There have long been legends surrounding deep caves in St Helens
Crank Caverns, formerly Rainford Delph Quarry, is an abandoned cave system to the north of St Helens. Due to the sheer size and darkness of the tunnels, urban legends and myths have been dreamed up by adults and kids alike.
The legends range from children being "chased by dwarves" to underground tunnels leading to other parts of the borough and paranormal activity. In 2022, the ECHO visited Crank Caverns in an attempt to see if the myths were true.
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Now officially closed to the public, the caves can still be seen from a nearby footpath. Taking pictures from the outside of the cave is advised and it is not recommended that you venture inside due to unsafe surfaces.
One popular legend around the caves is a story of little boys being chased by dwarves. In the 1930's, a group of reporters went down looking for the dwarves.
Lewis Atherton, from Exploring History UK folklore podcast, said: "There's a story from the 1970s of three children, they're teenagers who went through 'the mousey' and it's described in the newspaper that the mousey hole went in a circle and that's all that's left.
"But they went down there with candles, I don't think they had matches and if they did they only had two or three matches and cave mountain and rescue had to haul them out."
Another myth surrounding Crank Caverns is that there could be a cathedral deep within the caves, however through research, Lewis, along with Claire Rigby from Momo's cafe on the podcast, believe this is not the case.
In 2021, The ECHO asked readers what myths and legends residents have heard about Crank Caverns and if they had ever visited.
Samantha Ashton said: "I heard that there is a tunnel that takes you to Billinge Hill. That there is a church down there and that there were goblins.
"My hubby went in a bit further than I managed, which was literally the little gate. I don't like confined spaces."
Kathryn Barnes said: "My grandad was gamekeeper after the war and the family lived in the white house as it went with the job. It seemed to be haunted because a door would slam and footsteps would be heard crossing the room but nobody was there."
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