The Gatley Shouter, Northenden

Legend tells of the Gatley Shouter, said to be the ghost of Jim Barrow, a miserly milk-seller from Cross Acres who mixed water into his milk. After death, his spirit was heard along Carr Lane crying “Wa-a-tered milk!” and singing of his deceit. To silence him, the local parson and his congregation gathered one moonlit night, surrounding the ghost with candles and prayer until it shrank and vanished into the earth. They buried him beneath a stone near the parson’s gate, and his mournful voice was heard no more.