Newstead Abbey

With reference to haunted woods [ FT388:38-45]: a few years ago, I visited Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire, ancestral home of Lord Byron. It’s a lovely walk from the station through old English woodland. The house is very impressive, with attached ruins, gardens and lake. It was a hot Saturday in late August and though I passed one or two walkers and a few cyclists, I had the overwhelming feeling that somebody or something was walking with me, a feeling that continued during a tour of the house. This didn’t feel menacing or threatening.

A couple of years later I returned with my sister, taking the same route. I didn’t tell her about my feelings during my earlier visit. After taking the tour of the house we went to the café for lunch. While we were eating I asked her what she thought about the house and the surroundings. Straight away she said she got the feeling that somebody had been watching us during our walk from the station to the house. Has anyone else had similar experiences at Newstead?

Steve Watkins

Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands