Strange happenings were reported at 'haunted' historic Hereford pub

But there were hopes the spirits would keep to themselves as the Queen's Arms in Hereford's Broad Street geared up for its big reopening in November 1985.

The Queen's Arms in Hereford in the 1980s. Picture: Hereford Times (Image: Hereford Times)

Some £50,000 had been poured into major refurbishment works that year at the 15th century pub, which was then headed by Tom and Margaret Wheatstone and owned by Whitbread.

The changes included refurbishment to the bar, and a new darts area after the pub was extended into adjoining shop premises.

The Grade 1 listed building, once home to a cock-fighting pit, was reputed to be haunted by the spirit of an Anglo Saxon warrior, which had been seen in the corner of the bar.

Landlord Tom Wheatstone with the picture of the ghost seen in the bar in the 1980s. Picture: Hereford Times (Image: Hereford Times)

Photographs of the bar, which it was said had not been tampered with, showed the ghostly outline of the warrior, garbed in white and wielding a shield and spear.

And that was just the beginning of many strange happenings, landlord Mr Wheatstone said.

Heavy breathing was heard in the cellar, which in centuries gone by had passages linking the site to Hereford Cathedral, while two full glasses of beer had exploded for no reason in the same spot the spirit was pictured.

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And the warrior was not the only spirit seen in the pub.

Former landlady of the Queen's Arms, Elizabeth Gane. Picture: Hereford Times (Image: Hereford Times)

In 1984, former landlady Elizabeth Gane told the Hereford Times that she had seen the spirit of fellow former landlady Ruby Hitchcock, who had died in the pub 15 years earlier.

Mrs Gane said she had seen Mrs Hitchcock's spirit upstairs four times.

"One morning I got up early and she brushed past me, forcing me to step aside," she said.

"She always wears the same black dress and silver collar. There's nothing evil about her."

Hereford United player Chris Price pulls a pint at the reopening of the Queen's Arms alongside Whitbread Severn Inns' Roger Smith (left), and Margaret and Tom Wheatstone. Picture: Hereford Times (Image: Hereford Times)

But the landlord and landlady were able to breath a sigh of relief as neither the warrior nor Mrs Hitchcock interrupted their celebrations.