'Tis the season to be spooky

Now I’m sure you skipped over it, so excited were you to reach the Nostalgia pages, so I’ll recap a bit of it here.

Basically, Jamie Burnell, lead investigator for Watford Paranormal group, was one of nine people ghost-hunting in the park recently when one of them took a picture which is said to show the ghost of Lord Arthur, a Royalist during the Civil War who was beheaded in 1649.

Legend has it Lord Capel’s heart was removed after his death, placed in a silver casket and eventually hidden in Cassiobury Park. Exactly why this happened isn’t explained, but there it is. Scoff at your peril.

Anyway, around this time of year, paranormal groups meet to spot the headless spirit of Lord Capel, as that is the anniversary of the sightings. And when one of the group took this photo, there was nothing visible – except on the image.

Mr Burnell said: “The more I look at it the more I believe the spirit entities were trying to show themselves. There are so many faces that I can make out, it’s almost undeniable proof.”

Well I have to say that, like most of the people who had a look at the picture on our website, I can’t make out any such thing. But then I’m not a paranormal investigator. If you haven’t seen it, and want to, it’s still there for you to see online. Go to www.watfordobserver.co.uk and search for “ghosts”

Anyway, all this paranormal supposition made me wonder about other paranormal incidents in the area – and there are quite a few, several of which occur in March for reasons I can’t even begin to wonder about.

One of the most memorable is the Copperfields restaurant ghost, which prompted a story in the Watford Observer on March 28, 1980.

Headed “The friendly ghost in the Tudor gear” the story reads: “A Tudor ghost wearing Elizabethan doublet and hose is haunting Copperfields Restaurant, Watford. The owner, Albert Fiedler, believes it is friendly.

“He first noticed it about four years ago. After the customers had gone, he walked into the empty restaurant and thought he saw something. He was sceptical and convinced himself he must have imagined it. But a couple of days later it happened again. He says he knew he had seen what looked like an old man, just over 5ft tall, dressed in a doublet with puffy short trousers and stockings.

“‘It was grey, like a grey mist,’ he said.

“A week later, one of the staff came running back from the restaurant shouting: ‘My God! I’ve seen something out there.’

“Mr Fiedler said he did not describe what he had seen, but asked members of his staff to tell him what they thought they saw, and the stories tallied.

“The ghost moves across the floor on the lower level of the restaurant, which is the oldest part of the building, dating back to the 15th Century. The second level was added after the Armada.

“Since that first sighting, the ghost has returned periodically.

“Miss Ivy Cooper has seen it several times. She arrives before the rest of the staff in the mornings.

“She has often felt that it has spoken to her, simply greeting her. She has answered it, then turned round to find no one there.

“The restaurant staff have also heard footsteps across the restaurant floor although Mr Fiedler says it could be argued they hear only the echo of people passing in the street.

“He last saw the ghost about nine months ago, still a greyish misty apparition. It has features, but they are difficult to determine.

“It seems to come up the staircase and move across to the outside wall, then disappear.

“‘It has no colour and it is impossible to say whether the doublet is made of velvet or leather,’ he says.

“They all say it is not frightening but they woudn’t want to stay alone in the restaurant all night.

“Mr Fiedler believes the restaurant is due for another visit soon...”

The restaurant later became offices but that didn’t stop the spectre – the new office staff continued to report an “atmosphere” about the place and strange goings on.

Almost exactly a year after the Copperfields ghost appeared in the paper, there was a second intriguing story, also involving a restaurant but this time in Kings Langley.

Here’s the story, from the Watford Observer of March 27, 1981:

“A 17th Century chimney block could hold the key to mysterious goings-on at a historic restaurant in Kings Langley.

“Owner Mrs Gillian Barnett, 23, believes the chimney block, which was uncovered during restoration work at the King’s Lodge last week, could well have been the resting place of a woman who was murdered there during the 1600s.

“Mrs Barnett, who runs the pub and restaurant with her husband Steve, 26, says mediums who have visited the Lodge are convinced someone is buried within its walls. She said: ‘She could be called Jenny and may have worked here as a maid many years ago.’

“The chimney block was hidden by a wall and nobody knew it existed. There is an alcove built into the block with hooks for smoking meat.

“Both Mrs Barnett and the restaurant manager’s fiancee, Amanda-Jane Dunkley, have heard strange goings-on in the Lodge which was given to King Charles I in 1642.

“Miss Dunkley was watching a late-night film when the light bulb dropped out of its socket for no apparent reason.

“Later, the light in the bathroom kept switching on and off and there was an eerie tapping noise on the fire extinguisher outside her bedroom.”

There are, of course, many such sightings and what you make of them is, I suppose, entirely up to you. If you want to read some more, our website’s the place again. Just don’t blame me if your computer goes all wobbly afterwards...

ONLINE TOMORROW: Spring lambs at Chenies in 1964

These stories formed part of the Nostalgia column first published in the Watford Observer on March 21, 2014. The next Nostalgia column can be found in tomorrow’s Watford Observer (dated March 28, 2014) or read online here from 4pm next Thursday.

If you have anything to add – or would like to tell us anything you think our readers may enjoy about Watford’s history – we are always pleased to hear from you. Contact Nostalgia, by clicking here watfordnostalgia@london.newsquest.co.uk