MURDERED mayors, swarthy smugglers, long-dead pirates, and ghostly goings on.

The history of Old Town Poole and the Quay will once again be brought to life by storyteller Michele O’Brien – now in her 13th year giving Granny Cousins’ Ghost Walks around the town.

Michele tells tales and spin yarns in full character as her alter ego - the knocker-upper who woke the residents of the town in Victorian times.

The evening walks, which begin outside Scaplen’s Court Museum take in the mysterious alleyways, old walls and ancient buildings of the area.

Among the chilling sights are the Crown Hotel “the most haunted place in Poole where a builder was frightened from his bed by a ball of light as big as a baby’s head” and the narrow alley where a shadowy figure “passed straight through” a shocked passer-by, according to Michele.

“The new buildings disappear and you can be there in the beautiful ancient walled town,” she added.

The Poole resident born and bred is passionate about the history of the area and mine of information about its bygone days – right back the Roman and Celtic times.

“I think it’s really important to understand where you live. It gives you a sense of who you are and where you come from.”

The storyteller, who was honoured with a Poole Tourism Palm award in 2004, added: “I want to give people a sense of the past – but I don’t want them to go home and have nightmares. I also want them to have a very good laugh. I get as much humour into it as possible.”

Her next project is the tale of the spice trade in the town in Tudor times.

Granny Cousins’ Ghost Walks of Old Poole Town are on Mondays and Wednesday at 8pm from July 26 to September 8.