As my birthday’s in late October, I always had Halloween parties as a kid – spider costumes made from bog-roll-stuffed tights, witch-shaped chocolate cakes and my dad looming terrifyingly at a darkened window in a sheet, brandishing a plastic broom.
While I was a student, my parties took on a Halloween/fetish theme – boys would turn up in overcoats with dildos hanging out, girls in nasty PVC and fangs. After that I gave it a rest for a bit. But when my 30th birthday rolled around it felt time for a revival, done in a grown-up way – a spooky break for a small group of close fiends.
Old Colehurst Manor in Shropshire was the perfect venue. It’s timber-framed, Elizabethan, Grade II-listed with a grand oak-panelled hall, and set in misty gardens of statues and creepers. There were hints of previous guests experiencing “presences”, and to top it off, it is run by Lord Teksnes – in fact a long-haired Norwegian ex-pro golfer called Bjorn who has bought the “Lord” title – and his wife Maria, who has studied ancient English cooking and offers medieval-style catering, but without the maggots.
Scowling pumpkins greeted us on the doorstep but Maria couldn’t have welcomed us more warmly: “There’s tea and homemade pumpkin scones in the drawing room. Make yourselves at home!” Snuggled into the sofas we listened to the gasps and coos of wonder as more of our party arrived at the beautiful house.
“This is so creepy,” gabbled Dave. “A bat flew ahead of our car all the way along the lane.”
Bjorn settled among us and began to relate the Colehurst story. Maria and he had been travelling round England in a motorhome in 1986, looking for somewhere to call home. Parked for the night near the manor without realising it was there, Bjorn felt a strange compulsion to walk through the rain and the dark, across the fields. Lightning flashed. Bats circled. Suddenly they came upon the house, then totally derelict. “Let’s get away! It’s so spooky!” Maria had screamed. But Bjorn felt a strange sense of belonging, almost like he’d lived there before ... They bought the ruin for just £20k.
“English Heritage came to offer some help, but they never thought we’d manage to do it up,” said Bjorn. Aided by his engineering skills, and a (spookily innate?) knack for wattle and daub, over seven years he restored the property by hand to the way it would have looked in 1580 when it was built.
It is an enchanting place. The Great Chamber has a loo in an old priest’s hole. Some rooms have four-poster beds, some have Jacuzzis, many have open fires, and some may or may not have ghosts: a lady in red had appeared in one room one night, while in Fred’s chamber, previous guests had reported feeling the presence of a man leaning over their bed, and a strong smell of leather.
Dressed up as such apparitions ourselves, we gathered in the candlelight of the stunning grand hall for Maria’s sumptuous historic meal. Smoked salmon and almond mousse, split pea and pumpkin soup then roast capon, all delicious and created with a nod to the era, with typical earthy, sweet/savoury flavours.
I wish I could say we saw something, but even though we told ghost stories around a ouija board in the library, listened to Bjorn’s spooky anecdotes and sat out in the dark staring up at the Halloween moon, the night descended into a bawdy party where any spirits were either swallowed or scared away. In the morning, Maria laid out a traditional breakfast of ham cakes, then joined us for a tramp across the fields, telling us it felt like when all her daughter’s young friends came to stay – which warded off the just-30 feeling – and we swore we’d be back, hopefully in this life, but if not, perhaps another ...
• Old Colehurst Manor (Market Drayton, Shropshire, colehurst.co.uk) sleeps up to 16. Prices for rooms (which can be booked individually) vary: £115 for a room with two double beds, £95-£225 for doubles, £135 for a twin. Meals cost around £40 for three courses, without wine. They host weddings, 17th-century experiences and this year a Halloween dinner event – contact for details
