GHOSTLY goings-on at a pub in Finchampstead have not left its new landlords running for the door – they are actively encouraging them.
Cynthia and Pierre Cudon, who took over The Queen’s Oak, in Church Lane, in March, have noticed a number of inexplicable happenings over the last two months, and were fascinated to discover that the pub is apparently haunted.
Cynthia said: “I love it, we had a ghost at our last house and I’m so pleased to discover that we have a few here.
“We had done some research and our customers told us about a few of them, as far as we know they are not nasty, they are just watching what is going on.
“There is a little girl and one who I think is her mother, there is a lady who sits at the bar, and there is an old lady in one of the rooms upstairs in a rocking chair.
“When we first moved in I noticed someone standing behind the bar, I just saw a face resting on a hand looking at me, I wasn’t scared, they are obviously just checking us out.
“We’ve seen shadows, we’ve had doors sticking that shouldn’t stick, and we’ve heard some things. They’re not malevolent.”
The pub has attracted attention from further afield, with interest from television programmes starting to come through.
Cynthia continued: “I don’t want to get rid of the ghosts, they have been here longer than we have. I just want them to know that we are friendly and to not annoy us! If they start to be annoying we may have to do something, but for now I am happy with them here.
“We have been contacted by the producers of a television show, they want to come along and film inside the pub to see if they can see the ghosts.”
Cynthia is so keen for the ghosts to be a part of the pub that she is considering holding an event where customers can come along and try to find them.
She said: “I’ve spoken to a few people who do that sort of thing, it’s definitely something I would be interested in.
“But for now, I just want to get to know the ghosts. I’ve left some toys out for the little girl, I’ve heard that she likes to move them around in the Cosy Room.
“Someone told me that the old lady in the rocking chair can be a bit funny, I’ve heard of people getting scratched in that room, but that is my daughter’s room and she hasn’t seen anything yet.”
Most haunted? More ghostly inns
The Little Angel in Remenham is said to house the spirit of an 18th century woman who poisoned her father.
Two ghosts are said to haunt The Bull in Wargrave. One is a weeping woman and the other is a tall man wearing a top hat.
The Molly Millar’s in Wokingham town centre has a spooky ghost – Molly Millar herself. She is reported to be an unmarried woman who appears in her 18th century finery.
French highwayman, Claude Duval, lived at Highwater Lane, and his ghost haunts several local inns.
Have you seen a ghost at The Queen’s Oak? Email your story to [email protected].
