In the heart of Liverpool, one historic thoroughfare has become synonymous with a bizarre and enduring mystery: the 'time slip'. Bold Street, a bustling shopping destination, is famed not just for its retail offerings but for a series of uncanny incidents where the present seems to dissolve, offering glimpses of a bygone era.
The Case That Captured a City's Imagination
The most celebrated account of a Bold Street time slip centres on a man researchers call 'Frank'. Paranormal author Tom Slemen, renowned for his 'Haunted Liverpool' series, documented the event. In July 1996, Frank was in the city centre with his wife. While she visited Dillons bookshop, he browsed CDs in the Our Price music store near Central Station.
Upon returning to meet his wife, Frank was stunned. The familiar Dillons had vanished. In its place stood a department store named Cripps. The entire scene had transformed; people wore old-fashioned attire and vintage cars filled the street, seemingly transporting Bold Street back to the 1950s. The shock intensified when a box car branded 'Caplans' almost struck him.
Shared Experiences Across the Decades
As Frank tried to comprehend the scene, he encountered another bewildered individual: a 20-year-old woman named Emma, dressed in contemporary 1990s fashion. Both peered into Cripps, observing handbags and shoes on display. Suddenly, the vision shattered. 1996 snapped back into place, Cripps reverted to Dillons, and the two strangers were left to share their incredible experience.
However, Frank's story is far from isolated. Comments on social media, particularly under AI-generated images of the phenomenon, reveal a pattern. Liverpudlian Irene Morton reported her own time slip on Bold Street as far back as 1971, insisting the people from the other era could see her too. These reports suggest the phenomenon is a recurring, if inexplicable, feature of the location.
Could the Answer Lie Beneath the Pavement?
Some researchers speculate that the street's unique physical structure may hold clues. Bold Street sits atop an extensive underground maze of walls and waterways. In 2001, a significant archaeological discovery was made: a historic well within these subterranean formations. The Museum of Liverpool hailed it as "one of the greatest finds in Liverpool City Centre".
Archaeologists spent three weeks excavating the site, unearthing artefacts like clay pipes and porcelain fragments. Today, this feature is known as Ye Olde Wishing Well, located within Jeff's premises. Whether this hidden geography somehow influences perceptions on the street above remains a topic of fascinated debate, adding a layer of tangible history to the intangible mysteries reported for decades.
