GHOST BUS, ST MARK'S ROAD AND CAMBRIDGE GARDENS, NORTH KENSINGTON A phantom no.7 double-decker omnibus is said to tear towards drivers, lights-a-blazing, before disappearing into thin air. In June 1934, its presence was reported during an inquest of a driver who had been killed at that spot. A ghostly bus conductor has also been reported nearby and St Charles' Hospital is also said to be a hotbed of supernatural activity.
HEADLESS CORPSE, HOLLAND HOUSE, HOLLAND PARK, KENSINGTON Before large parts of the home were destroyed in the Second World War, the executed first Lord of the house Henry Rich was said to walk into the Gilt Room at midnight with his head held beneath his arm. He was beheaded in 1649.
PERSECUTED HERETICS IN FULHAM PALACE, BISHOP'S AVENUE, FULHAM Bishop Bonner, who is said to have tortured Protestant prisoners during Tudor times, is thought to stalk to the corridors of the building. Museum curator Miranda Poliakoff has also heard visitors talk of a figure walking across the Great Hall before mysteriously disappearing into the wall. She explained: "There used to be a doorway there during the Tudor period." Other people have heard music playing in the chapel when all the doors were locked.
DEAD PRISONERS, MORPETH ARMS IN MILLBANK, PIMLICO Ghost of prisoners are said to haunt the cellar of this pub. Manager Georgia Stewart believes the spirits have stayed since the 18th Century when prisoners from Millbank Penitentiary were kept there before being shipped to Australia.
"A lot of staff are frightened to go down there because it's so creepy and dark," she said. "Things go missing then reappear in the same place and people have seen cloaked figures walking around." She added that she lives above the pub and has heard knocking late at night.
'CEDRIC' THE SPIRIT SOLDIER, THE GRENADIER IN WILTON ROAD, VICTORIA The pub receives visits from Cedric, a young soldier killed by other officers who found him cheating at a card game. "He comes in about once a month, mainly at night," said manager Cynthia Weston, "He likes to move the bottles around. When you see him, you feel a cold energy rushing right through your body." She added that a paranormal activity group had spent a night filming and discovered a further two spirits lurking in the pub.
GIRLFRIEND FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, HARROW ROAD, PADDINGTON In 1936, a book told the tale of a publisher who visited the neglected grave of his former girlfriend, Elsie, at Kensal Green Cemetery. At home, he found himself calling the cemetery and asking for Elsie's grave number as the extension. Her voice answered, turning his 'blood to water.' He never used a telephone again.
Some of these stories are featured in a book called London Lore by Steve Roud. It is published by Random House Books for £20. ISBN: 978-1-847-94511-2
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