In Birmingham's famed Jewellery Quarter we have the neighbouring cemeteries of Key Hill and Warstone Lane. You can't get buried here any longer, but you can have a fascinating stroll amongst the gravestones.

Some distinguished Brummies were laid to rest at Key Hill including the Chamberlains and Alfred Bird (the wonderful chap who gave the world custard).

Key Hill was opened for business in 1836. Anglicans had to wait until 1848 to get their very own cemetery at Warstone Lane. The area seems to have been associated with death long before the cemeteries were built. The junction where Warstone Lane meets Icknield Street (the site of the Birmingham Mint) was once known as "Dead Man's Lane".

Britain is full of castles; many of them are remarkably well preserved considering their great ages and violent histories. All of them have ghostly tales to tell.

We have some pretty fine examples here in the Midlands and I recently paid a fascinating visit to one of the best - Tamworth Castle.

Tamworth has a history stretching right back to Saxon times, when it was the capital of Mercia. Its strategic location meant that it has been fought over many times.

After the witches of Halloween have sped away on their broomsticks we get November 5th, bonfire night.

Most of us will visit firework displays and watch the burning effigy of Guy Fawkes, who once tried to blow up the King, along with a few dozen of his cronies, in the Houses of Parliament.

Guy Fawkes is the gunpowder conspirator that we all remember but, in fact, he was a relatively minor member of the gang. He was the poor chap who got caught with the matches.

Yes, it's that scary time of year again.

The shops are full of pumpkins and pointy hats. Little devils roam from door to door demanding money and sweets. If you don't pay up, you may well find your front door decorated with eggs and flour (the little monsters).

There is, of course, a lot more to Halloween than this recent import of American trick or treatery.

Just down the road in Gloucestershire there are some wonderfully haunted old places. Most of them are open to the public and some offer special ghost tours and events.

One of the strangest and most well known is Woodchester Mansion. This place is weird, not only because of its haunted reputation, but because it was never lived in.

Actually, they never finished building it. One day, in the early 1870's, the builders put their tools down and never returned. There is a rational explanation for this.

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK AND ROLL?

NOW, FOR MY NEXT NUMBER.......

Ok, I'm not exactly Tina Turner (or Yvette Fielding for that matter). I'm just your average ghosthuntin' girl next door.

However I recently got to play a blinding gig at Wolverhampton Civic Hall (Do I hear the sound of screaming boys?). I even got to sit in Robert Plant's special seat. I could almost smell his lingering aroma, the aftershave, the sweat, the test...

(Joanne, behave yourself - Sunday Mercury Moderator).

Ok boss, but I was only going to say testosterone. Now where was I? Ball is back in my court.

The Civic Hall contacted us and asked if we would be interested in conducting an investigation there. A lot of the staff were interested in the paranormal and some had experienced the odd bit of strangeness themselves. Of course we jumped at the invitation to investigate such a large grand venue.

The manager gave us a date and so a short while later we packed a thermos and some cheese sandwiches and made our way to the Hagley Rd to jump on the 126. (The black 4x4 was out of action, somebody had spiked the tyres).

The Old Crown in Deritend is one of a few remaining examples of Birmingham's medieval past.

It's amazing that this building has survived considering how close it has come to being destroyed during its long life.

It has seen off Civil War soldiers, Victorian town planners, German bombs, and a few centuries worth of drunken Brummies.

No one is exactly sure of the date of The Old Crown's construction, but it is likely it has its origins in the late 14th century and was built by a gentleman called Robert O' The Green. (I haven't been able to find out much about this rather interestingly named fellow).

The building as we see it today probably dates from the Tudor period and the oldest description we have is by John Leland. He visited Deritend in 1538 and was impressed enough to write about it in a letter to his master Henry VIII. He described what he had seen as "a fair mansion of tymber", (Leland, Birmingham Itinerary 1538).

At this time the Old Crown was being used as a guildhall and school. A few decades later it was owned by a businessman called John Dykson.

I began B.G.A.H because ever since childhood I have been fascinated by ghosts and the paranormal. There is a reason for this which I would like to write about.

It is my belief that spirits are all around us and that sometimes they appear to us, either intentionally or perhaps we catch them unawares as they go about their daily business.

I am quite sure that some people are much more likely to encounter the paranormal than others. This is because they are sometimes able to "tune in" to the spirit world.

They possess an ability which I think that I, and some members of my family have. This ability to "tune in" is not with us constantly but seems to happen in certain places that, for some reason, have a strong attraction for paranormal activity.

My family and I lived for many years in such a place.

Some of the most well known ghosts in Britain are of people who once had royal blood flowing
through their veins (and sometimes flowing out of necks after losing their heads!).

All of Britain's great houses, castles and palaces can claim a ghostly royal or two.

Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to haunt several locations. She had a pretty miserable existence because, despite being the Queen of Scotland, she spent most of her life as a prisoner of her cousin, Elizabeth I.

Mary was constantly moved from one grand prison to the next, in order to foil catholic rebellion. She seems to have left her unhappy presence in some of these places.

Birmingham grew rapidly during the 19th century and the city fathers built some rather impressive civic buildings to reflect the confidence and vigour of Britain's "Workshop of the World".

Some of these buildings, like the newly renovated Town Hall, are said to harbour the ghosts of some of those proud Victorian gentlemen (top hats, whiskers and all).

The Town Hall was opened in 1834 as a venue for popular entertainments and the often rumbustious political debates of the day (Prime Minister Lloyd George had to be smuggled out in fear of an angry mob, Gordon Brown be warned!).

An early star attraction at the Town Hall was Charles Dickens, who knew how to spin a ghostly yarn or two. What would Dickens have made of the many accounts of "real" ghosts being seen at the Town Hall?