Many of Britain’s hotels have taken on a ghostly aura. Far from scaring off potential visitors, inexplicable phenomena seem to be a highly marketable asset these days. In hostelries throughout the land, Grey Ladies (or Ladies in Black, or White, or Blue, occasionally a daring shade of Red) are reported to drift through walls and float over lakes, accompanied by spectral orbs and sudden icy chills. Hooves clatter at midnight, ghostly legions march past along old Roman roads, doors lock and unlock of their own accord, and hidden children laugh or sob on secret stairwells.

Historic buildings in atmospheric surroundings – of which Britain, with its long history, has many -- predictably take the lead in these alleged phenomena, coaxing medieval monks, Victorian serving girls, and unhappy lovers to revisit old haunts. If some grisly tale of a tragic death can be unearthed from bygone days, or better still, a skeleton in a cupboard somewhere, the psychic portents perk up no end. Specialist short-break operators can arrange all sorts of hair-raising experiences involving séances, dowsing rods and ouija boards for hopeful ghost-hunters, or at least, a promising setting in which they might just happen. Of course, nothing is guaranteed and the chances are you will enjoy a perfect night’s rest.

For most of us, the faint chance of some other-worldly experience adds no more than an amusing frisson to a hotel stay – at least, in broad daylight. For others, it’s a serious quest to prove there are more things in heaven and earth, undertaken only with quantities of recording equipment and a determination to stay awake all night. Certain hotels crop up repeatedly on the paranormal lists. Cornwall, in South-West England, famed as a land of myths and legends, is a classic venue for ghosts. Guests and staff of the Wellington Hotel in Boscastle have experienced many strange apparitions, dark shapes and inexplicable sounds, including a figure in period dress vanishing into a wall and an old lady passing through a closed bedroom door. Not to mention the mystifying case of a small dog (a real one belonging to a writer staying at the hotel), which suddenly got up and trotted out one night yapping and wagging ts tail as if being taken for a walk by some unseen presence.Immortalised in Daphne du Maurier’s novel, Jamaica Inn, once on a wild and lonely turnpike road across Bodmin Moor, has strong associations with smugglers.

Disembodied voices speak in the long-dead Cornish language, and a coach and horses crunches across the gravelled courtyard at midnight ... In fact, that courtyard was resurfaced with cobbles recently, yet the noise of the metal-rimmed wheels remains

the same as in olden times. Odd, isn’t it? But even odder is the stranger in 18th-century dress repeatedly observed sitting on a wall outside the inn. He neither speaks nor moves, but bears an uncanny resemblance to a former guest summoned by a message to meet someone outside. He left the bar and his half-finished tankard of ale, and was later discovered murdered on the moor. Has he returned to finish his drink? Coaching tales are a recurrent theme in some of our fine old former coaching inns.

The Molesworth Arms in Wadebridge is reputedly visited by a ghostly stagecoach at midnight on New Year’s Eve, its four horses whipped on by a headless coachman. At Dartmouth’s Royal Castle in Devon, a mysterious coach and horses draws up at the entrance to collect an unknown passenger and vanish into the night. The 15th-century

Holt Hotel at Steeple Aston in Oxfordshire is haunted by the notorious highwayman Claude Duval, a former footman to the Duke of Richmond. He was apparently so popular with lady victims that tearful petitions for his pardon accompanied him to his execution. A handsome timbered inn called The Feathers in Ludlow, Shropshire has several interesting ghosts. One is a woman who tries to drive rivals away by pulling their hair (beware Room 211 if you’re the female half of a couple staying here). Another is a Victorian gentleman with a dog, and a third seems to be a more modern apparition who confines her appearances to men only. She’s a pretty thing in a miniskirt and a see-through blouse who walks straight through cars parked outside. One shocked guest who witnessed this young lady felt in urgent need of a restorative brandy. Relaying his experience to the hotel barman, he was soon interrupted with the news that she had appeared to several guests on previous occasions.

One of London’s most haunted hotels is the five-star Langham opposite the BBC’s Broadcasting House. Its spectral residents include a silver-haired doctor who murdered his bride while on honeymoon, and a German officer who killed himself shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. Room 333 is said to be a haunted bedroom, as numerous BBC journalists attest.

Ruthin Castle, now a hotel in Denbighshire, North Wales, has a resident Grey Lady, believed to be the wife of one of King Edward I’s lieutenants. She murdered her husband’s mistress with an axe in a jealous rage and was later executed herself. The hotel is noted for its medieval-style banquets. Not all ghosts are sinister or ill-intentioned. In the spa town of Cheltenham’s De La Bere Hotel, a 15th-century manor house once used as a girls’ school, a former matron paces the corridors at night to check that her charges are behaving. In Scotland, Edinburgh’s four-star Royal Terrace Hotel is another much-haunted venue, whose blithe spirits include a nurse in 19th-century uniform, a child from the 1800s, and a gentleman enjoying a drink at the bar. There are also reports of cupboards opening and unbidden noises and movements.

For details of supernatural stays in some of the hotels mentioned above, contact

Haunting Breaks, www.hauntingbreaks.co.uk; tel: 01686 420301. Other spooky websites

include www.hauntedhotelguide.com and www.paranormaltours.com. To plan every aspect

of your holiday in Britain, and search a comprehensive database of quality-assured

accommodation, see www.visitbritain.com

 

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Britannia Country House Hotel

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Britannia Country House Hotel

Whether your stay is for business or pleasure the Britannia Country House Hotel in its own grounds is in a prime location offering excellent rail road and air links with the rest of the country and also only a few miles from Manchester City centre.

A courtesy bus service operates to and from Manchester Airport which is situated just 5 miles away.

The hotel offers an excellent entertainment centre with two quality restaurants bars a nightclub and also leisure facilities including a gym and swimming pool on site for relaxation.

For sporting events Old Trafford and the Lancashire County Cricket Ground are close by and other attractions such as the Trafford Centre MEN arena G Mex Tatton Park and the Lowry Centre are all within easy reach of the hotel.

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On site parking is available.

Britannia Country House Hotel Information

 Britannia Country House HotelStar Rating 3 stars
No of Rooms 255 rooms
Availability Check Availiability
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Address:

Palatine Road
Manchester (Didsbury)
M20 2WG

Directions:

Situated on the B5167 the Country House is easily accessible from the airport and Manchester city centre.

Location Map:

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Additional Information:

 Britannia Country House Hotel - Manchester (Didsbury) hotels at LATE RATES - Hotels in Manchester (Didsbury) hotel rooms near Manchester (Didsbury) Wales

 
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