Corby Glen author shares ghost stories from Stamford, Spalding and Grantham to mark Halloween
With spooky ghosts and ghouls adorning houses for Halloween today, what are your chances of seeing the real deal in Lincolnshire?
Paranormal enthusiast Phil Kerry, from Corby Glen, has been collecting tales of ghosts for the past 40 years and earlier this year put pen to paper with his new book 25 True Ghost Stories.
Phil said: “The end of October is when the veil is thinnest, so that’s when more things seem to happen.
“Ghosts generally can be seen between 11pm to 1am, you're wasting time outside of those hours.”
To mark Halloween, Phil has shared some terrifying tales of local hauntings which feature in his book.
The Phantom Stagecoach
During the winter months of 1999, six men from the darts team at The Green Man in Ropsley set out to play a match at The Railway Inn public house in the village of Ancaster which is just a few miles to the north.
The team assembled at the green in the village, climbed into two vehicles and set off towards the A52.
A noticeable mist was thickening into a fog. Moments later, the driver’s saw something blocking the road ahead.
A 19th century stage coach pulled by horses was crossing the road, the witness recounted to Phil. The horse's breath could be seen exhaling in the cold air as it drew the heavy coach and they could hear the heavy wooden wheels as they revolved on the ground below. It only disappeared from their view several seconds later once it was consumed by the thickness of the fog.
All six men were shaken and agreed to return to their homes rather than continue onwards to their darts match.
The Stamford Strangler
Intrigued by the location of The Crown Hotel in Stamford, Phil visited to ask staff if they knew of any spooky tales.
No specific ghost was mentioned but one of the team shared a chilling event that had left them shaken.
One night, a male staff member suddenly collapsed, his body violently shaking in an agonising spasm as if by the hands of an invisible force, the staff member recounted. His hands clenched around his own neck, cutting off his air.
Colleagues rushed to his aid and it took four of them to pry his vice-like grip loose from his throat.
Afterwards the individual had no memory of the incident or explanation for his actions and it never happened again.
Voice of the dead
During the 1990s, a friend of Phil’s, Anne, drove to a Spalding nursing home to visit her mum Alice, who had suffered a stroke and had been speechless for almost a year.
As she approached the home, she felt a weight on her shoulders and a presence behind her but when she turned to look, there was nothing there.
When she arrived and looked in her mother’s eyes something was different, and to her surprise her mum greeted her aloud. It wasn’t her mother’s voice; it was that of her father who had died two years before.
She then found out that Alice was taking honey in her tea and listening to classical music, both out of character for her mother as they were traits of her father.
The poltergeist
The Hare and Hounds in Fulbeck has had several reports of a ghost walking across the upstairs landing.
The haunting tale Phil was told focuses on an incident witnessed by a patron in 1994, which took a sinister turn.
Four men were sitting at the bar when the air went cold.
They witnessed a light bulb in the bulkhead above the bar slowly unscrew itself and crash down to the bar shattering on the wooden counter right in front of them.
The men felt very unwelcome, left their drinks half full and thought that it was best that they left.
A cleansing of The Bull and Swan
A story yet to feature in Phil’s books is one which was given to him by Ralph Ticehurst, a fellow author and spiritual healer.
One aspect of Ralph's job is to 'cleanse' properties from unwanted spirits and negative energies, which he once completed at the Bull and Swan Hotel in Stamford.
The landlord had reported that lights would turn on and off, indents would be found on fresh duvet covers and doors were slammed shut despite being wedged open.
They witnessed a table for two would appear to have three people around it but after looking again the third person would be gone.
When Ralph visited he discovered spirits of a lady called Harriet and numerous wool traders - who were walking through a solid wall into a secure back room.
The landlady, who was heavily pregnant, was shocked and exclaimed to Ralph that if her child was to be a girl, the chosen name was Harriet.
The landlord was bemused as there was no room evident, just a solid wall but several months later contacted Ralph to inform him he had found a hidden door to the room.
After the exorcism, the building was rid of spirits and life returned to normal at the Bull and Swan.
Have you seen a ghost? Share your stories in the comments below.