London tops the list of UK cities with the most haunted pubs, recording 83 ghost reports across the capital, according to a new study compiled for Halloween. The research, carried out by family ski holiday specialists Ski Famille, used the Paranormal Database, a long-running archive of UK sightings, folklore and historical accounts including ghost sightings by landlords and punters alike.
Brighton ranks second with 38 recorded ghost reports at its pubs, more than twice as many as York, which is often called Europe's most haunted city. The cellar of the Black Lion in Brighton is said to be haunted by Deryck Carver, believed to be the city's first brewer, who was burnt in a tar barrel for his Protestant faith in 1555.
Ghostly Tales from York and Edinburgh
York has just 16 pub ghost reports, with The Golden Fleece on Pavement said to be haunted by a Canadian airman who fell from an upstairs window towards the end of World War 2. Edinburgh has 13 ghosts, including William Brodie, a respected citizen by day and a burglar by night, who was hanged in 1788 and has a pub named after him. His ghost is said to dash from the Deacon Brodie's Tavern across the road to Brodie's Close.
In London, the landlord of The Ten Bells in Spitalfields claimed in the 1970s that the ghost of Annie Chapman, one of Jack the Ripper's victims, had taken up residence. Sheffield has 11 ghosts, including that of an old drinker who sits by the stone fireplace still holding his jugs of beer in the Old Queen's Head, said to be the city's oldest pub.
Advice for Halloween Pub-Goers
Alex Dyer, the firm's managing director, said that because "Halloween falls at the end of half-term this year, and with the clocks going back today (SUN), it will be dark by teatime all week. A pub with a ghost story is an easy evening out, and most of these towns and cities have ghost walks running in October."
However, he noted that "a few of the pubs with the best stories have closed or changed their names, so check before you set off" and added: "If you're taking the children, look up the pub's family times as well."
