The nuclear bunker at Kelvedon Hatch is a fascinating glimpse of where a lucky few of us could have ended up in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK. An audio-guide is your only companion as you proceed around this extensive underground site, so it can be rather spooky.
The cafe and gift shop are also great!

Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker
Crown Buildings
Kelvedon Hall Lane
Kelvedon Hatch
CM14 5TL
+44 (0)1277 364883
www.secretnuclearbunker.com
Google map: bit.ly/aBFmts

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Going on a guided ghost walk around the pretty and historical city of Lincoln is a great way to spend an evening - especially on a cold, dark night as it just adds to the atmosphere! You get taken around the uphill area of the city, past the cathedral and castle too, being told tales of the many ghosts that haunt the nearby buildings. Ideal for adults and children alike!

www.visitlincolnshire.com/site/things-to-do/original-lincoln-ghost-walk-p14811
+44(0)1522 874056
Google map: bit.ly/aYsgcx

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In an unexplored corner of Co. Tyrone, travel out a minor road from a typical rural market town. Climb towards Gortin & the boggy Sperrin Mountains. Take a right hand turn onto a country lane, a "loanin" in the local parlance. Keep going and on your left you will find a very lonely spot. Battered by the wind and surrounded by only bog & forest there lies a megalithic mystery.
What brought people to this lonely spot 5000 years ago, to lay these circles in the ground? Were their intentions mystic, or murderous? Whose grave lies alongside? How many more stones lie unturned?
Are you shivering just because of the Irish weather?
No one knows.

Take the Gortin road out of Cookstown, heading West. Cookstown is just over an hour from Belfast.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaghmore

www.megalithicireland.com/Beaghmore.htm

Google map: bit.ly/cT5m3N

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York is reputed to be Britain's most haunted city with over 140 ghosts and lots going on this weekend. It's a lovely city to start with but it also has some great ghost stories. I met a man (honest) who was working in the cellar of the Mansion House and saw a troupe of Roman soldiers coming towards him through the wall - they went straight past him and out the other side! A great way to do it is to join one of the many ghost walks.
York also celebrates one of its famous sons, Guy Fawkes this week, but there's never a bonfire where he went to school at St Peter's - they don't burn old boys!

www.visityork.org., www.theoriginalghostwalkofyork.co.uk/
Google map: bit.ly/c61KFL

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Most people think Burke and Hare and follow in their footsteps when they go in search of Edinburgh's spooky side, or they head to the Real Mary Kings Close to visit the old – once plague infested - streets of Edinburgh which lie beneath the modern city. But if you want something really chilling go on a tour of the vaults beneath the South Bridge. Tours can be booked online or operators can be found on the Royal Mile. We went last winter with a group at around 4pm when it was getting dark. The entertaining guide led us down some stairs and closed the door behind us before regaling us with stories of the troubled spirits that are said to remain in the abandoned vaults. We were given electro magnetic field detectors and set off around the many cavernous rooms in search of the supernatural. I'm a sceptic, but have to admit that as the clicks increased (a sure sign of ghosts, apparently) even I felt a bit spooked. When the tour finished, we headed onto the cold dark streets and quickly retreated to the safety of the nearest pub to settle our nerves.

Mercat House, 28 Blair Street, EH1 1QR www.mercattours.com
+44(0)131 225 5445
Google map: bit.ly/dsYoVG

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Not only are The Vaults under Edinburgh's South Bridge terrifying as you pass through a small stomach churning torture museum before you are lead in to the vaults themselves, but you are greeted by the cursed witches circle, said to cause fits and collapses upon entering. If The Vaults don't satisfy your quench for fear, the Greyfriar's Cemetery offers you a chance to walk in the footsteps of the infamous Burke and Hare body snatchers after dark which unveils Edinburgh's grim history. The graveyard also comes with it's very own 'Creepy Wee Shop in the Graveyard'.

Auld Reekie Tours
45 Niddry St, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH11LG
www.auldreekietours.com/
Google map: bit.ly/9XkUvZ
0131 557 4700

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Gwydir Castle is a 16th century Tudor castle lovingly restored by Judy and Peter Welford– with the help of several eccentric locals, all to be found in Judy’s fascinating account in her book ‘Castles in the Air’. It is known for its many ghosts and has the reputation for being one of the most haunted houses in Wales. To get you in the mood you arrive at a huge fortress type gate with large dogs barking behind it. Once inside the dogs turn out to be friendly – if a little wolf like – and Judy extremely welcoming. The two rooms available for B & B are in a (heated) wing next to the main castle. Huge four poster beds and genuine period furniture in the bedrooms – but all mod cons in the bathroom!! We were offered complementary tea and cakes served on an enormous silver tray in the castle parlour next to a roaring fire, followed by a tour of the castle from husband and artist Peter who regaled us with stories of the many ghosts – human and animal - lurking in all corners. We made it safely through the night and had a fabulous ‘full welsh breakfast’ sourced from local produce. Peter and Judy’s (and dogs) love of their castle is infectious – you’ll come away loving it too, despite the ghosts!
Good restaurants and cafés in Llanwrst and on edge of Snowdonia national park.

www.gwydircastle.co.uk
01492 641687
Gwydir Castle, Llanrwst, Conwy, LL26 0PN
Google map: bit.ly/ctsWFm

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Choose a cold, wintry night to gaze out at the ruins of Tynemouth Priory as the North Sea thunders against the cliffs.
Standing on the windswept headland of Pen Bal Crag, in the North East of England, the Priory looks out across the North Sea to Denmark. The Priory was sacked by the Danes several times, despite fortification by the Priory monks. Those brave enough to walk by the Castle walls after dark, may catch sight of the Black Monk, who walks the grounds in his hooded robes.
Escape the rough, salty air for the warmth of Luis bistro or one of the cosy Tynemouth pubs.

www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/tynemouth-priory-and-castle/
Benebalcrag
Tynemouth Castle, North Shields NE30 4BZ
+44(0)191 257 1090
Google map: bit.ly/9bl5JR

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This bothy, in the care of the Mountain Bothies Association, is on the south side of Ben Alder on the shores of Loch Ericht. A stunning location, if a little demanding to get to , but you can’t get much more budget than a free bothy, and can be approached from either the west (Corrour station) or the east (Dalwhinnie). It is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a former ghillie, McCook, who was supposed to have hanged himself, and there are various reports of noises and lights in the night. Mr. McCook, in fact probably retired to Newtonmore , quite happily, but never mind. There is also the body of the so-called ‘man with no name’, discovered on the summit of Ben Alder, his heart pierced by a lead bullet in 1996. It was not until 18 months later that he was identified as a Parisian, Emmanuel Caillet.

Grid ref LR 42: NN 499 680 - mountainbothies.org.uk
Google map: bit.ly/dyJeRF

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The atmospheric Minster Church stands on a superb viewpoint above a wooded river valley in North Cornwall. Surrounded by tombstones overgrown with bracken and wildflowers, its graveyard precinct is set in National Trust-owned woodlands,and encompasses the site of a pagan/early Christian healing well. A few years ago it also hosted the re-interrment of the bones of a woman unjustly condemned as a witch in the 18th century.
It's best visited at dusk, when you're bound to see some of the rare greater horseshoe bats that roost in the church tower. There are no other houses or settlements nearby, and the way that the Victorian graveyard merges into the ancient woodland, combined with the superb coastal scenery and the air of mystery (why is there a solitary church here in the middle of nowhere?) make this obscure place one of the spookiest locations in England.

Approx 1 mile outside Boscastle, see www.boscastlecornwall.org.uk/church_minster_info.htm for map
There is road access, but is also connected to the main car park at Boscastle Harbour via footpaths along the Jordan valley. Bear in mind though that the walks are moderately strenuous and involve a good uphill slog at one point.
Google map: bit.ly/aDzjKA

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This little Hungarian oddity comes highly recommended, so too does having someone with you to cling on to if you choose to take the tour alone, as opposed to with a guided group.

The 1,200 metre labyrinth of caves and tunnels open to the public was once the haunt of prehistoric man, and more recently served as an air raid shelter during the Second World War. What is on offer to visitors today is a nerve-testing series of delights, with the highlights including gargoyles projectile vomiting blood and a section called the 'Labyrinth of Courage' - a terrifying, pitch-black, 'hold on to a rope and edge forward a centimetre at a time' sort of experience.

Bear in mind that to a person of a nervous disposition the labyrinth might be considered a less than pleasurable excursion, but personally I found it to be one of the most original and exciting hours that I spent in Budapest.

Budapest Castle District,
Úri utca 9.
URL: www.labirintus.com
Telephone: +361/212 0207
Nearest station: Moszkva tér on the M2 line.

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