The Wild Man of the Woods telling a wartime ghost story by the soldier’s sculpture at St Anthony’s Gardens on November 5
GHOSTS: The Untold History has opened for an already sold-out run – or, rather, walk – at St Anthony’s Gardens, Peaseholme Green, York. There’s not a ghost of a chance of a ticket, alas.
Set among the atmospheric Ghosts In Gardens sculptures, bathed in ghostly light, this new 40-minute nocturnal storytelling experience uncovers York’s hidden histories and haunted past.
The candle-lit walk weaves together York’s spectral figures with previously untold stories spun by Yorkshire storyteller The Wild Man of the Woods (alias Dave Vale).
Guests wander through York’s snickelways and shadows, discovering tales that blend 2,000 years of myth, folklore and the city’s rich, chilling history, from ancient gods, through Jorvik times to the Second World War, with matters of sex and death often to the fore.
Ghosts: The Untold History storyteller The Wild Man of the Woods
Carl Alsop, York BID (Business Improvement District) operations manager, selected St Anthony’s Garden, on the back of the success of last November’s inaugural Ghosts After Dark showcased York’s tapestry of historical figures with light, sound and storytellers for four nights in York Museum Gardens.
Mad Alice, of the Bloody Tour of York, Lady Brigante, of the Polite Tourist, Dr Dorian Deathly, of the Deathly Dark Tours and York Dungeon’s Dick Turpin and Guy Fawkes, along with The Wild Man of the Woods, all told tales.
Ghosts After Dark and now Ghosts: The Untold Story forms the companion piece to the Ghosts In The Garden sculpture trail, which began five years ago with ten ghosts installations in York Museum Gardens and has since expanded to feature 58 3D wire mesh sculptures, all created by York company Unconventional Designs.
The translucent figures, including ten new additions for 2025, were on show from September 19 to November 2 in a trail through York’s public gardens, ruins, hidden corners and green spaces with free entry.
York BID presents Ghosts: The Untold History at St Anthony’s Gardens, Peaseholme Green, York, until November 9, from 6.30pm night. SOLD OUT. For more information, go to: theyorkbid.com/ghosts-untold-history/.
Red sky at night: two of Unconventional Designs’ Ghosts In The Gardens wire-mesh sculptures in St Anthony’s Gardens