The ancient Celts believed the year was divided into two parts, the lighter half in the summer and the darker half in the winter. The dark time is the time when the veil between our world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest and those who have passed away, our loved ones and our ancestors, are remembered.
Halloween is also the perfect time to gather by the light of a lone candle, or to sit by the flickering flame of a log fire and tell each other ghost stories .... and Milton Keynes has plenty of mysterious stories to tell.
We have Spooky Strolls with Eerie Geocaching games in Newport Pagnell on offer.
Come along for a crispy cold walk to get to know about the ghosts of Newport Pagnell.
We have rounded up some of them ghosts for you below;
The footbridge leading from the Newport Pagnell's Church of St. Peter and St. Paul to the cemetery is said to be haunted by the ghost of a woman. She can sometimes be seen standing on the bridge, watching people as they pass underneath on Ousebank Street. Over the years hundreds of coffins must have been carried across this bridge en route from church funeral to their final resting place, and to this day you can observe the coffin-shelves under the bridge arches, where undertakers would discretely rest their charge in the event of a previous funeral overrunning.
Back on the High Street near the Church, is an early Victorian building that was for over 150 years an ironmongers' shop and workshops in the hands of the Odell family. The Ironmongers closed in 1991 after which it has been a restaurant. The building has long been held to be haunted by the benevolent ghost of an elderly lady called Emily - who it is said died in a fire many, many years ago. The ghost of Emily tugs at the clothing of unsuspecting customers and staff. An ancient well was discovered in the old shop which contains several unusual features. The old front step of the Odell House has worn after a century and a half of use and the entrance doors are curved. These were once covered with other solid mourning doors that were used during funerals at the Church. These old doors are on display at the town museum.
At the bottom of Newport Pagnell High Street sits the police Station. Generations of officers serving at the police station have reported eerie and unexplained noises echoing around the building, and to this day, many report sensing "presence" about the place, particularly in the old cell block. The police station was build in 1872, and in the early days the Superintendent or Inspector would live there with his family. Sometimes, late at night, a car can still be heard to drive to into the back yard of the police station; the back door of the building then opens, and footsteps ascend the stairs. Upon inspection, no one is to be found on the stairs, and no cars are present in the rear yard. Station legend holds that this is Sergeant George Bickerton returning to book himslef off duty. George died in 1960 on duty when attending a multiple road traffic accident, four miles of the police station, when a passing car skidded and ploughed into the men, sadly Sergeant George Bickerton died of his injures.
