Screeching Ginny, Garston

[marky]

Has anyone taken a pic of this artwork yet...
http://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/newsa...d=1047&catid=1

[Kev]

I have, its on my phone, I'm having difficulty getting it off.

[ChrisGeorge]

Has anyone taken a pic of this artwork yet...
http://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/newsa...d=1047&catid=1

Sounds like a case for Tom Slemen.

Chris

Here's the full text of that article:

Youngsters chose Hallowe'en to launch a new piece of artwork at Liverpool South Parkway in Merseyside telling the spooky tale about a witch said to haunt the local railway.

Students from St Benedict's College Student Support Centre in Garston created the artwork, in collaboration with Merseytravel and Liverpool artist Peter Ogunsiji.

Laser cut into galvanised steel, the artwork tells of "Screeching Ginny", a local folk story about a so-called witch in Cressington, who fell in love with a local boy and put a spell on him to make him love her.

Her mother was able to break the spell and the local boy fell in love with another. The witch saw the boy with his new fiancee at the old Garston Dock Station and, in despair, threw herself into the front of an oncoming train.

The witch, and her screeches, are still said to haunt the railways around the area.

Councillor Mark Dowd, Chair of Merseytravel "This has been a fantastic project and the students have all taken an active part in creating this artwork. It's only right we display their talents at Liverpool South Parkway."

Maria Checkland who works in Merseytravel`s Community Links team, was heavily involved in the project. She said: "The students have been brilliant throughout this project, and have come up with some really creative ideas for this artwork. We exchanged our views about what we thought Screeching Ginny would look like, and how we could tell the story in a simple way.

"From that, Peter Ogunsiji took all their ideas away and created a design the students thought was great. It was then laser cut in galvanised steel, then taken back to the centre to be painted."

A short synopsis of the story . . . developed by the students, accompanies the artwork on a plaque.

The Story of Screeching Ginny

On 15th November 1959, a group of children were playing near the railway at Garston Dock Station. All of sudden, an ugly witch appeared and chased them, flying after them and screeching at the top of her voice.

On St Mary's Road she gave up the chase, but the children kept running.

A local boy, aged 10, ran down Russell Road to where his gran was waiting for him. He told his gran about the witch. She told him it was Screeching Ginny.

According to local folklore, Ginny was from a strange family who people thought were witches. They had moved to a house in Cressington. It was said that people who didn`t like the family died in strange circumstances.

Ginny had fallen in love with a local boy, and put a spell on him to make him love her, but this was broken by her mother. The boy got engaged to someone else and Ginny was heartbroken.

She followed him and his sweetheart to the station, where she ran screeching onto the tracks and was hit by a train.

Her ghost is said to still haunt Garston Dock Station even after it closed in the 1940s.

[wsteve55]

This brings to mind a story of a "ginny greenteeth", who was used as a frightener for kids, to keep away from the Anglican cathedral grounds / cemetery. This went back further than the 50's though,but possibly still some connection? (her mother!)

[ghughesarch]

This brings to mind a story of a "ginny greenteeth", who was used as a frightener for kids, to keep away from the Anglican cathedral grounds / cemetery. This went back further than the 50's though,but possibly still some connection? (her mother!)

Jinny Greenteeth is pond weed / duck weed, personifying a water demon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Greenteeth

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=001...3E2.0.CO%3B2-A

[Kev]

[johnreppion]

Cheers for the picture Kev.

Does anyone know any more about Screeching Ginny? Other than stuff relating to the plaque and the artwork, I can't find anything online. Anyone here from Garston? I just wonder where they got the info for the plaque.

[brian daley]

In Shaw Street there is a little patch of green, on which stood a little lock up.It was circular with a conical tower and, when we were kids, we knew it as
Screeching Ginnys' castle.Does that ring a bell with anyone out there?
Although I spent a lot of my formative years in Garston ,the only Screeching Ginny I heard tell of was the one associated with that little lock up.
BrianD

[Ged]

Hello Brian. That lock up is still there and i've been inside it when the door was smashed in the late 1970s. It is the crest/badge of the Everton Football Club and we knew it as Prince Rupert's Castle.

[lindylou]

Yes, it's stil there alright

I've never heard of screeching Ginny being associated with it tho'

[johnreppion]

In Shaw Street there is a little patch of green, on which stood a little lock up.It was circular with a conical tower and, when we were kids, we knew it as
Screeching Ginnys' castle.Does that ring a bell with anyone out there?
Although I spent a lot of my formative years in Garston ,the only Screeching Ginny I heard tell of was the one associated with that little lock up.
BrianD

Brian, did the story of screeching Ginny you knew share any elements with the one on the plaque?