HERTFORDSHIRE
hollybush
Built in 1451 this delightful old building once boasted a tunnel, the entrance of which was hidden by a door in the bar. No-one now recalls where the underground route led to but Mr. and Mrs. Cadell, former owners, assured me it had been visited by some of their older customers. Mr. Cadell who had retired from the Royal Navy in 1970 was used to 'stories of ghostly ships at sea'but found it difficult to believe that his pub was haunted, until one evening in 1974 both he and his wife heard footsteps on the empty stairs. 'They were slow and heavy like a man's footsteps going up to the top landing'. A few days later whilst still puzzling over this unusual incident, Mrs. Cadell heard the sound again and on going to see who was causing the noise saw, over the banisters at the top of the stairs, 'the head of a man, just like the Van Dyke cigar advertisement. He glanced down towards me and then faded away. I called my husband but, of course, it was too late then'.