Maxine Gordon meets York writer Helen Sant, who is looking for the untold ghost stories of York.

YORK has a reputation as being one of the most haunted cities in the world. Its most famous apparitions are the stuff of legend - and inspired two TV shows earlier this year.

Not for nothing that astrologer Jonathan Cainer has housed his Psychic Museum within the city walls. York's antiquity, combined with the belief that ancient ley lines cross beneath York Minster, are often cited as the reason for the city's spookiness. As Mr Cainer would put it, York sits on top of a cosmic energy centre.

Many of York's best-known ghost stories stem from locations near to the Minster - often pubs, where the word spirit takes on another meaning entirely.

The Snickleway, in Goodramgate, claims to be the most haunted pub in the UK and boasts of having a "dark, brooding presence of great and utter evil" in the cellar, as well as an elderly gentleman in an old-fashioned suit who has been seen walking in through the pub's back wall.

The Treasurer's House, again in the shadow of the Minster, is the location of one of York's best-known tales. In 1953, plumber Harry Martindale was installing central heating in the cellars when he heard a distant horn. This gradually became louder - and then a carthorse emerged through the brick wall, followed by a legion of Roman soldiers who looked to be walking on their knees.

Ghost watchers estimate there have been around 140 reported sightings of ghosts within York's historic centre - which you might think would provide more than enough material to keep things going bump in the night for eternity.

But York writer and ghost-story teller Helen Sant believes otherwise. She wants to uncover the untold ghost stories of York for her latest book.

Helen has been enthralled by ghosts and the paranormal for as long as she can remember.

"I remember my dad telling me ghost stories as a child and drawing pictures of ghosts as a kid. We didn't live in a haunted house or anything, but it was just one of those things that held a fascination for me," said Helen, who also reads tarot cards.

After spending years working as an office secretary, Leeds-born Helen decided to ditch the nine-to-five and follow her creative urges.

She said: "I just could not stick in one place and was always walking out of jobs. I thought: There's got to be more to life than this'. I had got into the trap of money and mortgage and that was not me."

So Helen moved to York, took a degree in Performing Arts and English at York St John University, and began ghost walks and story telling under the persona of Medieval Molly'.

"I completely invented her," said Helen. "She was born in 1432, her father ran a tavern and her mother was a white witch. Her husband was a good-for-nothing alcoholic and she was a free spirit who liked telling stories at the gallows."

So convincing was the character that Helen reveals a Swedish journalist once rang her up to find out more. "She totally believed she existed!"

Helen has been writing stories and poems since she was a child, and developed this passion further after moving to York.

York publishers ENDpapers has already published some of her writing in The York Tales, a modern take on Chaucer's 14th-century classic, and the children's story, Breadcrumbs.

Besides working on a novel, Helen is also putting together an alternative guide to York, featuring the fascinating stories of real people.

And she wants to hear from readers who have had paranormal experiences or other odd things happen to them.

Helen said: "I want to capture the interesting aspects of York and what makes it such an unusual place."

To this end, she is also looking to interview street performers and buskers.

She said: "Curiosities would be a good way of summing it up. I want to hear from people who feel they have a story to tell."

Helen says she has never come face to face with a ghost, but if she did, she would not be afraid.

"I never think of ghosts as scary things. Most people describe their encounters as seeing something out of the ordinary rather than something scary.

She believes we all have some degree of psychic insight and that it is something that grows stronger as we get older.

Ghosts, she says, are just part of life. "We are all going to die one day and perhaps seeing ghosts gives people a link with the past and makes them more aware of life going on around them. Maybe the past, present and future are just circular."


Tell Helen your stories by phoning her on 07734 155200 or emailing helenmsant@yahoo.co.uk.