Article from March 1996 Pontefract & Castleford Express

• October 31, 2017 23:56:31 Nina Stellmann

  Ghost? That's our George
  

  
  

  BY GRAHAM TOWNEND
  

  THE mystery of a
  

  West Yorkshire pub
  

  "ghost" appears to
  

  have been solved by
  

  an amazing family
  

  reunion.
  

  
  

     The friendly apparition
  

  sited in the Old Mill in
  

  Lock Lane, Castleford,
  

  matches perfectly the
  

  description of former landlord
  

  Charlie Dickinson.
  

     Charlie and his wife,
  

  Charlotte, ran the hostelry
  

  in the '30s and '40s when it
  

  was called the Volunteer
  

  Inn.

    They moved in around
  

  1930 to find extra space for
  

  their growing family -
  

  which ultimately totalled
  

  14 sons and daughters -
  

  and were still there when
  

  Charlie died, aged 65.
  

     Nine of the 10 surviving
  

  "children" - Maud, Mary,
  

  Lily, Madge, Edna, Charlie,

  Horace, Ted and Raymond,
  

  whose ages range
  

  from 66 to 90 - turned up
  

  for the nostalgic get-together.
  

     And when 76-year-old
  

  Horace described his dad
  

  as "a little man with a flat
  

  cap" present landlord
  

  Brian Hughes couldn't
  

  believe his ears.
  

     "That's our ghost to a
  

  tee, I'm amazed," said
  

  Brian. The only thing is
  

  we call him George."
  

     The spooky little man
  

  has been sighted twice and
  

  been blamed for such
  

  things as switching off a
  

  barrel in the cellar, turning
  

  off the gas for the hand
  

  pumps and putting the loft
  

  light on.
  

  A clergyman who used

  to call in for a pint offered
  

  to show him the door but
  

  Brian would have none of
  

  it.
  

     "He said he could exorcise
  

  the place but George
  

  has never done anyone
  

  any harm so why get rid of
  

  him. I'd love to meet him,"
  

  Brian said.
  

      A special guest at the
  

  reunion was Maud's son,
  

  Dr George Naylor, a
  

  retired community college
  

  Dean, woh flew in from
  

  Alberta, Canada.
  

     Dr Naylor, 65, who emigrated
  

  39 years ago, said:
  

  "This is a strange family
  

  which never really communicates.
  

  Some of them
  

  haven't seen each other for
  

  years.
  

       "This could be the last
  

  time everyone is together.
  

  We thought wie would have
  

  my mother's wake while
  

  she is still here."
  

      The event was organised
  

  by Mary's son, John
  

  and daughter-in-law,
  

  Dorothy.
  

  
  

  REUNION: Members of the Dickinson family at the Old Mill pub, Castleford. They are (from left) Maud, 90, Mary Jane, 86, Lilly, 83, Charles 81, Horace, 76, Edward, 70 and Raymond, 66.
  

  
  

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