Spooky encounters at Birmingham's oldest pub

All over the country there are numerous stories about haunted pubs. Birmingham, of course, is no exception.

In fact, we have a host of reputedly haunted public houses and hostelries.

One of the pubs we investigate on a regular basis is located in Erdington, north of the city.

The pub has a long history dating back to the 1400s. Dendrochronology (analysing the ring patterns in timber) has verified the age of the pub, thanks to local historian and Birmingham University lecturer Peter Leather and his team.

The Lad in the Lane pub has been recognised as Birmingham's oldest house, once known as the Old Green Man.

The building still retains much of its olde worlde character, with its blackened beams and darkened corners. It remains an important part of the city's medieval history. Only some churches are said to be dated earlier.

It is believed to have been owned by a wealthy landowner, and perhaps became a pub in the 1780's.

Many stories have come our way concerning the pub, including that of a highwayman, who is said to have visited the pub on more than one occasion.

Could this visitor have been Tom King, Claude Duval or Dick Turpin perhaps?

We know that the Chester Road isn't that far from the Lad and this, we understand, used to be an extremely travelled road favoured by highwaymen waiting along side the road, hidden out of view, waiting for their next victim.

A dark shape of a man dressed in a long cloak has reputedly been seen sitting in the lounge, as if waiting for someone.

One of our team members thought they had seen something similar in the same area where the ghostly shape is said to appear.

I had my own encounter at the Lad and it happened quite unexpectedly. I was in the main bar area talking to a colleague, when suddenly we both heard footsteps walking down the hallway.

We stood for a moment in disbelief before heading off to investigate. On our arrival the footsteps came to an abrupt end. Nothing could be heard, nothing could be seen.

We looked at each other with a puzzled expression. We looked outside to see if we could see anyone walking about, but there was no-one.

The rest of the team, I might add, were in a separate building, so it couldn't have been them. There was also another incident that happened whilst we were all seated during a break, writing out our report notes.

We had placed a small pile of spare paper on a bench seat in the lounge next to where we were seated. Incredibly, the top sheet of paper on the pile rose at one end and shifted at an angle before falling flat to its original position.

We still can't explain this or the sound of footsteps in the corridor.

Another story is about the boy, hence 'lad', who disappeared in the lane where the pub now stands. Some say he was abducted, whilst others say he was murdered.

Some believe he met a ghastly end within the pub and is buried somewhere within its confines. Whatever the story, the boy was never found. It may be folklore and legend. Who knows?

BGAH has been very fortunate in carrying out many experiments at the Lad. It has become one of our best-loved sites and has shown to be active on a number of occasions.

One of the experiments we use at the pub involves the placing of a trigger object that is left in a locked room during the investigation. We have conducted this experiment three times and twice we have got results.

The trigger object moved on both occasions from its original position

We can say with certainty that the experiment was not contaminated by any human involvement. At first, we thought it was maybe vibrations caused by passing vehicles that had caused the object to move. We tested this theory but it became evident that this was not the case.

We realised after much investigating and analysis that we were unable to come up with a plausible answer. So what did cause the trigger object to move on two separate occasions? The search for a possible answer continues.

More recently, we captured an interesting shape in the cellars. It was seen by nearly half the team members before disappearing.

We plan to go back and recreate this shape, if we can, as part of our debunking strategy.

We'll be looking closely at the pipes that lie overhead to see if they cast any weird shadows. We will use different measures available to us to see if we can find any explanation as to the cause.

The Lad in the Lane public house is under continuous research and study for paranormal phenomena. We have been asked to emphasise that other paranormal groups will NOT be allowed to conduct investigations on these premises.

This is the express wish of the pub's owner and proprietor. DO NOT contact the pub direct. All enquiries will be dealt with by Birmingham Ghosts and Hauntings UK.