Inside the eerie 'ghost town' where only THREE families remain, homes lie abandoned and the church was sold for just 50p

Once a thriving farming community with shops, a railway station and two churches – Solsgirth is now a near-forgotten settlement.

Eerie pictures reveal what the previously busy spot in Manitoba, Canada now looks like, with just a handful of households calling it home as of 2021.

Resident Garry Workman told the Manitoba Co-Operator at the time: 'Once a bustling thoroughfare of businesses, homes and residents, a mere three families now live in the village, counting myself as a family.' 

He moved back to Solsgirth in 1962 after his father's death and worked in agriculture, but the population has dwindled to almost nothing over the years.

Located along the Yellowhead Highway, south of Riding Mountain National Park, there are deserted houses, overgrown gardens and a church where a calendar remains stuck on September 2002, leaving the 'ghost town' frozen in time. 

The hamlet was originally situated around six miles north of its present position and known as Toddburn. It moved after the railway changed its planned route. 

Photographer Dave Conlon, who captured images of the derelict area, said: 'The whole town picked up and followed it.'

There are various disused buildings still standing, including St Stephen's Anglican Church, which was built in 1906. 

The property now sits untouched, with religious books still inside including an old Oxford Holy Bible, resting on a red-covered surface, as well as wooden pews.

Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church, which was converted from a former schoolhouse which closed in 1958, can also be found. 

Its distinctive domes were handcrafted by Michael 'Mike' Swistun, a local carpenter who once performed as the world's strongest man with a circus.

Both churches held their final services just four months apart in 2002 and 50 current and former parishioners reportedly gathered to say goodbye.

St Stephen's Anglican Church was sold to the Prairie Mountain Regional Museum for just one Canadian dollar (50p), although plans to relocate the building never materialised.

Meanwhile, the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church was eventually sold to private buyers who planned to turn it into a home.

Historical records indicate the proposed conversion had not been completed when the site was inspected in 2016.

Some of Solsgirth's old houses are barely visible behind trees and waist-high grass and a few have been left with belongings still inside.

Inside one neglected property, an extraordinary collection of items can be seen scattered across the floor. 

An old television sits above a washing machine, while framed pictures, household objects and assorted clutter fill the room. Another room contains a colourful mountain of baseball caps.

The area once had its own shops and school, but many of those everyday services eventually vanished. 

It's a far cry from the thriving community remembered by older residents, when Solsgirth was a busy stop along the railway. 

The village's decline reflects a wider transformation of Canada's farming communities, as agricultural operations grew larger and families increasingly travelled to bigger towns leaving places like Solsgirth to fade into the past.