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oddest of places.  Lights went on and off and lots of
other strange things happened.  Alan next door, however, had little or no
activity.  I think for once, we were more interesting.
    The refurbishment was complete
and we now boasted a fabulous new kitchen, complete with dry goods
cupboard.  Coincidentally, this cupboard had been built just where we had
almost caught sight of her in the past.  She was in her element. 
Lots of things to move and examine—and she did. 
    At first the girls were a bit
scared and it was rather spooky, but they soon got used to it and would yell.
    “Esther get me some flour!” 
Or sugar or whatever.
    When they were busy, and I
promise you this is no lie, on more than one occasion whatever had been asked
for would appear.  There was one recurring incident, however, that defied
explanation.
    There were three shelves running
round the inside of the cupboard and the bottom and top were very spacious, but
the middle was not.  All our flour products were kept in large containers,
which fitted easily into two of the shelves but were almost impossible to fit
in the middle.  Guess what we had to do almost every morning before
beginning work?  Yes, we had to prise all these containers off the middle
shelf.  This also happened frequently during service which was infuriating
as we had no time to beggar about.
     
    Now I know most ghosts walk
around with their heads tucked under their arm, and others rattle chains; ours
seemed to be content moving boxes of fish batter from shelf to shelf; not very
interesting?  Well when it’s your fish batter it is!
     
    You may well be right, maybe
someone got up every morning and battered these bins into place, maybe someone
was playing tricks on us, but I know what I know and I was sad to leave her
when we moved on.

Is there anybody there???
     
    The Inn was an old blacksmiths forge
with four workers cottages linked together.  They had been built in the
late 1700’s for migrant workers (yes, they had them back then.) 
Conditions would have been difficult and there must have been countless deaths
over the years.  It is not surprising that sightings of ghosts and
spectres were numerous.  As I said I neither believe nor disbelieve, I can
only repeat what others have reported.
    Unlike friendly Esther in Tweedy’s,
the inhabitants of the County were far more threatening and frightening, and
different ghosts haunted different parts of the building.  Maybe they had
territorial boundaries, I wonder what happened if one crossed into another,
they could hardly murder each other!
    So we have established that these
ghosts were not the Caspar type figures.  There was a Grey Lady (there’s
always a Grey lady).  A little girl who was always crying, (now there’s a
change,) and assorted wailer’s, grinders and gnashers of teeth.  However,
the man who spent his time in the function room, formerly the old forge, was
definitely the most frightening and the one spoken about the most.
    It was said to be the local
blacksmith and during the lead up to the Battle of Preston Pans he had been
commandeered by the English army, led by Sir John Cope, to provide weapons for
his army.  Being a loyal Scot, he resisted all attempts to make him work
and eventually he was murdered by two English soldiers, who held him down in
the cooling trough.  Now whether that story bears any resemblance to the
truth, I cannot tell.
    Several staff had experienced a
feeling of being crowded or oppressed.  They would suddenly feel a
presence closing in on them and then feel as though something was leaning
heavily on them.  This was experienced by lots of staff and also by a
customer.  Normally I would put it down to alcohol, but this customer was
a ‘designated driver’ and she had been drinking soft drinks all evening.
    Having forgotten her mobile
phone, she had gone back to collect it.  Alone in the function suite and
leaning over the table, she thought a member of staff had come