Introduction

At approximately 6.45 on the morning of Thurs. Feb. 19th 1998, John Denston, Landlord of the White Rose, was busying himself with the weekly task of moving empty barrels in readiness for an impending stock delivery.  Passing from the main beer cellar into a second, larger cellar – which houses the beer delivery ramp – Mr. Denston was dumbfounded to see a pair of legs, encased in black trousers, descending the consignment slope steps some 50 feet away.  Believing he had encountered an intruder making his way into the premises through the old Stable Block entrance, Mr. Denston immediately put down the two empty barrels he was carrying and edged out of the room to fetch a ‘trusty’ stick he kept nearby……

Returning, he found that the figure had now fully descended the stairs and was standing stock still at the foot of the steps - apparently engrossed in staring at his hands which he held out in front of him, just above waist height.

In plain view, Mr Denston could see that the figure was clothed in black, baggy, felt trousers – possibly riding breeches – and a three quarter length grey tunic.  The man had a long, gaunt face with furrowed eyebrows, swarthy skin and was clearly unshaven. His hair was black – unkempt – and swept back.

After staring at his hands for a few seconds, the figure suddenly turned on the spot - directly to his left - and ‘disappeared’ into a shallow alcove situated immediately at the bottom of the stairs.

With no doubt in his mind whatsoever that his visitor was ‘not of this world’, Mr. Denston quickly fled upstairs, helped himself to a large whisky to steady his nerves and blurted out his incredible story to his partner……

Upon moving into the premises some 5 months earlier, Mr Denston had been warned that the pub’s living quarters were supposedly haunted. “We soon discovered that information was simply not true” he said, “There is no ghostly feel to the place at all…….”

The Olde White Rose supposedly dates from the 16th Century and is situated on one of the main coaching routes from London up to the North.  Legend has it that shackled criminals being transported for hanging were possibly housed here during overnight stops. The old town prison – later converted into Public Toilets and now a Nightclub! – stand less that 40 to 50 yards across the road.  There have been some (albeit unfounded) rumours of a tunnel linking the two buildings together.

Following the initial appearance of the newspaper report outlining Mr. Denstons experience – ‘AdNews’: Wednesday February the 25th 1998 – two separate research groups, the ‘Ghost Club’ and Stourbridge based ‘ParaSearch’ applied for permission to conduct vigils on the premises. While Mr. Denston was quite understandably reticent to allow anyone the run of his pub for the night, he was eventually kind enough to grant a one off, ‘joint’ vigil to be held by the societies concerned.

The investigation took place on On Friday the 27th of March 1998.  Also in attendance throughout the event was local newspaper reporter, Paula Jolly.

Despite the use of a vast array of technical equipment (c/o ParaSearch) – Infra-Red Camera’s, motion detectors, EMF Meters, etc – no data of a possible paranormal nature was recorded during the night.

On a couple of occasions, the investigators present reported hearing some anomalous sounds. One suggested a ‘shuffling’ noise, while others likened the sounds to ‘scraping’ and a ‘gust of wind’. Eventually, the cause for the commotion was discovered as most likely being from a number of pigeons found to be nesting in the old stable block building situated at the top of the barrel delivery ramp.

Appendix

It has subsequently come to the attention of the ‘Ghost Club’ that some additional (albeit seemingly unrelated) phenomenon has possibly occurred at the Olde White Rose.

During early 2000, a female customer reported having walked into the Ladies Toilet and felt the atmosphere of the room suddenly change dramatically. She then claims to have felt something brush past her and turned to see a female form with long black hair disappearing from view…………

No contact has been maintained with the Olde White Rose and Mr Denston over the subsequent years, but – at the time of writing (early 2008) – it has just been revealed to the group that the site now plans to host ‘Psychic Nights’, organised by a local, commercial, ‘ghost hunting’ concern