At this time of Halloween whether you believe in the paranormal or not, it is interesting to hear the stories of unexplained happenings in the Basingstoke area. And there is no lack of them. Here is just a small selection.

One well-known story is that of a woman walking the corridors of the Shrubbery Maternity Home that used to be in Cliddesden Road; trying door handles and checking on mothers and babies. Called the Woman in Grey, she was believed to be the ghost of Jane Covey, the wife of a previous owner who died in 1851.

The Haymarket theatre also has tales of a ghost walking through the auditorium during daylight hours and another occurrence happened at Warton Road, South View, amid claims a poltergeist was moving objects and items appearing from nowhere.

The Red Lion Inn in London Street, built in 1603, also has its own story of a ghost walking the third floor, according to witnesses.

In 2018, a builder renovating a house in Chequers Road discovered an unidentified piece of wood in a crevice.

Taking it home to identify it and return it the next day, he noticed an oppressive atmosphere in his home.

He discovered the item was a Victorian police truncheon. Going to bed that night, he and his partner claimed they heard loud banging in the kitchen but couldn't find the source of the noise. In the early hours, more banging on the bedroom door woke them.

Terrified, they could again find no reason and returned to bed only for the banging to start again. The builder announced he would return the truncheon the next day and the banging ceased, so the story goes. It was returned with no further episodes.

Not all paranormal activities are spooky as when Reece and Victoria Spicer were living in a house in Dummer.

They grew used to shadows, noises, items moving, and missing items found in random places and after they decided to move, they said the atmosphere grew dark and menacing.

In the 1960s at the Rose and Crown in Church Street, strange noises were heard before the building was demolished. It was reported in The Gazette (then known as The Hants & Berks Gazette) at the time.