Ghosts at The Jack O'Newbury? Watch the video...
Manageress Summer Lancaster claims there is a ghost present at the pub after some spooky events at the weekend
HAS the ghost said to haunt one of Newbury's oldest pubs finally been caught on videotape?
That's the question manageress Summer Lancaster is asking herself after witnessing spooky events first hand at the weekend.
Miss Lancaster was serving behind the bar at The Jack O'Newbury in Cheap Street, formerly The Catherine Wheel, when a glass shot out from a recessed shelf in front of her.
As she bent down to pick it up, another glass came flying out, as if thrown, and struck her hand.
She said: “It was totally bizarre. The glasses had been standing up on nylon matting and they didn't just roll out, they flew out.”
Perplexed, Miss Summer examined film from the CCTV camera behind the bar on Saturday night.
It had captured a series of intriguing images. (see video)
At 22.55 and 28 seconds, in the bottom left hand portion of the camera screen, a series of shimmering orbs flash into view and appear to head down the bar.
At 22.55 and 32 seconds, the first glass is apparently ejected, followed by the second at 38 seconds.
Miss Lancaster said: “Although you can't see it from the footage, the glasses are not on the shelf but in a cabinet set back beneath the bar, so they really flew out quite a distance. A psychic friend of mine has viewed the footage and insists that the orbs are a spirit image. Apparently there is a ghost here who isn't pleased about the name change!”
The pub, a Grade II listed building and former coaching inn, was known as The Catherine Wheel since at least 1761 and is included in the Department of the Environment List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historical Interest.
Bar staff throughout the years have often insisted the building is haunted and a former manageress, Lorraine Smith, said: “There is definitely something odd there. I have felt my hair being pulled when I was on my own in there; locked doors would mysteriously unlock and things would move around by themselves.”