{"id":5444,"date":"2024-09-03T20:29:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T20:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=5444"},"modified":"2025-12-24T22:26:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T22:26:46","slug":"1-worcester-ghosts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=5444","title":{"rendered":"1. WORCESTER GHOSTS!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s that time again.\u00a0 Off on our tour of Northern England, but first a reminiscence of a wild party and ghoulish happenings in Worcestershire.\u00a0 \u00a0A very spooky county by all accounts!\u00a0 Reaching our temporary resting place in Flyford Flavel, near Worcester, late in the afternoon, we stumbled into a birthday party – as we seem to!\u00a0 It wasn’t our fault this time.\u00a0 They were gathered in the bar area at the narrowest point.\u00a0 To get past them we had to sit on their laps and swivel into the wider area beyond.\u00a0 It transpired we had to do this several times.\u00a0 Any excuse would do!\u00a0 First it was to get upstairs, then we needed a key (the main one was nowhere to be found).\u00a0 We eventually got the spare one!\u00a0 Then we needed soap, then it was to get a breakfast menu, then to book a table for breakfast… and so on.\u00a0 Like I said, any excuse for another lap-dance would do!<\/p>\n

Gradually, we got involved in their conversations.\u00a0 We discovered that one of the ring leaders was called John.\u00a0 And one of the ladies had a dog – also called John.\u00a0 When she called “John” twelve heads swivelled.\u00a0 John’s, obviously, and mine and the dog’s.\u00a0 But also, nine others’ just watching the confusion. Peter (not his real name!) was the birthday boy.\u00a0 His wife, (let’s call her Marjorie) commanded the bar buying drinks for everyone, including us by the end.\u00a0 “Peter!\u00a0 Credit card!”\u00a0 “Thank you!”<\/p>\n

Marjorie’s sister was called Sheila.\u00a0 M and S had prime seats at the bar with a row of empty wine glasses in front of them.\u00a0 I’m not sure when the party had started, but I’m guessing it had been in full swing since lunchtime.\u00a0 As we eventually left for our room at 11 o’clock, our NBFs warned us of two things.\u00a0 The disco due to start any moment, and the Flyford ghost!\u00a0 “You’ll hear him on the stairs.\u00a0 Good night!”<\/p>\n

(For the record most people’s names have been changed to protect their innocence.\u00a0 We decided John was not totally innocent – and the dog can’t read …. probably.)<\/p>\n

Ten minutes later we were naked in bed.\u00a0 I was asleep and Glenda was reading her book on her phone in the dark.\u00a0 “John, I can hear footsteps on the stairs!”\u00a0 “It’ll just be our NBFs acting the goat – or maybe it’s the ghost!”\u00a0 John, there’s a key turning in the door!”\u00a0 “Well, that rules out the ghost.\u00a0 He’d just come through the wall!”\u00a0 The door creaks open.\u00a0 I leap out of bed clutching one of Glenda’s dresses for protection.\u00a0 There’s a couple coming in claiming it’s their room!\u00a0 Well, they do have the main key, which sort of explains why we ended up with the spare!\u00a0 However,\u00a0 possession is nine tenths of the law!\u00a0 Please push off and leave us alone in your room!<\/p>\n

At breakfast, they were still complaining.\u00a0 Wimper, wimper.\u00a0 Some people just can’t take a joke!\u00a0 Or maybe they were just angling for a free breakfast, already having had a free room upgrade!\u00a0 How cynical can I get?<\/p>\n

John (not the dog, obviously) had carelessly told Glenda that he was building a house.\u00a0 As in building it himself!\u00a0 The directions he gave us were “up the hill, turn left then right and on to one of the last houses in the village.\u00a0 Come and see it tomorrow morning.\u00a0 One of the ladies gave Glenda alternative directions involving intestines and polyps in.the colon.\u00a0 The house is in the polyp!<\/p>\n

Amazingly, we drove straight to the polyp!\u00a0 However, John was still in sleep mode in his caravan – something to do with partying till after midnight!\u00a0 We heard a few expletives and a lot of scurrying about as he dragged some clothes on.\u00a0 His house was beautiful – not bad for a mathematician – and not far from completion.\u00a0 He has another 50 planned on his extensive property!\u00a0 Good luck with that.\u00a0 We left him in peace having been given an invitation to the house warming party in late October – and a (rather careless) offer to let us park our caravan on his acreage whenever we were passing.<\/p>\n

Regular readers of my ramblings will know I normally have to fabricate this sort of story – but not this time.\u00a0 Just a little exaggeration here and there and a bit of manipulation of the facts…<\/p>\n

Well, that was two weeks ago.\u00a0 Now back to the present.\u00a0 And, while we were booked at a campsite only a few miles away from Flyford Flavel, we did vaguely think about testing his offer!\u00a0 But as we left Worcester some time before 5 am in the morning, we realised we might not have been flavour of the month!<\/p>\n

As always, the fortnight leading up to our departure was fraught with diversionary activities.\u00a0 A three day trip to Cranage Hall Estate in Cheshire to meet Glenda’s brother and his wife.\u00a0 Several visits to various hospitals, blood samples in Brixham for me, two visits by electricians to install new security lights which don’t come on at 20 minute intervals all night long, and one to sort a cable I had accidentally cut while pruning the bamboos.\u00a0 Another by a plumber to install a water filter.\u00a0 We also fitted in a couple of walks and a visit to a local National Trust property.\u00a0 There was a bit of stress booking a house for a family visit to a flight simulator oin November.\u00a0 And a gardener came to give our silver birch and back hedge a hair-cut.\u00a0 Oh, and that reminds me.\u00a0 Glenda cut my hair (both of them) to neaten me up for our travels.\u00a0 At the last minute, Glenda hurt her back and ended up at the osteopath!<\/p>\n

Anyway after two days traveling north on the last weekend before the schools go back, we are safely ensconced in the Lake District some ten miles from Keswick with fabulous views in all directions.<\/p>\n

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Us in a pool of sunshine!<\/p>\n

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Facing Blencathra and the high fells.<\/p>\n

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The view from our front door…<\/p>\n

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… and from the loo!<\/p>\n

So the saga commences!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s that time again.\u00a0 Off on our tour of Northern England, but first a reminiscence of a wild party and ghoulish happenings in Worcestershire.\u00a0 \u00a0A very spooky county by all accounts!\u00a0 Reaching our temporary resting place in Flyford Flavel, near… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-north-country-tour-2024"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5444"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5460,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5444\/revisions\/5460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}