DISTURBED residents believe their town is riddled with ghosts – with possessed dolls coming to life and eerie ghouls watching them sleep.
Chester is said to have more ghosts per square mile than almost any other part of the UK.
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesThe Ye Olde Kings Head in Chester is said to be one of the most haunted locations in the area[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesRoss Turtle has already experienced haunting moments in his four months running the pub[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesTeacher Mike Farrelly, 37, said he woke up with an apparition at the end of his bed[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesLocal swimming teacher Jodie Minion (pictured with partner Mark) believes in ghosts[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesSpecial needs teacher Katie Walsh said she has heard multiple stories about paranormal activity in the area[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesThe TV show Most Haunted filmed an episode inside the historic pub[/caption]
The medieval-walled town is steeped in history and dates back to 79AD, when a Roman fort was first established by the River Dee.
And locals say there’s evidence of paranormal activity at almost every turn inside the ancient walls.
Nowhere is more haunted than Lower Bridge Street, where the Ye Olde King’s Head pub dates back to 1622.
The pub is said to be beset by issues with ghosts, ghoulies and apparitions of small children and shadow people.
But guests regularly stay in its bedrooms, seemingly unperturbed by the prospects of paranormal pandemonium during their stay.
Such is the pub’s relationship with ghosts, The TV show Most Haunted filmed an episode inside the ancient walls of the Grade 1 listed building.
Many paranormal investigators have also probed inside the bedrooms of the premises.
Ross Turtle, 31, has already experienced some mind-boggling moments at Ye Olde King’s Head – despite only working at the boozer for four months.
He said: “We have had glasses, just go flying off the shelves when nobody is near them.
“It gets very cold and when I am closing up it’s got an atmosphere that is almost icy.”
His colleague barmaid Erica Dean, 60, added: “I’ve been here nine months and have had the willow doll tap on the glass and seen a few shadows.
“Our other barman James has seen the ghost of a little boy just running through the bar, looking like he was playing hide and seek.
“When I heard the tapping on the glass it was 8.30pm and it was so strange and so clear.”
The willow doll sits in a case inside the bar.
The Romanian gypsy doll was found by two antique dealers who heard it singing and humming before deciding to dispense with it.
Local swimming teacher Jodie Minion, 32, said: “I believe in ghosts, but have never seen one. I want to stay here and see what happens. I believe I need to see one.”
Her partner Tony Billingham, 37, a cleaning supervisor from Essex, added: “I had had no experiences before I stayed at one of the most haunted hotels in Colchester.
“I was cold in the room and I was sleeping and I saw somebody beside me and somebody behind me say ‘hi’ and I was taping that on my mobile phone, so I played it back and it was clear.
“Later I saw a shadow by the side of the bed – it was the Red Lion in Colchester.
“I then turned the light on and the person in bed with me then said ‘why have you done that? Is it because of the person standing beside the bed?’
“I hadn’t mentioned it and that was it for me, I just packed my bag and left.”
Teacher Mike Farrelly, 37, once called into the bar for a drink after a shopping expedition.
He recalled: “I have stayed here and woken up with an old boy stood at the end of the bed.
“They are called shadow people and I used to live in an old terraced house by the Priory and I saw one there. Allegedly they follow you.
“The rooms here are weird, the shape of the rooms and the floor and the ceiling are disconcerting.”
Special needs teacher Katie Walsh, 49, from nearby Bebington, also said: “My nan used to see ghosts, she wasn’t scared of them. She saw them from childhood.
“I love Chester and know the ghost stories. Friends of mine in Seacombe have a place with dungeons they say were haunted from the days of the smugglers with Mother Redcap.
“They have a young girl as a ghost and show people around.”
Landlord Andy McCready, 58, has 10 properties in Chester housing moe than 60 students.
He said: ‘We get a lot of students interested in ghosts around Halloween.
“We have had a couple of reports over the years of things that go bump in the night, but it’s no bad thing for Chester.
“I am open minded, but we’ve never had Yvette Fielding or any other ghost hunters around any of the properties, though some are centuries old.
“It’s great for Chester’s economy that they have the ghost tours and haunted hotels as they attract the tourists and they spend in places all over the city.”
And just a couple of doors up Lower Bridge Street is the Laura Spence Aesthetics Academy, who say they’ve seen spooky goings on.
Laura, 38, said: “The oak beams that run through our building go through to Ye Olde King’s Head. We have seen shadows and people walking past, a lot of activity.
“We have noticed it more when they opened upstairs. We have called in mediums twice to try and clean the spirits out. We have a really strange feeling in the building at times.
Past the ancient cross further up the road is Watergate Street, where an ale house sat during the 1700s.
At the time, young boys were employed to wash the wigs of the upper-class dandies down in the basement in arsenic.
The dangerous job is said to have resulted in many youthful deaths.
In the centuries that have followed, people have reported hearing children’s screams and the sound of a toddler playing with a toy car.
In the graveyard at the former church of St Mary’s On-The-Hill, near Chester Castle, there are apparently three graves belonging to witches.
They met their doom during the Middle Ages, when witchcraft led to thousands of fatal tortures such as the ducking stool, hanging and being burned alive at the stake.
The Roman Ampitheatre, in the centre of the city, is another regular stop on ghost walks around Chester – which start from as little as £10.
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesBarmaid Erica Dean says she’s seen the willow doll tap on its glass case[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesThe Romanian gypsy doll was found by two antique dealers[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesThe Eastgate Street clock in Chester city centre. one of the most haunted parts of the UK[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesThe medieval-walled town is steeped in history[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesLocals say there’s evidence of paranormal activity at almost every turn[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
