Ghosts at Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

here.
    I will leave the last words to Mr W.T. Stead:
    We may turn it which way we please, there is no hypothesis which will fit the facts except the assumption that there is such a thing as a Thought Body, capable of locomotion and speech, which can transfer itself wherever it pleases, clothing itself with whatever clothes it desires to wear, which are phantasmal like itself. Short of that hypothesis, I do not see any explanation possible; and yet, if we admit that hypothesis, what an immense vista of possibilities is opened up to our view!
T HE T OBY C ARVERY C OACH AND F OUR , S OUTH T YNESIDE
    The Toby Carvery is a public house with a long and fascinating history. Formerly known as the Britannia Inn, this South Tyneside pub is thought to be one of the oldest drinking establishments in this particular region. Standing proud at the junction of Boldon Lane and Sunderland Road, this ancient old-world pub is a large and steadfast building, reminiscent of the old fortresses and castles.
    The Toby Carvery was originally built as a coaching inn some time in the seventeenth century. An original stone fireplace in thepub is inscribed with a date of 1675. However, there is evidence that may suggest that an earlier building – also an inn – stood on the site prior to this building. This earlier alehouse may date back as far as the English Civil War.
    The Toby Carvery has a wonderful, cosy atmosphere; however, it also has a reputation for being haunted. In 2001 Mike Hallowell was shown around the pub by the landlord, who told him many interesting ghost tales attached to the place. One story in particular caught my attention …
    In one of the rooms, which is now used for storage, it appears that a member of staff happened to take a momentary glance out of the window onto the avenue outside and was flabbergasted to see a phantom coach and horses silently glide by.
    A customer at the Toby Carvery told Mike a similar story, alleging that his cousin had seen another coach and horses (orperhaps it was the same one as the aforementioned coach and four) pull up next to the Toby Carvery one Christmas Eve, before promptly pulling away again and riding off into the distance.
T HE W HITE L ADY OF C ROOK H ALL , D URHAM
    Just north of Durham City lies the enchanting Crook Hall. It is a short walk from the city centre and stands in majestic surroundings next to the River Wear. This thirteenth-century house provides a dramatic and atmospheric backdrop to its stunning gardens, making it a place of total serenity and extreme beauty.
    The Hall was originally built on land that once belonged to Sidgate Manor and was named after Peter Croke, who owned the land back in the early fourteenth century. Nowadays the Hall is the home of the Bell family, who open the house and gardens to the public so that everyone can experience its natural charm and grandeur.
    The building has three sections which date from three different periods. The medieval hall was built around 1208, although the solar wing, by all accounts, has long disappeared. The hall, withits tall stone walls and high roof, provides a magnificent taste of medieval life. Next we have the Jacobean manor house, which was built in 1671. Complete with a circular turret and old-world furniture, combined with the smell of the crackling wood on the open fire, this section of the Hall really does take the visitor back in time. Then we have the Georgian house. Towering three storeys high and adorned with climbing ivy, this section of the house was built by Henry Hopper of the Hopper family of Shincliffe when they purchased the property in 1736.
    The house is accompanied by five acres of land with an abundance of beautifully cultivated themed gardens, such as the Shakespeare Garden, which is full of plants that would have been around in the days of the great man himself. Other gardens include the Secret Garden, the Georgian Walled Garden, the Silver and White Garden, the Woodland and Solar Wing Garden, the