SPOOKY NUN CAN'T KICK THE HABIT
BY OWEN MORTON
15:00 - 18 August 2005
Landlady believes haunted pub is frequently visited by Abbey spirit
The Ghost of a beer-drinking nun makes regular visits to a West
Malling pub according to staff and regulars.
The sozzled spectre is believed to journey to the Lobster Pot on
Swan Street via a secret passageway linked to neighbouring St Mary's
Abbey.
Landlady Manuela Walter, who took over the pub around two months
ago, has become aware of the supernatural presence, and believes a
sealed-off trap door leading under the cellar could be the key to the
mystery.
Miss Walter said: "When I arrived here some of the locals tried to
tell me the place was haunted. I'm a very mathematical person and don't
normally believe these things. But I have seen glasses falling off the
shelves and cases falling off the racks."
Other spooky goings-on have included doors locking by themselves and
beer kegs rattling vigorously on their crates in the cellar.
And it seems the thirsty supernatural is not just an ale fan, as on
at least one occasion she seems to have reached for the optics.
Miss Walter explained: "One night when I was doing the books, a gin
bottle all-of-a-sudden fell off the wall. It didn't tip over, it moved out
from the wall and dropped off."
Drinkers who regularly sit at the bar have also reported an
inexplicable cold sensation coming over them from time to time.
Barmaid Moya Leek said: "There is definitely a funny presence here.
I have been here on my own and sometimes you think there is someone
standing next to you. It could be a nun because we are so close to the
Abbey."
Former West Malling resident Margaret Gadd, who used to organise
ghost tours around the town, told the Chronicle: "There were sightings of
that nun in the 1930s and much more recently. There used to be a brewery
near the corner of Frog Lane, and that was haunted by a nun."
Mike North, of the Malling Society, confirmed the existence of at
least one underground tunnel leading from St Mary's.
He said: "It certainly goes within a few feet of Swan street and
then it has collapsed and is blocked off. But clearly it did one day go
underneath Swan Street. I went down there myself - quite legally I might
add. It is entered from the Abbey gardens."
Last week the Chronicle revealed St Mary's Abbey to be the subject
of an unidentified Turner watercolour. For more on this story, turn to
page 7.
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