Читать книгу Haunted Britain and Ireland: Over 100 of the Scariest Places to Visit in the UK and Ireland - Derek Acorah - Страница 37

The George Inn in Southwark is the only galleried coaching inn left in London. There were once many such inns, but with the coming of the railways most were demolished. The George itself had a narrow escape. The Great Northern Railway used it as a depot and pulled down two of its fronts to build warehousing before a public outcry resulted in the preservation of the south face. Now the George serves as a pub and restaurant and even a stage set for Shakespeare’s plays. The ground floor is divided into a series of connecting bars. The Old Bar was the former waiting room and the Middle Bar was the coffee room. This was a haunt of Charles Dickens and the George is mentioned in his novel Little Dorrit.

The George’s ghost is believed to be a former landlady, Miss Murray. She kept the pub for 50 years in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and has since been seen floating around its rooms. She seems to be averse to modern technology, for computers crash in the pub, new tills malfunction and digital cameras often fail to take any pictures at all.

Haunted locations often seem more prone to unexplainable technical malfunctions and it does seem that Miss Murray has taken a strong dislike to the ‘magic’ of modern technology at the George Inn. Alternatively, she may simply be having a little fun!

The George Inn,77 Borough High Street, Southwark, London SE1 1NH; Tel: 020 7407 2056