Boggart Hole Clough
Blackley · North Manchester · Greater Manchester
A family packed up to escape their troublesome boggart. It packed itself into the cart. Discover the wooded clough where the story found a home.
Photo: A deep clough in Boggart Hole Clough by Bill Boaden / Geograph, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0. Taken June 2010. Cropped for display with a purple gradient overlay; adapted photograph shared under the same licence.
Manchester has room for a mischievous neighbour.
Beyond the surrounding streets, wooded valleys give this urban park a different character. Read the boggart tale before you arrive, then take it into the trees: a story of domestic chaos, a failed escape and a creature with absolutely no respect for moving day.
Your visit at a glance
Research checked 26 October 2026Visitor information: Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Orienteering Association. Duration is a ParaMaps estimate.
Moving house was supposed to solve everything.
In the tale associated with the clough, farmer George Cheetham’s household has an unwanted resident. Invisible and troublesome, the boggart makes ordinary family life increasingly difficult. Eventually, George decides the only answer is to leave.
The family loads its belongings onto a cart and sets off. When a neighbour asks about the move, a familiar voice answers from among the luggage: the boggart is moving too.
Escape has failed before the journey has properly begun. George turns back. If the creature insists on coming along, the family might as well endure its company at home.
The tale appears in John Roby’s Traditions of Lancashire, published in 1829. Its punchline has survived rather better than the family’s relocation plans.
Story: The Flit, reproduced by the Fairy Investigation Society. Publication history: Ceri Houlbrook’s folklore research.
There was never just one boggart.
The clough’s recorded traditions vary. That is part of its interest: a familiar landscape becoming a setting for different stories, passed between writers and generations.
A travelling tale
Folklorist Ceri Houlbrook traces the flitting story’s borrowed elements and parallels elsewhere. Its association with Blackley is a chapter in the tale’s history, rather than a dated record of a household haunting.
The shrieking nut-man
Houlbrook also discusses Charles Roeder’s 1907 record of a nut-man said to shriek among the hazel bushes. It is a stranger woodland presence than the mischievous farmhouse lodger.
A suburban survivor
Blackley changed from a rural setting into a Manchester suburb. The wooded clough remained, and its folklore continued to be retold. The name itself gives an everyday park visit a distinctive starting point.
Folklore research: The Suburban Boggart by Ceri Houlbrook and her Folklore Society talk overview.
Why 3★?
The clough combines a substantial outdoor visit with a strong storytelling connection. It earns its score through the woodland, water and walking opportunities as well as the boggart tale.
A walk worth making
Wooded valleys, lakes and open areas provide variety, with permanent orienteering courses for visitors who want an activity. There is enough here to spend time exploring beyond a single viewpoint.
Visitor perspectives
The small review sample praises the trees, birdlife and choice of paths. An April 2026 visitor enjoyed the parkland and lake but found the café closed for repairs. Much of the other detailed feedback is older, so it gives context rather than a current facilities guarantee.
Value & limitations
Free park access makes this an appealing local outing. The folklore adds interest to the walk, while the visitor experience remains that of an urban park. Refreshment availability and terrain deserve a little planning.
Reviews: individual Tripadvisor accounts. Our score considers the whole visit, rather than copying a review average. How ParaScores work →
Take the story into the trees.
Choose a daylight visit and a route that suits your group. The lake makes a useful focus, with woodland paths offering a different atmosphere where conditions allow.
A flexible park visit
A suggested approach, rather than a marked boggart trail.
Start at Charlestown Road
Use the signed entrance and car park. Check park notices and pick a route before setting out.
Combine lake and woodland
Enjoy the water and birdlife, then add paths through the wooded landscape according to weather, footing and energy.
Try some navigation
For a more structured outing, obtain an orienteering map and choose an appropriate course. Read the association’s course notes first.
Arrival & facilities
The official park address is Charlestown Road, Blackley, Manchester M9 7DH. Café and toilet availability may differ from park opening. Bring what you need if these are important to your plans.
Charlestown Road, Blackley
Manchester M9 7DH
Find the Charlestown Road car park ↗
Orienteering maps & course notes ↗
Terrain & dogs
Broad park paths and wooded valleys offer different walking conditions; a complete step-free route has not been verified for this page. Dogs are excluded from play areas, the athletics track including its football pitch, café and toilets. Keep dogs on leads around the boating lake and fishing pond.
Continue into Greater Manchester’s past.
A separate journey to Salford brings a different setting for local ghost stories.
Ordsall Hall
A historic hall with its own haunting traditions. Explore another side of the region’s mysterious heritage.
Discover Ordsall Hall →Some neighbours are harder to leave behind.
Bring the boggart story, leave room for a proper walk and enjoy a wooded corner of Manchester with an unusually memorable name. If you hear something moving in your picnic bag, check for sandwiches first.