'A dark shimmering shadow'
This small and rather cozy town pub has a lot more to offer within its old walls than just your average drink because there are many spooky stories to share that are associated with this historic building. The Exchange is situated on Widemarsh Street and whilst walking past the building it doesn’t give the impression of an old age.
The pub is often described as a new public house that sits in a old building , the pub still keeps it's splendid original timber work and the stairs in the pub are very old . The pub is a regular spot for locals out on the town and is it the place where people gather with friends to watch the football matches , so with people in and out daily the ghostly phenomena normally goes unnoticed, most occurrences happen when the pub is closed and it’s all dead quiet. The ghostly residents of this pub like to cause disruption and bring attention to themselves by regularly turning the electrical appliances and bar taps on and off , phantom hands have regularly toppled glasses off the top shelf along with many other items behind the bar and on the rare occasion many people have heard loud heavy footsteps that seem to come from the old wooden staircase, however the most frightening story is of a dark black shadow that was seen walking casually past the jukebox one late evening which quite swiftly disappeared and as never returned, this eerie encounter was observed by a fearful onlooker, what and who this apparition was is a mystery.
This old tucked away building has had many uses before it was made into a public house, in 1886 this building was then known as 'The Retreat' and was owned by a Miss. C. Williams which was soon after followed by a Mrs. Hannah Williams and some other known occupiers were of a man named Albert Smith in 1901 and from 1914 a local dressmaker called Miss. Emma Shore lived in the building for many fulfilled years, the pub was also previously a restaurant named Le Cave and afterwards the building was alterrated and turned into The Exchange public house. This public house as been injected with the right ingredients to give it that ‘haunted feel’ and the old surroundings inside the pub certainly adds to the spooky atmosphere.