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I suppose if there's anywhere that's going to have ghosts, it has to be the Attimore Hall with it's nearly 400 hundred year history. Until recently it was a loan isolated farmhouse surrounded by only three small cottages and 300 acres of open fields. There are some people you would expect to tell of ghosts but the stories I report here are from hard headed business people.
Ghost 1: From Liz Laurence, previous manageress. One night as the pub staff were clearing up after closing time, Sue Wade, the assistant manageress checked the toilets. She used the toilet herself and then washed. From the corner of her eye she saw a lady exiting the women’s toilets wearing a big flowery dress. She followed after her expecting to see here in the main bar area but found only Liz She asked Liz if she saw the women. Liz said no. They checked all the possible exit places where she could have gone too, but there was no one there! Later, on several occasions first thing in the morning, when normally you would expect a stale Pub smell, there was instead the smell of old rose perfume. From the type of perfume, Liz guesses the period was 30s to the 40s. Also, on a few occasions, in the front bay rooms that were part of the old house, small piles of dirt appeared. One night doors were heard slamming at 2 to 3 o’clock in the morning. Because these doors were not in use, Bob, Liz's husband, nailed the doors up and then for three following nights all the alarms went of in the middle of the night. An alarm expert was sent for to check the installation but he could find no fault with the system. Ghost 2:
From Nickie and John Coghlan Nickie felt a small child tapping on her shoulder whilst she was asleep in bed. Her son Robert would do this when he was ill or upset. Nickie tuned expecting to see her son but there was no one there! The tapping on her shoulder still continued. She woke her husband, John and told him that she felt the tapping. He could see nothing but Nickie still felt the tapping. Robert, said one night, what’s that lady doing? There was no one there! On several occasions in the kitchen area Nickie has seen a small boy peeking around corners and through windows. He appears briefly and then is gone. All she can recall is that he is about 8 to 10 years old with dark hair. Like Liz and Sue before him, John Coghlan has smelt a sweet sickly smell in some of the rooms. John and Nickie reports that it seems as though there is the presence of a small boy who only seems to appear when their son Robert is away. August 2000. Tomo was running the pub alone with the managers John and Nickie away. He took the till trays up to the office and put the bulk of the cash in the safe. The float money for the next days business was left in the till trays. He locked the office and went to bed. Next day was cold and he remembered he had left his fleece coat in the office. He unlocked the door and took his fleece from the back of the chair. He then noticed that all the money had been taken out of the till trays and laid in neat piles. All the note denominations and all the coin types were placed up in neat piles. He went downstairs to get Hazel who works in the kitchen to witness what he had seen. She walked ahead of Tomo up the stairs and witnessed the coins stashed in piles. Tomo told her the room had been locked all night and the only key was beside him when he slept. It was just as though a small child had played with the money! Ghosts 4: From Paul and Val Fairweather, previous managers. I suppose it must go with job. Working in very old Public houses with long murky histories. Paul and Val say they have definitely seen ghosts in previous Pubs they have worked at. Although they never actually saw any at the Atti', they both report that there was always a 'presence' when they worked and lived there. Objects kept being moved and lost! Ghosts 5: From Janine Aitkin, Bar Staff Around September 2000, Sunday lunchtime, Janine was in the non smoking room, which is one of the original Farmhouse rooms at the front, and she glanced towards the inglenook fireplace. This an original part of the old farmhouse and has remained substantially unchanged for over 200 years. She saw a lady wearing Victorian type apparel with her hair in a bun standing in the fireplace, looking quite happy and staring towards the bay window. Janine didn't look again and left quickly. July 2001, Janine reports that she smelt a pungent Rose smell from what used to be the kitchen area of the old Attimore farm house. Ghosts 6: From John Giddens, Previous Manager. When Liz and Bob were the managers of the Attimore, John was standing at the kitchen end of the bar having a drink. He saw Liz walk out of the tenants private door into the bar area and walk towards the kitchen. He felt a tug on his jacket and assumed that Liz had come around the end of the bar into the customer area to talk to him. He turned round expecting to see her --- but no one was there !! Liz had in fact walked straight into the kitchen. There was no one in sight who could have tugged his jacket! Ghosts 7: From Pauline Heatley (Barmaid) Since starting as a Barmaid at the Atti' from October 2000, Pauline has sensed the presence of a small person behind her whilst working at the bar. Usually at the corner of the bar next to the stairs door. It makes her turn around expecting to see someone but there's no one to be seen. One time, working with Simon Miles, all the glasses in the dish washer drawer started to rattle for no obvious reason. Both of them witnessed the event. Ghost 8: From Jo Banks (Barmaid) At the end of the 2000 Millennium celebrations at the Attimore Pub, two of Jo's friends, Karen and Richard had no way to get home so they were offered the Non Smoking room of the Attimore to sleep in. Not knowing its history or caring anyway they took up the offer and slept in what was one of the original rooms of the Attimore Hall Farmhouse. Throughout the night they heard footsteps but then realised that the footsteps were going nowhere. Next morning, Jo told them that that's where one of the ghosts lives. They were both visibly shaken, especially Richard. Jo herself, says that she often feels the presence of someone passing her when she works in the Pub near or in the non-smoking room, but there's no one to be seen. Ghost 9. From Sally (Barmaid) It seems that every time I bring up the subject of ghosts at the Attimore someone else gives a report. Sally, who has been a barmaid for some time now, reports that she keeps feeling the presence of someone walking behind her when she's serving at the bar. Once again when she turns, there's no one there! Ghost 10. From Karen (Barmaid) 24/6/01 I saw a new barmaid as I walked in just 10 minutes before closing. Blonde, good looking and tall. You know how it is you try to engage a conversation. "You must be the new managers wife, Sam", I said. "No" she said, "I'm Karen". "I don't suppose you've seen any ghosts" I said jokingly. "Funny you should say that" she said! "Last Tuesday whilst serving behind the bar I looked towards the kitchen and noticed someone in black behind the bar facing out about my size (5' 8"). I thought someone had walked behind the bar, I looked away at some people I knew and then looked back. The Figure had gone. I told the people at the bar what I had seen and they told me about the Web Site that had accounts of ghosts. Before this, I had not known of the Attimore ghosts". "I felt no fear or intimidation", she said. Spooky, or what! Ghost 11. Russell (Previous Assistant Manager) 11/7/01 Russell, late of the White Horse, Burnam Green, now the assistant Manager was not convinced of the Ghost stories told by previous employees. Last night, doing the rounds with manager Jason, the door to the toilets was seen to be bolted. That night around 2 o'clock, the alarm went off. The police arrived and asked if all doors were locked. "Yes" they said. An officer pushed against the toilet access door and it swung open! "I saw you bolt that door" said Russell to Jason. Now Russell is not so sceptic about the Ghosts of Attimore Hall! Ghost 12. Lauren Mason (Assistant Manager) 28/8/01 Lauren (Petite and sexy) charged with the responsibility of the evenings takings and taking the till trays to the upstairs office heard some strange sounds. Keys and footsteps and door slammings coming from the upper stories of the Attimore Hall! She thought that maybe Jason the Manager had returned but there was no one there! Now, not so sure about the stories she has heard. Ghost 13. Dean Roebuck (Assistant Manager) 5/2/03 After a long spell with no spooky events comes three strange occurrences all on the same day. At around 2:45 PM came the noise of a knife falling and a scream from the kitchen. When this was investigated by Dean and another, a knife was seen on the floor but there was no one in the kitchen! At around 4:30 PM Dean and Chris saw the lid of a pedal bin open all by itself. At around 5:30 a shelf fell down for no reason. These events are in the style of previous events that have the hall mark of a small boy playing pranks. Ghost 14 Lee (Bar Assistant) Early December 2003, Lee was in the store house which used to be the grain store when the pub was a farmhouse. He had to lock the door and left the keys in the lock. He felt someone pass by him and turned, but there was no one there. He went to the door to retrieve the keys but they were gone!. He then felt down and found the keys were in his pocket. He told this story to a regular (John the train) without any knowledge of the previous stories about ghosts. He could have not been influenced by any previous stories. This was his own unique experience.
Although not recent, whilst talking about the ghosts at the Atti', Tony described an 'encounter' he had in 2002. It was midday in the left hand front room. Tony was sitting at a table after a couple of beers and his glass that was 3/4 full just slid sideways off the table. He caught it but being a bit shaken said out loud "leave me alone" and walked out of the pub. For a report on the Attimore Ghosts and others around the country, take a look at: www.mysterymag.co.uk Also look at www.utyx.com/ghosts
If you have any stories about strange happenings at the Attimore Hall please e-mail
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Of course there are no ghosts
but I would still run if I saw one! 