Ghosts at the Mill

As Halloween is almost upon us, I'm reminded that a couple of people have asked me recently whether Stretton Watermill is haunted.  Sometimes it seems a shame to disappoint people, but we really haven't heard any tales to suggest it is.

There are certainly plenty of folk tales of strange goings on in mills at night.  In the older tales it's the fairies grinding their corn at night and woe betide any mortal who disturbs them, as we approach more modern times the little folk become the ghosts that appear in the tales.  Perhaps it's all just a way to keep the curious away from the dangers of a watermill with the moving machinery and deep water.

Dave Maddocks, a much missed former miller at Stretton, told me how he was startled by a squirrel suddenly popping out by the pit wheel so that he tipped a sack of flour over himself.  When you think of that it's easy to imagine how someone passing a mill at twilight may have caught a glimpse of a white figure wandering around and imagined a spectre there. 

Not sure what to make of this shadowy figure in the mill...

So, as much as it might bring avid ghost hunters to the mill we can't really say that Stretton Watermill is haunted.  But if you want a really spooky ghost tour that will have you thinking and looking over your shoulder long afterwards, then you could do no better than to go on one of the ghost tours of Chester led by Tom Jones, one of Stretton's millers.