A secret tunnel, a haunting and the real Get Carter

Michael Caine in the iconic Brit noir thriller Get Carter

Does a ghost haunt a Skegness bingo hall, and how did a writer from Barton-upon-Humber blow open British crime writing?

The BBC's Secret Lincolnshire podcast has been seeking the answers to these questions and many more.

Topics covered by the series range from forgotten characters to intriguing folk tales, such as the "missing" bugler of Kirkstead Abbey.

Here are three of the most intriguing and little-known tales investigated over the past year. You can enjoy more by listening to the podcast on BBC Sounds.

Down the rabbit hole

Today, Kirkstead Abbey is a jagged finger of a ruin, a victim of Henry VIII.

But legend has it that a secret tunnel runs from the abbey to Tattershall Castle, and that a man vanished while exploring it.

So is there any truth to the story, and what does it tell us about how folk tales begin and spread?

Dr Rory Waterman, who leads the Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project, says a subterranean canal once ran through the area. It is shown in plans from the 18th Century.

According to the legend, several people went to the mouth of this tunnel and one went down with a bugle and his dog.

"He was going to blow the bugle if he got in any difficulty," Dr Waterman says.

After a long time, the bugle started going off. Then the dog came running out and vanished across the fields in terror.

The bugle carried on blowing, but the people at the top did not dare follow their friend.

"Eventually the bugle stopped blowing and he was never seen again," Dr Waterman adds.

In the abbey's heyday, it would have been a large complex, full of life. But it was destroyed after the Lincolnshire Rising of 1536, when the last abbot and three monks were executed.

"I don't think there's a body somewhere between here and Tattershall Castle underground in a tunnel," Dr Waterman says.

"I think what is true is that there was a subterranean passage. I'd imagine there were lots of stories around what that might be and where it might go to."

The passage is no longer there and, over the years, the stories have "got taller in the telling".

Folk tales began as ways of explaining things, entertaining people and cautioning them against things, Dr Waterman says.

"They're not necessarily entirely made up – they're created from real circumstances.

"It's a gossip through the ages."

A haunted seat

Bingo players in Skegness claim their hall is haunted by a "mischievous but friendly" presence.

The Roman Bank bingo hall was built in 1887 and at one time was a cinema.

It is claimed one of the original flip-up seats moves of its own accord, as if a ghostly cinema-goer were sitting down to watch a film.

"Cyril", as he is known to some, is said to be a portly man with a very gruff voice.

Staff say he is a "bit of a joker", who likes to move things around. Some claim to have seen his shadow walking upstairs on the balcony.

Jason Beauchamp-Hughes, the general manager, has been told Cyril was a projectionist and army volunteer, whose wife was an usherette.

"My staff have told me that they've experienced things," he says.

"I've never really experienced it myself, but I find it fascinating that every time I work in an old cinema-style building, there's a ghost story.

"I suppose for a building that is dating back to 1887, the chances are there's going to be something in there somewhere."

Fancy checking it out for yourself? Cyril's seat can be found on the balcony, "three rows down and four across".

Barton's godfather

He has been described as the "godfather of Brit noir" and one of the "most important authors you've never heard of".

His credits range from working on a film for the Beatles to the creation of one of Michael Caine's most iconic roles.

Ted Lewis broke the mould in British crime writing in the 1960s. His most famous work, the novel Jack's Return Home, was adapted into the film Get Carter.

Lewis spent his formative years in Barton-upon-Humber, which had a big influence on his writing, according to his biographer Nick Triplow.

The finale of the novel is set in ruined brickworks on the Humber foreshore – a location transplanted to Hartlepool in the film.

"Lewis brings his own life and his own experiences into his writing," says Mr Triplow.

"Some of the characters in Get Carter [are] named after people he knew in Barton at the time."

Lewis studied at Hull College of Art and started travelling to London to see jazz gigs at Ronnie Scott's.

He moved to the capital, where he finished his first novel and, in 1967, worked on the animation for the Beatles' Yellow Submarine film.

He eventually returned to his home town to live a "life of obscurity", according to Mr Triplow.

"It was the place where he was probably at his happiest.

"You can imagine on a very windy day, it's very like the location that Mike Hodges would go on to choose for the end of Get Carter."

Lewis died in 1980, at the age of just 42. In the same year, his novel GBH, which many critics consider his finest work, was published.

A blue plaque marks his childhood home in Westfield Road. The house features in several of his novels.

Meanwhile, the Ted Lewis Centre, in Ferriby Road, tells the author's life story.

His work is likely to be remembered, and enjoyed, for generations to come.

Enjoy more of the podcasts by visiting the Secret Lincolnshire page on BBC Sounds.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.