Joanna Cowell from Cotgrave, has published a book titled Travels with the Reluctant Ghost Hunter, featuring a collection of her own experiences travelling around Nottingham and the UK visiting various mysterious or haunted locations.
Sometimes you visit a place that ticks every box, and that was certainly the case with The 1620s House at Donington Le Heath in Leicestershire.
Originally built in 1290 and modernised around the 1620s, at its heart remains the fact that this is a beautiful historic building which still has a feeling of homeliness about it.
Incredibly the house was used as a piggery in the mid 1900s by a farmer who wanted it demolished. But thankfully the council refused and eventually compulsory purchased the property.
Tucked away down a side street just off a busy housing estate, being here really is like stepping into another world.
I cannot describe how beautiful and peaceful it is, with its stone mullion windows and magnificent herb gardens filled with lavender. And I haven’t even got to the ghosts yet!
When we first arrived, the guide told us how when she locked up a few weeks ago something ran up the stairs after her!
The guide who showed us around the house was fantastic and obliged me with more paranormal tales. Such as the witch bottle found within the property, and various witch marks in the parlour. These were usually placed by entry points into the room such as doorways or fireplaces, to help ward off evil.
There is also the supposedly haunted bed of King Richard III, in which he slept at The Blue Boar Inn the night before the Battle of Bosworth.
A treasure trove of delights indeed.
On Tuesday 25 October, Joanna Cowell will be speaking at The Bookcase in Lowdham.
To find out more about the talk, please visit the Bookcase website: www.thebookcase.co.uk