As Inverclyde prepares to celebrate Hallowe?en tonight, a local heritage group has unearthed a new tale of pirates, mystery and Inverclyde?s ghostly past.
Local heritage group Magic Torch has been busy lifting the lid on Inverclyde?s spookiest sites and have revealed Lunderston Bayhides a dark secret.
Neil Bristow said: ?The whole Cloch Road area and history of witchcraft lends itself to a wealth of stories. Hallowe?en is a good opportunity to bring these stories out. Giving people a wee fright is part of the fun. We have heard different versions of the new Lunderston story but there there are some roots of evidence to it.?
The story is based on accounts of an off-course Spanish Armada boat which was lost on the Gantock rocks amid a fierce storm in 1588. It has been claimed by some that the boat?s ?Ghost Captain? can, from time to time, be seen stalking along the beach, searching for treasure he and his crew had plundered from their rampage along the west coast.
The lost captain was rumoured to have been buried in the old Inverkip cemetery and Magic Torch have visited the site and discovered a small grave marked only with a skull and bones.
His sunken treasure was said to have been recovered by a local man, only to be buried amid fears the loot was cursed.
In the 1950s, two workmen dug up 60 coins while working in Burns Road.
It was established that the coins dated to around 1580 and they are now under lock and key in the National Museum of Scotland and McLean Museum.
Guisers are warned that the Lunderston area is best avoided on your travels, or an encounter with the Ghost Captain could be on the cards.
If you would like to read more tales featuring Inverclyde?s spooky past, Magic Torch?s ?Downriver? book is priced ?10 and available from The Reading Room, West Blackhall Street, the Volunteer Centre, Dalrymple Street, both Greenock, at 7 ? John Wood Street, Port Glasgow, and online at www.downriver.org.uk.
http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/read ... hp?id=7800
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