Free entry for Mollys and Leighs at Alton Towers this weekend

This Saturday and Sunday the theme park will honour the discount to anyone who arrives at admissions with valid ID proving that they share a name with Molly Leigh or variations of the spelling, the famous witch of Burslem, Staffordshire, who stars in the new Alton Towers Dungeon

This year, Staffordshire Day, coordinated by Destination Staffordshire, has the theme Made in Staffordshire and will celebrate the county’s brewing and ceramic heritage, as well as food and drink, music, and people made here.

To mark the occasion Alton Towers Resort has chosen to honour Molly Leigh, a local legend renowned for being shunned by the local villagers and accused of cursing the community. After her death locals said they were being haunted and terrorised her restless ghost.

The Pastor Spencer then had her body exhumed and had her pet Raven thrown inside the coffin, which was then re-buried in the opposite direction. Her story is part of the Alton Towers Dungeon, a live actor led experience takes guests on a journey through Staffordshire’s darkest history.

Over the weekend, the attraction will also be surprising guests with a range of freebies as random acts of kindness, including free ice-cream, doughnuts and fastracks.

This is inspired by the lesser known and unlikely end to Molly’s story. After the discovery of a copy of her will that was recently recovered showed that following her death, Molly had in fact left all her fortune to benefit the local church and the community.

James Walker from Alton Towers Resort said: “We are proud to be located in the heart of Staffordshire and looking forward to celebrating Staffordshire Day again in a unique and fun way.

“The new Alton Towers Dungeon gave us a great opportunity to delve into the history of Staffordshire and it goes without say that the legend of Molly Leigh really struck a chord.

"We wanted to use the theme of Staffordshire Day to further highlight Molly’s story and do something memorable for our guests visiting over the celebratory weekend.”

Launched by Enjoy Staffordshire, Staffordshire Day has taken place annually since its launch on May 1, 2016. The celebrations will include the weekends before and after, to give people as much chance as possible to get involved.

In 2018, over 60,000 people attended Staffordshire Day events, generating over £1m for the county economy, while many also supported on social media, with more than 5,700 tweets including the #StaffordshireDay hashtag.