When a new couple took over the pub in the late 1970s, things began to become more serious. Mr and Mrs Hansom were excited to move to the pub along with their 2 young sons, Thomas, 4 and Michael, 2. Due to their personal circumstances, Mr Hansom lived for a month on his own in the pub and it was then that he started to notice some strange activity.
He heard what he believed to be a harpsichord being played coming from somewhere inside the pub but couldn’t find the source. It was on one night that he was ascending the stairs, only to feel an invisible force brush past him.. He was to later ring his wife and ask for her and their sons to join him as quickly as they could as the place was getting a bit ‘creepy’. Mr Hansom said he didn’t believe in ghosts but did feel there was something odd occurring.
When Mrs Hansom and their two sons joined Mr Hansom, it was a week later when their youngest son Michael started to react to something unseen. He would point to the staircase and would start screaming. As he was only two, he would shout ‘Man there’ and have a screaming fit. The woman who looked after both Michael and Thomas, would tell the Hansom’s that Michael would have these screaming fits and would always say something about a man.
Whilst this was happening with Michael, the Hansom’s would hear someone, or something, stomping around upstairs. Items would also disappear. When talking to the locals at the pub, they were told about Charlie the cavalier ghost but how he had been friendly and had no trouble at all. They were all concerned to hear about little Michael and were very surprised to hear that the ghost was causing this much trouble.
The Hansom’s decided to move away from the pub and their business partner would move into the pub and live there too. They couldn’t allow whatever was causing Michael’s distress to continue any longer.
The BBC sent a crew to film inside the pub and their lighting equipment unexpectedly blew up. A press photographer also tried to take photos but his flashgun wouldn’t work.
The pub was later to close and now houses a travel agent- I wonder if Charlie the ghost has given that business any trouble?
