A guest at the inn

A walk from hurst green in an easterly direction  of Ribble Valley
will bring you to an old coaching inn called The Punch Bowl. In the early
eighteenth century, this site became the headquarters of a notorious
highwayman who preyed on unsuspecting travellers using this lonely
stretch of the Ribble Valley. Ned King and his cronies would keep
watch from a room above the stables selecting only the wealthiest
victims to waylay and rob.
So successful was Lancashire’s answer to Dick Turpin that he
was known as ‘The Phantom’ on account of his ability to disappear,
 following one of his robberies. But no highwayman can escape
indefinitely from being brought to account for his nefarious deeds.
And so it was with Ned King. Dogged perseverance eventually enabled
the authorities to discover Ned’s secret hideout.
Suspicion also fell on the landlord who, they thought, was sharing
in the profits of Ned’s nefarious escapades. When finally arrested and
brought to trial, Ned King was found guilty and his body was hung in
chains from a gibbet erected in nearby Gallows Lane.
His ghost was often heard and seen in the vicinity of the Punch
Bowl which resulted in an exorcism being performed in the nineteenth
century. But still he continued to haunt the pub. Bottles fell off shelves,
beer pumps opened and chairs clattered over. Not until 1942 when a
priest was summoned from Stonyhurst College to attempt once again
the eradication of this troublesome spirit did Ned King finally disappear,
hopefully this time forever. Unless,