Ghost hunter revisits footage from Busby Stoop pub Thirsk

Wade Radford was just 17 years old when he initially visited the Busby Stoop on the outskirts of Thirsk, North Yorkshire, in 2008 - determined to find some ghostly goings-on at the venue and a particular chair that has a lot of folklore attached.

The Busby Stoop, Thirsk (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

Despite 15 years passing since he initially visited the venue, which is now an Indian restaurant, The Jaipur Spice, he has documented his findings in a new book he's created - which looks to shine a light on whether paranormal activity exists on the site. 

What's the background to the Busby Stoop and the 'cursed chair'?

In 2018, Northern Echo chief features writer Chris Lloyd looked at the history of the chair and The Busby Stoop, and here's his extract:

The landlord of the pub on the crossroads was Thomas Busby, a crook and a thug, who married Elizabeth Auty, the daughter of Daniel, a notorious counterfeiter. There was increasing bad blood between Thomas and Daniel until one day in 1702, drunken Busby returned to his pub to find his goading father-in-law sitting in his favourite chair and threatening to take his wife back home.

Thomas ejected Daniel from both chair and pub and later that night crept into the counterfeiter’s house and bludgeoned him to death with a hammer.

Busby was found guilty of murder and forgery and ordered to be hanged on a gibbet to be erected on the crossroads outside the pub, his body having first been dipped in tar to prolong its decomposition.

Wade Radford at the Busby Stoop (Image: WADE RADFORD)

Before the execution, Thomas was allowed a final drink in his favourite chair. As he left for the hangman’s noose, he cursed the chair, saying anyone who sat in it would suffer a premature, painful end.

Busby was hanged and even after his body had rotted, the post remained for decades as a reminder. 

Busby’s ghost haunted his stoop and his cursed chair was implicated in more than 60 deaths – car drivers, airmen, builders, farmers and cyclists all perished prematurely after foolhardily sitting in it. The death toll became so great that in 1978 the landlord gave the chair to the Thirsk Museum on the proviso that it should be hung from the ceiling so no one can sit on it.

It has hung from the ceiling for nearly 40 years without fatality.

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Mr Radford, who was an early adopter of the paranormal category using his Myspace channel, travelled to the Busby Stoop Inn in 2008, joined by two members of his camera team and a clairvoyant. 

After spending a lot of the evening at the pub, Mr Radford claims that the team started to hear the voice of a man saying the word 'I' - which they believe is the voice of Thomas Busby. 

The Busby Stoop is now restaurant The Jaipur Spice (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

Looking back on the moment, Mr Radford told The Northern Echo: "It was the early hours of the morning - and there was only four of us in this building - the clairvoyant started to receive messages - it was a strange encounter."

Alongside hearing the alleged word from Thomas Busby, Mr Radford also makes several other claims about paranormal activity in his new book.

Despite saying that he 'doubts' the story of the 'cursed chair' - he believes that books like his and the footage he captured is vital to keep folklores alive. 

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In the build up to the book coming out, Mr Radford travelled to Thirsk recently to speak with people from the town.

"No matter people's age, they have their own stories and claims about the Busby Stoop - it's important to continue and preserve these memories," he added.

To find out more information about Wade's findings, they can be found here.