As the nights draw in and the mellow days of autumn usher in Halloween, it is the ideal time for storytelling. Former university lecturer Pete Smith is a qualified and experienced City of London and City of Westminster guide – and knows a thing or two about supernatural waterways. He has a plethora of haunting tales to tell, and here he shares his thoughts with Towpath Talk on why locations like canals and rivers are particularly chilling.
“The supernatural is a fascinating subject because it’s something science has yet been unable to explain,” he said. “Waterways can be very eerie places, canals especially because they are manufactured structures that harness the power of nature, meaning they are liminal spaces. They have been highways for so long and have served so many purposes.
“River courses really do attract spooky incidents. In London, for example, you are in the middle of such hustle and bustle, and then suddenly, you can veer off down an alley to the water and be entirely alone. That can definitely set your nerves on edge.”
Pete took early retirement to establish London City Walks (https://londoncitywalks.co.uk) and is this year hosting an already sold-out walk as part of London Month of the Dead (https://londonmonthofthedead.com), an annual festival of death and the arts; he is repeating the walks via London City Walks on November 8 and 29 and visit his website for more upcoming Halloween-themed walks. On November 6, Pete presents a new talk, A Few Cases of Spirits, at Guildhall Library, where he will introduce some of the city’s favourite spooks.
There are quite a few stories relating to the River Thames that make his spine tingle.
“The Thames was there long before London existed,” he explained, “and it’s powerful and awesome; to be feared and appeased. There are mysterious and threatening river mists, the danger of flooding, tragic drownings, murders and even executions – at Execution Dock, pirates were hanged, pegged out on the foreshore, and left for three tides to wash over them.
“There are locations that seem to attract more than their share of supernatural activity. At the Tower of London, on the edge of the river, in 1815 at Martin Tower, the spectre of bear was the subject of a bayonet charge by a sentry. The bayonet passed right through the figure of the animal. There were two witnesses, and the sentry was awake and sober!
“During the Second World War, a sentry guarding the main gate reported a procession approaching from Tower Hill, the scene of executions for treason – he saw a headless body on a stretcher! Yeoman warders claim to have seen a male figure in 1940s clothing near the old shooting range where executions by firing squad took place.”
Finally, if Pete could meet a ghost, who would it be?
“Sir Walter Raleigh, a fellow Devonshire man who would have some wonderful stories of a life of adventure and exploration, but in the end my vote would have to go to that bear. I need a good marmalade recipe.”
In the next issue of Towpath Talk, author Nick Ford shares a tale from his book Canal Ghosts and Water-Wights: The Spirits of Britain’s Waterways.
