On the last day of August 1745, Dr James Clegg—the minister of a Presbyterian church at nearby Chapel-en-le-Frith—wrote to the Glossopdale Chronicle reporting that:

 

"hundreds of bodies rose out of the grave in the open air" and "singing in concert", from the graveyard of St Matthew's Church. They then proceeded to disappear, leaving Dr Clegg to remark: "... what is become of them or in what distant region of this vast system they have since fixed their residence no mortal can tell."

 

Pictured left is St. Matthew's Church courtesy of Alan Fleming.

The Mermaid's Pool is located on Kinder Scout, which is a moorland plateau and National Nature Reserve just outside Hayfield.

 

According to legend, this small pool is inhabited by a mermaid who can be seen if you look into the water at sunrise on Easter Sunday. It is also said that its water is salty due to its being connected by an underground passage to the Atlantic. Another version describes her as a nymph who bathes in the pool daily. This version describes how a local man to whom she took a liking was led by her to a nearby cavern, and whom she made immortal. This promise of immortality is said to apply to anyone who sees the mermaid on Easter Eve.

 

Pictured above is the Mermaid's Pool courtesy of Dave Dunford.