Ghostly Goings On At Historic Pub
Many of us refuse to believe they exist, while others are not so sure. Some people are just too plain scared even to think of them.
But for Norfolk landlord Andy Coleman the existence of supernatural beings has never been less than a certainty — and now he has proof.
A couple of years ago the 39-year-old installed 10 CCTV cameras throughout the White Horse pub in Trowse, which he runs with partner Pam O’Reilly, 41.
The aim was to deter uninvited visitors — and so far they have been doing the job.
But Mr Coleman got more than he bargained for when one of the cameras brought him face to face with what he could only describe as “something inexplicable”.
He had been closing up behind the bar with Ms O’Reilly and one of the bar staff when he caught a glimpse of an orb-like object swirling around one of the function rooms. “It was as quick as a flash,” he said.
Mr Coleman, who also works as a cellar technician, rushed into the room to see what was going on, but there was nothing to be seen.
When he replayed the tape he found a solitary still of the mysterious object close to the camera lens.
Since then he has checked and double-checked the lighting, the camera, the electrics and just about anything else to give the mysterious sighting a logical explanation — but nothing has stood up.
Two further sightings have since been made.
Ghostly goings on at the 19th century former inn are by no means uncommon. When mother-of-three Ms O’Reilly took over the running of the pub 11 years ago, locals warned her it was haunted.
Since then there have been numerous reports of screaming children, footsteps on the landings and pictures flying off the walls.
When Ms O’Reilly’s eldest son Liam, 11, was younger he claimed to have been visited in his room by a blonde girl called Chloe.
Years later her eldest son with Mr Coleman, Luke, aged four, claimed that he too had been visited by a blonde girl — even though they had never told him about Liam’s story.
Mr Coleman said he felt at ease in the pub and that he had always been convinced that there are “some things we just can’t explain”.
However, Ms O’Reilly has not been able to bring herself to lock up at night since the CCTV episode. “I don’t like it,” she said. “It left me very unsettled and I couldn’t sleep for several nights afterwards.
“Just as I was beginning to come to terms with it, I came downstairs only to see Andy showing the video to someone in the bar — I went nuts.”
Mr Coleman said that he had been in contact with a couple of paranormal societies to get their slant on things.
“They’ll only come over if the place is notoriously haunted,” he said.
“A psychic girl in the village said it was an angel passing through.”
Copyright © 2004 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.
• Story taken from EveningNews24.com, 11 August 2004.
