tower. According to Joseph Ruiz, a well exists beneath the front sitting room of the old rectory, fifteen feet wide and 350 feet deep, and it is believed to lead to a tunnel; this is also mentioned in an article in the Wirral News . The article refers to a legend that says an underground passage leads from the rectory to the church (presumably the old tower) and then on to Mother Redcap’s. It goes on to maintain that the Old Rectory was a cache for gun-runners during the reign of Charles II. Oral tradition mentions a smugglers’ tunnel leading from one of the graves in the churchyard.. 

find out more about the Secret Tunnels of Wallasey on my Historic Tours every  Sunday in New Brighton. Tickets now on sale. Book now

Wallasey Ghost Walk

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They say that, on the night of a full moon, The Ghost Walks Tonight.... Stand very still and listen along the coastline, you'll hear the laughter of the Smugglers - the laughter will swiftly turn to screams, the Ghosts of Mother Redcaps awaits. 

Join The Ghosts, Fables and Folklore Walk for 90 minutes of history and mystery. You will be taken on a walk steeped in history and brings to life stories of legends, witches 🧙‍♀️ , smugglers 🏴‍☠️, secret tunnels, murders ⚔️ and of course...ghosts 👻. 

Explore the Gunpowder Village and Dark Lanes that make up the oldest parts of the Wallasey Shoreline. We offer an evening of History and Mystery to capture the imagination and inspire the mind. 

Book now and don't miss out Click Here

Sunday History Tours in New Brighton

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Our Sunday Tours are Back 😊 

Join us on the 26th of February at 12pm in New Brighton for the Maritime History Tour 🏴‍☠️⚔️⚓️

Journey through the old Streets and Smugglers Cove of Ye Black Rock to discover the origins of this Seaside Resort. 

You will hear of authentic truths, Smugglers Tunnels, Local Myths, Ghost Stories, Life during Wars, the Napoleonic Fort, Perch Rock Lighthouse and all the Legendary Tales about the old towns dark past. Hear about life in Victorian Times and how changes occurred in the following centuries. 

Book Now and secure your places Click Here

Pirates of Wallasey

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Smugglers and pirates were a real threat in the 1700's particularly to the Wallasey area, adored by both. They would often take wealthy residents and ransom them for money. There reputation also shows that they were also keen on kidnapping the poor and keeping them on board against their will to help out with labour on their vessel. This could also be said of the smugglers nemises, the Royal Navy. 

  

The Royal Navy notoriously picked up young and able men and recruited them into the ranks many times against there wishes, but the great terror of the sailors was the press other side of the Black Rock that they might conceal themselves in Cheshire, and many a vessel had to be brought into gang. Such was the dread in which this force was held by the sailors, that they would often take to their boats on the port by a lot of riggers and carpenters sent round by the owners for that purpose.” 

  

Two entries in the Wallasey parish registers, both in 1762, refer to the risks the sailor ran. Under the date of 29th March, appears, ' William Evans drowned in endeavouring to escape from a cutter lying at ye Black Rock'; and again on 6th November, 'John Goss sailor drowned from ye Prince George tender in his Majesty's Service', the tender being the ship to which the men were sent immediately on being 'pressed.'

If you love stories of Pirates, Smugglers, Secret Tunnels and more, join me on the New Brighton History Tours Click Here

Shipwreck in Wallasey

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The Wreck of the Pelican by the Wallasey Smugglers in 1793 

  

The ship was a small brig craft fitted with a number of cannon designed to capture French merchant shipping for a profit under a letter of marquee from the British government. She was crewed and outfitted in the Mersey, and on 20 March 1793 was taking her owners and their families and friends on a pleasure and working up cruise in the mouth of the river. On board were 94 sailors and approximately 40 civilians, including several women. Disaster Struck and the weather took a sudden turn for the worse and the ship began to rock violently, causing many of those aboard to go below decks, worsening the impending tragedy. 

  

The vessel breached on to the rocks situated near where the New Brighton Floral Pavilion is today, Local Smugglers took it upon themselves to plunder the ship. Laws at the time stated that if no persons were aboard the ship at the time the cargo/booty could be plundered by anybody. The sad fact is that any of the people who would have still been alive would have been killed. The smugglers then transported their bodies into tunnels situated where these tunnels we are standing in today, leaving the ship in an abandoned state, they were now free to plunder the ship. 

  

Upon the building of the Palace Theatre in the 1870s, parts of these tunnels were breached and an awful stench was apparent. It was on further inspection that the bones of the souls of the Pelican were found and it took a hell of a lot of industrial cleaning before the stench was finally removed. The Palace Theatre Building Caught Fire in 1916 and no longer exists being replaced by Granada Bowl in the 20th Century. Riverside Bowling Alley and Quazar is now located on the site

Join me on the New Brighton Back in Time Tours and find out more about the Wallasey Smugglers 

Radar on the Wallasey Ferry Service

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Another Fun Fact - The Wallasey Ferry Service was the first in the world to have Radar.

This Helped the famous River crossing of the Mersey from Wallasey to Liverpool and Back again.

During the Peak years of 1950s and 60s, thousands of people would cross to New Brighton for fun at the Seaside Resort. There was also Seacombe and Egremont with now only Seqcombe remaining from

The 3.

Grannies Rock

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Grannies Rock at the Breck 

Wallasey youths have climbed this for many generations going back to the days when the Breck was just a quarry in the 19th Century