The Grenadier Pub: London, England
.

The Infamous Grenadier Pub

Not far from the Marble Arch, in a narrow, winding cobble stone alley behind Hyde Park Corner, is a fashionable and quaint neighborhood pub.   The pub, called the Grenadier, is a fragment of London's past that belongs to the Waterloo era.  The Grenadier once served as an officers mess for the Duke of Wellington's regiments. 

In those days, the main bar was in the cellars with the officers dining room in the pub's main room upstairs.  Still in use today, the old pewter bar was moved upstairs and is believed to be the oldest of it's kind in existence.

The story goes that many years ago a young officer was caught cheating in a card game.  His companions handed out immediate and brutal punishment of flogging him on the spot.  He allegedly stumbled down into the cellars and died.  To this day his ghost is said to haunt the pub. The story of the Grenadier haunting is well known, and customers from all over the world have left money attached to the ceiling of the main bar as a tribute.  The pub has also been the subject of numerous television and radio programs, and was featured in the movie "Around the World in 80 Days."

The disturbances are most acute in September, which incidentally happened to be the month the young officer was cheating at cards.  

North America
Canada
Banff Springs Hotel

Chicagoland:
The Water Tower
Bachelor's Grove
White Cemetery
Stickney Mansion

Columbus, Ohio:
Camp Chase

Navarre, Ohio
Wademan House

Dayton, Ohio:
Victoria Theater
Memorial Hall
Woodland Cemetery

New Orleans, LA:
Cities of the Dead
Voodoo Priestess

Tennessee
Old Electric Chair

Denver, Colorado
Central City
The Haunted Mine

Haunted Campus
(Click Here)

Zukozone
Mysterious Planet Features


Exotic n' Mysterious

Awesome n' Majestic




Back to Directory

Several guests have reported distinctly seeing a figure of a man going up the stairs from the bar, only to vanish before he reaches the top.  Employees have been frightened on trips to the wine cellars by unexpected chilly breezes and faint unearthly sounds.  Numerous times, workers attempting to renovate the pub have experienced frightening events such as locked doors flung wide open, and have heard heavy foot steps, and loud banging.  Needless to say, the pub has not received many renovations.   It is fairly common for other peculiar events to occur day or night such as unexplained shadows along the staircase, loud knocking and rapping, lights switching off and on, objects being moved, and water being turned on. 

Encouraged by my own curiosity, I have visited the Grenadier on three separate occasions.  On one of those evening visits in late September, I (along with the other 20 to 25 customers) did experience a brief period of sharp rapping coming from the end of the dining room.  The rapping came from either a door or the wall, but no one could tell for sure, and of course no one was there.   The waitress basically shrugged it off and said it was nothing.  The wine and the meal were excellent.

To the Underground at Picadilly Circus

The Underground: London, England

London has several underground stations that have been the subject of some rather peculiar and unnerving phenomenon.    Aldgate Station on the Circle Line has had a variety of strange sightings.
At Aldgate the line crosses over older sections of underground rail, and strange sightings are so frequent that they are recorded in the station log. 

In one case, a late shift conductor watched as a track worker bent over the rails doing a bit of work.  As the man worked, the conductor saw an old woman with white hair gently stroking the back of the man's head.   Within the next few minutes the man made a horrible mistake, coming in contact with the deadly 24,000 volt conductor rail.  While he was knocked unconscious by the jolt, he was miraculously unharmed.  The old woman was believed to have been killed many years before, falling onto a similar rail during the bombing of London in the Second World War.  Aldgate station has had many such sightings.  Passengers frequently report of hearing footsteps, in the wee hours of the morning, approach them and pass them by with no sign of anyone.  Strange and mournful whistling is also reported.

.

The Tower of London: London, England

The Tower of London is perhaps one of the most famous castles in all the world, and for several centuries of English history, there was not a more blood-drenched battlement in all of England.  As testament to the Tower's violent past, several spectral personalities have walked it's ramparts for nearly 800 years.

One of the earliest recorded sightings occurred in 1241, when 71 years after his murder in Canterbury Cathedral, St. Thomas Becket was seen by priests at the Tower.  It is recorded by the priests witnessing the apparition that the Archbishop's spirit apparently objected to expansion work being carried out on the grounds and struck the new walls with a cross, causing them to crumble to the ground.  

One of the most frequently reported spectral sightings is of Queen Anne Boleyn, the second of King Henry VIII's wives.  Anne Boleyn was one of several of the wives that Henry had beheaded.  She has been seen many times over the years by the guardsmen patrolling the grounds.  One of the sentries even faced court-martial charges over the spirit.  It seems one early morning while on guard duty, he saw a  figure in a brown velvet gown emerge from the mist and move toward him.  He challenged the figure several times and received no reply.  The guard approached with bayonet fixed, and as he did, he noticed that the figure's bonnet appeared completely empty.  The figure did not stop advancing, and the soldier ran it through with his bayonet.  Bolts of white fire shot back down his rifle knocking him unconscious.  Later that morning, his superiors found him and accused him of sleeping on duty; a very serious offense in the military.  In his court-martial hearing however, the court had learned that Anne Boleyn's spirit had again been seen just outside the little chapel where she spent her last night before execution.

While there are many more reported specters that inhabit the infamous Tower, one of the most frightening is that of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury.  At Margaret's beheading, she managed to get free of her guards and ran screaming through the yard.  The ominous masked executioners chased her and when she tripped, dragged her screaming and kicking back to the executioner's block.  Margaret screamed and struggled as the men tried to hold her down, causing the executioner's axe to miss three times.  By now Margaret had gone completely insane, and fought all the harder.  On his fourth try, his axe tore into only half of her throat.  Her screams turned into bloody gurgles.  On the fifth drop of the axe the executioner found the mark and Margaret's head rolled silently into the basket.  Margaret reportedly reenacts her horrific execution every year, on it's anniversary.    
.

.

The infamous, bloody 
Tower of London

Tower Chapel, the site of many ghostly processions

A Tower raven amongst the ruins from 1241

Dr. Von Zuko's Recommended Books

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn

Lord High Executioner:
An unashamed look at hangmen, headsmen, and 
their kind

Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta Canada  
Nestled in the heart of the awe inspiring Canadian Rockies, Banff Springs Hotel is world famous for it's regal ambiance and sumptuous accommodations. This incredible 100-year old castle is also a historic landmark.  Built in 1886 by William Cornelius Van Horne,  then General Manager of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.  Van Horne oversaw the challenge to drive the historic railway through the Canadian Rockies.  Banff Springs Hotel opened in 1888, and has been a favorite haunt of the rich and famous ever since.

With such a rich and colorful history, it is not surprising to hear tales of guests and loyal employees who have lingered on, even beyond their departure from life.

One very sad and tragic tale involves a young bride and her elegant wedding party in the hotel's grand ballroom. It seems that on the day of the young woman's wedding, she was descending the ornate marble staircase in her beautiful flowing white wedding gown. And, as the story goes, an unexpected breeze (presumably from an open door or window) twisted the gown's flowing train into her path, causing her to stumble. Attempts by the groom to catch-hold of his young wife were in vain, and she fell to her death on the polished marble tiles below. To this day, there are recurring reports of a fleeting vision of a beautiful girl in a long flowing white dress dancing in the ballroom or descending the staircase. At other times, people have commented on brief but chilling breezes brushing past them on the grand staircase.

In another tale, guests over the years have encountered a helpful and courteous bellman named Sam, who has opened locked doors, helped with lighting, and even parcels. When the guests of the ninth floor (Sam's favorite floor) try to engage Sam in conversation or attempt to tip him for his services, he very quickly departs, "almost into thin-air" as one guest put it. Guests who inquire about Sam are always stunned to learn that Sam passed-away many years ago.

CLICK here to see the Banff  Springs Photo Page

Back to top