We dropped Will off in St Ives for a scout camp, and Ed was off meeting up with his friends, so Mac and I embarked on a riverside pub crawl thinly disguised as a dog-walk. We started at the Old Ferry Boat Inn* in Holywell, where we had lunch and a pint, then walked along the river to the Pike And Eel for more refreshments before turning round and walking back again. We passed a gang of unsavoury-looking adolescent bulls, hanging around on a field corner, looking for trouble. They kept pushing and shoving each other and facing off, forehead to forehead. Several had broken or crumpled horns, evidence of previous street-fighting incidents. This guy looked particularly malevolent - he even looks like he's got some home-made biro tattoos down his flank! Definitely wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of this ne'er-do-well. And now I've got Tommy Steele's "Little White Bull" stuck in my head too!
The Old Ferry Boat Inn lays claim to being the oldest pub in England (as do many others!). It also has its own ghost. Legend has it that a young girl committed suicide near the church in the time of Edward the Confessor. The story runs that she committed the act having been jilted in love by the local woodcutter, and was thus buried on the banks of the Ouse at the ferry crossing point in AD 1050. It is claimed the Old Ferry Boat Inn public house was built on top of her grave. A stone slab can be found within the pub, set into the floor on the south west side of the pub.
A seance was conducted in the 1950s, during which the participants claim to have contacted the spirit of the young girl. During questioning, she apparently identified herself as Juliet Tewsley and that the local woodcutter was named Thomas Zoul. However, no Norman records have been found to support this claim. During a second seance the following year, the date moves forward to the 15th Century
He certainly looks as if he wouldn't ask questions!!
Wonderful story about the ghost, one of the bet thing about that sort of history is the inaccuracies!!
Even though we have been farming & I am used to cows etc I would steer well clear of this ! Looks like they have not been out long to grass & perhaps a little frisky specially if they can see a dog ! Keep to the pubs !l
What a bruiser - I'm sure I've met him and his cronies in a field in Essex where they chased me and Dave over a barbed wire fence only for me to land buttocks first in a pool of mud ...
Pub crawl/dog walking sounds like a fantastic way to spend your day :o)
Wonderful story about the ghost, one of the bet thing about that sort of history is the inaccuracies!!