A GLANCE at the topographical map of the United Kingdom will soon reveal why the Pennine Hills are called the backbone of England. Like a spine of millstone grit running from the northern parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire down through the limestone quarries of Derbyshire's High Peak and into Staffordshire they dominate the central part of the British mainland in any atlas or satellite photograph.

However, what maps and geographical boundaries cannot tell you is the hidden secret of the Pennines. For these hills are haunted -- and always have been. They form what researchers into the strange and mysterious call a "window area" -- and one of the most important, in Europe.

For centuries the level of extraordinary phenomena reported from these bleak moors, valley hamlets and cotton-bred townships has been far beyond the level experienced elsewhere. This area has generated more tales of boggarts and monsters, ghosts and UFOs than virtually anywhere else in the northern hemisphere. And the trend shows no sign of abating...

Supernatural Pennines by Jenny Randles reveals the mysterious energy at work in this remarkable area and demonstrates that it is one of the most haunted places on earth.

Published by Robert Hale at £18.99.