Boggart of Boggart Hole Clough

Boggart Hole Clough, a deep wooded ravine on the edge of Manchester, takes its name from the boggart said to haunt it — and gives its name in turn to one of the most famous of all English boggart tales. The boggart is the malevolent household and field spirit of the north-west, and this one plagued the family of a farmer named George Cheetham: it snatched food, frightened the children, snorted and laughed in the night, and dragged the bedclothes from sleepers.

In the classic story the family at last resolve to flee, loading their cart to escape the torment — only for a neighbour to call out, 'So you're flitting?', and for the boggart's own voice to pipe up from inside the churn on the cart, 'Aye, we're flitting!' Realising they can never leave the creature behind however far they move, the family give up and stay. The 'flitting boggart' is among the best-loved motifs in English folklore, and Boggart Hole Clough — now a public park — still carries in its name the memory of the thing in the dark.