Brighton's South Laines is not just about cobbled streets, boutique shops, interesting pubs and restaurants. It is also richly steeped in history and is also well known for being one of the most haunted parts of Brighton. Ghost Walk of the Laines is a well established walk which seeks to unearth these ghosts through historical facts and entertainment, whilst giving you a tour of the South Laines. It does not matter whether you are local to Brighton, or visiting from outside of town, there is something for everyone.
It does not matter whether you are local to Brighton, there is something for everyone.
There are four hosts that lead the walks and depending on who you get, you always get a different experience each time. Rosa (local professional storyteller Marielle Holman) is our guide. She greets us with a warm friendly smile and provides a witchy aura to our tour with a long black dress and matching cloak. As the tour progresses, we learn from her natural storytelling style about the varied characters that haunt the Laines, such as the high ranking police officer with 'the mind of Poirot himself' Henry Soloman, who got murdered by a criminal who bashed his head with a hot iron poker whilst his back was turned. His ghost now haunts Brighton Town Hall and the old police cells underneath the building making sure Brighton remains safe. We know this by Holman's clear reference to local sightings of the ghost from security guards, as well as the hanging plaque marking his passing.
As we walk, occasionally near the beginning of this expedition, Holman doesn't always wait before the group stops to continue her stories, but it doesn't last long as she settles in and gets used to the dynamics of her audience. A family of four is with me and the children ask a lot of interesting questions as more fascinating characters come out. Such as the hooded beggar, who was the real life equivalent of the Scarlett Pimpernell and the nun who was buried alive in the wall of the monastry for falling in love with a solder. Holman's strength to more challenging questions asked is strong as she acknowledges them and makes her responses appropriate for certain ages, as well as comedicically mindful. As she tells the stories, it is clear she is passionate about these ghosts and shows empathy for those who are the good ones, but when it comes to more ruthless characters such as a surgeon who was possibly one of the Jack the Ripper suspects that haunts the top room of The Cricketers pub, the tones changes to one that is reminiscent of Horrible Histories; one that has the right amount of horror, yet one that reassures children and adults alike there is nothing to fear and they will not be harmed.
The walk ends on a note that is enriched and one of the comments fed back to her is one that sums up Ghost Walk of the Laines well; 'You kept us and my children engaged the whole time. You are a natural storyteller'.
