Saturday, October 29, 2005

A pub in Thorpe St Andrew is being haunted by a famous ghost. Reggie Kray, who died at the Town House Hotel in Yarmouth Road more than five years ago, is said to be frightening the guests and staff with his ghostly visitations. . . .

Who is the mysterious figure who sits at table 35 at the Town House hotel and restaurant in Thorpe St Andrew?

In life he terrified the public. In death he’s terrifying the publican.

The ghost of notorious gangster Reggie Kray is thought to be still hanging around the hotel on the outskirts of Norwich where he died more than five years ago.

And diners who sit on table 35 in the Town House hotel and restaurant in Yarmouth Road, Thorpe St Andrew, should be aware that they may be joined by the man who once held sway over London with his twin brother Ronnie.

Staff and guests in the restaurant, housed in a building believed to be about 400 years old, have seen a man sitting alone at that table who vanishes when anyone tries to get too close.

Hotel manager Josh Peak said the rumours were that this mysterious individual was the former gangster, who died in the Town House after being released from Wayland prison in Norfolk.

Mr Kray, pictured below, who died at the age of 66 after suffering from bladder cancer, had wanted to stay at the 18-room hotel so he could have a view of the river.

One of his last wishes was to take a stroll down at the water’s edge, but he was too ill to do so.

The Town House hotel and restaurant in Thorpe St Andrew.

Mr Peak said: “He died in our honeymoon suite and chose to be here, so maybe he’s decided to stay.

“No one’s seen him clearly enough to see if he looks like Reggie Kray.

“People have just seen a figure out of the corner of their eye, a nondescript man, and when they’ve gone to check there’s no one there.
Certain things are blamed on Reggie, like ‘Reggie’s nicked your fags’ or ‘Reggie’s moved that bottle’.”

Reggie is not the only spirit to cause mischief and mayhem in the Town House. The ghost of a woman is said to lurk around the bar, moving bottles and keeping the cellar hatch open, while a girl has been heard crying and running down the corridors outside rooms 18 and 19. The ghostly child has also been said to open the doors in the night.

“We have had staff who haven’t been willing to close down at night because they’ve been on their own, and certain people won’t go into the cellar alone,” said Mr Peak.

“At the beginning of the year we had a Yorkshire gentleman staying in one of the rooms for a week. On the last night he came downstairs in his underwear refusing to go into the room again.” Mr Peak added the man had clearly been spooked by something but did not go into detail about what he had seen.

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