I would have been about five or six years old. At that time my family were living in Kirkby but we would still spend a lot of the time at my grandmother's house in the Scotland Rd area of Liverpool, just outside the city centre.
Anyway, in the summer I would play out and go for walks by myself (it was probably not to far but seemed like miles in those days). It was the late sixties and there was a lot of demolition going on but there were still lots of old buildings.
I remember there was an old building not far from St Anthony's church. I am not sure what it was but it had an iron grating or railing over the front door and was empty but sealed up. However you could still see inside through the gaps in the rails.
I would often look inside and see…ghosts.
People just walking around in silence not paying much attention to one another..a bit like a railway station. Some would even come up to the railings and look at me. I was never scared..this was always in broad daylight and I don't know about you ..but when I was that age ghosts and stuff existed and were the natural order of things..like dogs, cats, birds, buses, the police etc.
I also remember they had a certain smell…a bit like perfumed disinfectant! I can't remember there clothes because I didn't pay much attention to fashion in those days but I do remember that they weren't naked! ( See also our Article: Why Do Ghosts Wear Clothes )
Anyway, shortly after my grandmother was rehoused in Norris Green and that was the end of that. The whole area was subsequently demolished and became a retail/industral park.
However there is an interesting post script to this story……
In 1995 they were doing some construction work on the area and discovered an unmarked graveyard from the 1800's. Apparently it was about 250 irish catholic immigrants who died of typhoid of something nasty. They were buried in a makeshift grave because the money wasn't there to transport them to the usual cemetery in Sefton. Apparently the powers that be forgot all about it.
This story was related to me by e-mail from Paul.