Pretoria Pit

The Pretoria Pit Disaster is the worst coal mining accident to have occurred in Lancashire, and the third worst mining disaster in British history.  The Pretoria Pit was a complex of coal mines owned by the Hulton Colliery Company, and situated on the border of Westhoughton and Atherton. 344 lives were lost in an explosion underground on the morning of the 21st December 1910.
It is reported that dozens of pairs of eyes look out of bushes along Platt lane, the lane that the miners would walk along en route to their work, and that they belong to the spirits of the miners who died in the accident at Pretoria Pit. Prior to this disaster, miners on route to work would sometimes encounter the sound of an invisible horse which ran past them. It is said to still be haunted as reports still come in from time to time. How many of these are accurate or misrepresentations are (of course) open to speculation. It will be the 100th anniversary of the disaster next Christmas. Maybe I will plan a vigil for that day.