Though I have heard thousands of ghost stories over the years, very few have involved witches and I was intrigued when Bill told me his next tale was about the murder of a witch. Sarah was not in fact a witch, but it suited her accuser to condemn her as such.

I met Bill early on Wednesday afternoon and although it was only a little after 3, the light was already beginning to fade. The landscape is dull and tired now, the fields in hibernation, awaiting the spring. The only colour among the gre...

Milly stood at the small window of her cottage and watched the children at play. She smiled at their antics as they chased one another round the yard.

Francis, her eldest at just eight was pretending to be a monster and his lumbering gait had his sisters Jane aged six and Maura four, screaming with excitement and terror. Milly shook her head in awe of their innocence and wishing she could remember such a time. Her husband Pat was due in soon for his dinner and there was work to be done. Select...

There were still a couple of hours of daylight left when we set off for the wood. I was wrapped up against the chill in a heavy coat and gloves, but Bill wore only his threadbare jacket. I’ve bought him gloves and hats in the past, but he refuses to wear them. He says he’s used to the cold, though the state of his skin belies this, as his cheeks are red and threaded with veins and his hands dry and sore-looking.

“I can’t understand how it’s gotten so cold,” I shivered, as we steppe...

Tom’s cottage is snug, though the air is thick from the turf  he uses to keep the old range going. I sat at the table and watched as he took plates of cold meats and cheeses out of the fridge.

He had prepared these ahead of time, and I was glad I hadn’t refused his offer of lunch. I was touched and honoured to find he had bought packets of gluten free biscuits for me, and he offered me juice instead of tea. Once he had finished setting the table, he sat opposite and started to talk, as he ...

The elements were against me as I set off on Monday morning, and instead of the sunshine I’d hoped for, the sky was grey and overcast.The first drops of rain splattered the windscreen, as I pulled out of the driveway and I was glad I’d bought a coat and umbrella.

The first sixty miles were the usual seemingly unending stretch of bleak motorway and it wasn’t until I pulled off the main road and was heading into the countryside, that I finally relaxed. The winding, narrow roads here haven�...

The world had never been kind to lovers. Those who have fallen in love unwisely have often met with the most horrifying acts of cruelty, even death. From the middle ages and right up to the present day, we read of those who have suffered at the hands of disapproving parents, whose anger had spurred them to terrible acts of violence and murder.

My story this week concerns two such lovers, but it is not the classic boy meets girl tale. I first heard the story many years ago from a school friend ...

As hauntings go, the story I’m about to tell you is a fairly recent one. It began in the 1940s, so those of you who remember halfpennies and sixpences, can cast your minds eye back to the time. I first heard about the ghost a week ago and started my investigations right away.

You know from reading my blog that it’s set in a country pub and I will start by telling you a little about the place. It is in the midlands, in a rather remote spot, just outside a village. I will call it Morris’s ...

In my wandering through the remote parts of this beautiful country, I have come across many strange tales, of hauntings and ghosts. The story of the Pedlar is one of the latest and was told to me a few weeks ago by an old woman who lives near my uncle.

Although we are in the middle of summer here, it is cold and the days damp and overcast. The woman, we will call her Betty, knows I am interested in ghost story, so she told my uncle to send me to see her the next time I was visiting him and to ...

Tonight I continue with the story of Gallows Hill House. I have told you how the haunting began and as we progress, I’ll recount the interviews I had with Katie, the present occupier.

After Thomas’s death, the house was sold off and the shares divided between his few remaining relations. It passed from one owner to the other over the next few hundred years, though none stayed for very long. Its present owner refused to be interviewed, but I know from asking about in the locality, that he s...