When you think of Grassington, you perhaps picture the lovely little lanes, wonderful local walks. And yet... it may be haunted by notorious blacksmith and innkeeper Tom Lee. He had a reputation for burglary and highway robbery. So it's a little odd that a local doctor, Dr. Petty chose to go to a cock fight in Kettlewell with him in the 1760s. The doctor won a significant sum of money in a bet and they were apparently seen celebrating at various inns on the way home.
Dr. Petty never arrived home though: he was killed in Grass Woods. Tom Lee was arrested but there wasn't enough evidence to charge him until a former servant came forward a couple of years later and gave evidence so Tom Lee was arrested again and hung in York, gibbeted (what a term!) in Grass Wood as a deterrent to others.
Have you spotted this small sign in Grassington? Or maybe felt Tom Lee's ghostly presence...?