The Manchester Arms, Hull

The following story entitled ‘Ghost captured on video at Manchester Arms pub in Hull’s Old Town’ was published in the Hull Daily Mail on 9 November 2012.

WHEN the landlady calls time, she is the visitor who refuses to leave.

A spooky spirit affectionately dubbed “Beryl” has been causing mischief at The Manchester Arms in Hull.

She flickers lights, turns off machines, plays with hair, causes floods and has even been captured on CCTV.

Lisa and Mark Fowler took over the Old Town pub ten weeks ago and have been experiencing some spooky goings-on ever since.

“Sometimes, it feels like someone is running fingers through your hair,” said Lisa, 38.

“Other times, it feels like someone is behind you, but when you turn round, you catch a shadow in the corner of your eye but nothing is there.

“Then I couldn’t believe it when I saw the CCTV footage.”

On the evening of November 1, Lisa had been preparing to go to bed, in the family’s home above the pub, when she went into the office to check the computers.

Mark was downstairs cleaning the bar when Lisa spotted something on the CCTV screen.

She said: “I phoned down to one of our barmaids, Gemma, and asked her if she’d let anyone else in.

“She said no but I could definitely make out a lady on the screen.

“I went running downstairs to see what was going on, but there was nothing there.”

The Scale Lane pub is one of the oldest in Hull, dating back to the 1700s.

It is believed Beryl was part of the pub’s rich history and, at some point, was a regular.

Lisa says the woman looks like she is in her fifties. She appears to be wearing a fur collar and is looking down the bar towards the front door.

Lisa said: “One night, we were working and the Coca-Cola went off. We’d only just changed it, so thought it was odd it had ran out, so I sent one of the staff to the shop for some bottles.

“When we had time later, we went down to the basement and the pipe leading to the coke had been loosened.

“The hatch to the cellar is under the bar and had been shut all night, no one could have gone down there.”

Lisa and Mark, who live at the pub with their children James, 16, and Alicia, 12, say they can sometimes see frosty breath in the cellar, even though it is kept between 12 and 14 degrees.

Other spooky feelings include cold patches in certain areas of the pub and a weight on your body, as if someone is leaning on you.

The ghost has also been turning off a pump, which stops the basement from flooding in heavy rain.

But despite getting “goosebumps”, Lisa is convinced the ghost is a friendly one.

She said: “I’m not one of these people that believes in silly goings-on.

“I used to explain things away like an electrical fault or just shadows, but, after the CCTV footage, I’m convinced.

“Thankfully, I think she is friendly – it doesn’t feel sinister when she is around.”