It’s this time of the year again, when London gets grey and dark,
One of the best places to take refuge from this gloomy season is the pub. Pubs are always dark anyway, even on the brightest summer day, but warm and cosy with blissfully dim lighting.
Halloween is tonight, too, with its many cute little witches and ghosts walking around the streets. Are they all sweet kids in disguise, though?
Whether there is a relationship with your intake of alcoholic drinks, I do not know. I do not judge. But the fact is that pubs seem to be a place of choice to encounter one of those wandering souls who decided to NOT R.I.P.
Pubs are (along with theatres) among the most haunted buildings in London. And that means something, since London is said to be one of the most haunted cities in the world.
So follow me if you dare, and let’s raise a pint or two to those restless spirits at:
The Grenadier
The Grenadier is a remarkable pub.
It is located at the heart of Belgravia, at just a stone’s throw from the busy shopping area of Knightsbridge, but it is very well hidden, secluded in a quiet, delightful cobbled cul-de-sac.
The properties here are a mix of former stables and coachhouses, which used to accommodate servants for the grand houses situated around the corner.
Today these have been converted into homes, but still, when you enter the small street, it gives you the illusion that you are stepping back in time…
The sounds of conversations and laughter you can hear coming from the pub at the end of the street could already be heard in the early 19th century. And even before that time it was a place of socialization and entertainment : the history of this building dates back to the early 18th century.
The building was reputedly the Officer’s mess for the barracks for the first regiment of Foot Guards, the top infantry regiment of the British Army.
It wouldn’t be until 100 years later than the building would be used as as a pub : the Guardsmen pub. (Where did they find the name?)
Following the battle of Waterloo (1815), when the first Regiment of Foot Guards lead the fight against Napoleon’s armies, the regiment was renamed ‘The Grenadier Guards’ and the pub was also renamed in their honour.
In fact it is said that the Duke of Wellington himself, Arthur Wellesley, and King George IV used to frequent this establishment.
Today the pub still enjoys a great reputation, being one of London’s best and oldest pubs, serving a wide range of beers and ales; the menu offers the famous beef Wellington, the ever favourite dish of the Iron Duke. Yum Yum!
But the pub is also better known for its infamous reputation : it is said to be one of London’s most haunted pubs!
Not by the Duke of Wellington nor George IV, sadly.
However you might have an encounter with a young soldier called Cedric.
Reputedly, the pub’s upper floors, the cellar and the old officer’s mess were used as a drinking and gambling den for common soldiers.
Cedric met his fate sometime in the early 19th Century, when he gambled on his life by trying to cheat at a card game. He got caught, and lost his life, from the savage beating his ‘comrades’ gave him.
Since that time, multiple accounts report supernatural activity: the sound of footsteps coming from empty rooms ; chairs being rattled by an invisible hand; objects disappearing, or having mysteriously moved overnight ; and strange, Icy chills felt by patrons despite closed doors and windows.
It is said that once, a chief superintendent of New Scotland Yard was enjoying a drink in the pub, when he noticed what looked like swirling wafts of cigarette smoke around him. Curious, he reached towards what he thought was the source of it, but he pulled his hand back quickly, burnt by an invisible cigarette.
However, since poor Cedric’s ‘’accidental’’ death, people are trying to help his soul find peace and release him from his curse:
Today when you visit, observe the ceiling. It is covered in money, dating back to the 19th century, from people who have tried to pay back the ghost’s debt.
I guess the debt was never paid in full, because you can also see clippings from newspapers relating the spooky events and sightings by both staff and customers over the years.
Still thirsty?
Below is a map of the London pubs well known for their non paying, ethereal patrons.
Maybe don’t try to visit them all in one night ? Even if, I must admit, it increases your chances to eventually meet one or two of them…
Don’t drink and drive. Take a taxi.
Tony P.
