Astonishing revelations about a parachuting tragedy at Haworth more than 90 years ago are contained in a new book.

Mystery surrounded the death in 1906 of Lily Cove, who was seen plummeting to the ground near Ponden Reservoir. Her parachute had become detached and was found some 15 yards from the body. The exact cause of the accident was never established.

Now in a startling twist to the tragic tale it is claimed that the dead parachutist was not Lily Cove.

And author Neil Burns says his information has come from an impeccable source - Lily herself!

The 57-year-old chartered accountant says the ghost of the high-flying heroine has told him what really happened that fateful day.

Lily was planning to elope with lover Charles Merrall, the son of a mill owner, so a lookalike parachutist took her place while the lovestruck couple fled.

Miss Cove is not the only ghost Neil has formed a friendship with and indeed she is not the most famous - Mary Queen of Scots and Sir Walter Scott are among his other acquaintances - but her story is arguably the most intriguing.

Neil told me: "I know there will be some people who cast doubt on what I say, that's up to them. These stories are absolutely true - I know what happened - and it doesn't worry me if people don't believe me."

His book - A Few Special Ghosts I Have Met - describes how he was visiting Halifax in 1992 to carry out an audit when he was 'drawn' to Haworth.

He had barely arrived in the village and was parking his car near the Bront Parsonage Museum when his strange experiences began, and on walking into the Old White Lion Hotel where he was to stay overnight he knew immediately it was haunted.

"Lily drew me there for a specific purpose," Neil told me. "I have published this book because she wanted me to so that people would know what really happened to her. Hopefully she may now rest in peace."

Lily travelled the country with Captain Frederick Bidmead and his hot air balloon, and her famous act involved parachuting from the balloon at around 1,000 feet. She had stayed at the Old White Lion the night before her supposed death.

Neil's first visit to the hotel was relatively uneventful, but knowing that Lily wanted to contact him he returned on June 10 - the date Lily had stayed there - and slept in the same room.

That night she visited him and spoke about how she planned to elope just moments before her scheduled performance at Haworth Gala. She explained that a young parachutist called Elizabeth was to secretly take her place just before take-off.

The day after his visitation Neil embarked on an intriguing tour, during which he says he was guided through a series of strange occurrences to the exact spot where the body of the parachutist had been found.

"Lily has always led me in certain directions," he says. "Ghosts appear for a purpose, not just to terrify you."

And if the book is to be believed, Neil's certainly the expert.

His first sighting of a spectre was at Pinkie Castle in his native Scotland when he was 17 years old. He and a school friend saw the spooky figure of a woman appear several times.

Since then he has spent evenings chatting with a dead businessman in South Africa, and he shared a glass of whisky with Sir Walter Scott at Fife in 1977.

His most illustrious and regal confidante is Mary Queen of Scots, whom he has met no fewer than five times. He has helped her in France and in Scotland, where they spent many happy hours together.

But returning to the real star of the book, it was only in recent months that the Lily Cove story drew towards a conclusion.

Neil's latest meeting with her was at Droitwich, to where she and her lover had eloped and where they had lived happily together until Lily's death at a ripe old age.

She expressed her regrets at Elizabeth's tragic death, but explained that if she and Charles had revealed the truth it would have meant the end of their passionate relationship. Elizabeth was buried at Haworth cemetery, with everyone believing it was Lily. After Lily's death the heroine was secretly brought to the village and buried in the same plot.

The book's claims are bizarre and many people are sure to dismiss them - a point readily accepted by the author who remains unrepentant.

Certainly there are apparent anomalies between Lily the ghost's account of the facts, and historic records. It is well documented that the balloon was due to go up on the Saturday but was delayed because of problems providing gas to inflate it, yet the ghost attributes the difficulties to the weather.

But come on be fair, even a ghost is allowed to be forgetful. After all, it was 93 years ago!

A Few Special Ghosts I Have Met is published by JocknDoris and retails at £4.99. It is available from various shops in Haworth and from WH Smith, Keighley.

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