In Lancashire folklore, a boggart is known as a type of poltergeist that can haunt certain areas. In this spooky tale, three young boys found themselves in a hair-raising situation when they decided to listen in on some carters taking a morning break at the Old Meadows coal pit. The boys had been innocently playing at the coal pit, pushing empty trucks along the tramway when curiosity got the best of them.
As they stealthily eavesdropped on the conversation between the carters, little did they know that they were about to experience the fright of their lives. In a dim and grimy office where the carters often gathered to await their next loads of wagons, the atmosphere was filled with anticipation and whispers. The curious youngsters would sneak inside to eavesdrop on the carters’ conversations.
When one of the old colliers noticed the young lads, he slyly winked at his carter friend, signalling that mischief was afoot. “Aye, they’ve been stirring up trouble with the Boggart down at Yenchley End pit,” the collier remarked. “There’s some real troublemakers in that pit. How do they manage it, Abe?” one of the carters wondered aloud. The air was thick with tales of the mysterious and eerie happenings at the pit, leaving everyone intrigued and slightly on edge.
The old miner began to describe how the initiated would gather in a secluded area within the pit. They would then proceed to dig a hole approximately knee-deep, and sit around the edge with their feet placed inside the hole. Each participant would hold a lit candle in one hand and an earthenware pot or jug in the other, creating a mysterious and ritualistic atmosphere. An incantation was then chanted, and at a given part all thrust out their hands, smashing their pots together and letting the pieces fall into the centre of the hole. An invocation then followed, at the end of which all blew out their candles, and in the darkness, the demon rose up through the broken pots.
In the unfolding narrative, the youths steadily inched towards the door, their apprehension palpable with each passing moment. As the chilling account of the demon emerging through the shattered pots reached their ears, they suddenly bolted in a frenzy, as though the very entity from the story was hot on their heels.