This is the thirteenth in a series of glimpses into my new book Paranormal Warwickshire which will be published by Amberley Publishing on 15th November 2020.
My visits to Nuneaton have uncovered some truly astonishing stories. Nuneaton is strongly associated with the great novelist George Eliot, who lived there during the first part of her life, before she moved to London. She was inspired by the working people of Nuneaton and surrounding area. Her father was a land agent at Arbury Hall. She accompanied him on his business journeys to the hall and around the area, and she gained extraordinary insight into the hearts and minds of the working people as well as the aristocrats who lived in Arbury Hall.
George Eliot is considered among the greatest of all novelists. I love her books: Middlemarch is one of my all-time favourites.
Several curious tales are associated with one of the locations she would have visited: The Griffin Inn, just down the road from her former home.
The most compelling stories emerge from among the working people in whom George Eliot was so interested: in this case, those who worked for decades in very unassuming commercial premises in Queens Road.
In fact I regard the anecdotes that emerge from the business owners and employees at 62 Queens Road as one of the most convincing paranormal sagas I’ve ever come across: simply because there have been so many individual witnesses, experiencing similar things quite independently of each other, over a number of decades.
Discover the full story in my book Paranormal Warwickshire.
Do check out my other posts in this series, which I began on 14th August 2020 with Shakespeare’s Ghosts and Spirits, and which brings us up to the publication date of my book Paranormal Warwickshire – 15th November 2020.
Gaveston’s Cross and the Saxon Mill, Warwick
St Mary’s Warwick
Kenilworth Castle
Abbey Fields, Kenilworth
Leamington Spa
Baddesley Clinton
Stoneleigh Abbey
Thomas Oken’s House and Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick
Rugby locations
The other posts in the series will cover the following locations:
Ettington Park Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon
Coughton Court, Alcester
scskillman.com 
This is going to be such an interesting book!
Thank you Fran. I hope it will be. I often think, in a book of this sort, the biggest enjoyment factor comes from the cumulative effect of lots of different curious stories, all coming from people who were, independently of each other, going about their business and not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen. I’m glad too that I have managed to include some original stories that I unearthed simply by asking questions, checking back on the answers, and being a bit persistent. That gives me encouragement for my next book!
Hi Sheila, Yes, Middlemarch is one of my all time favourites too. However, I’m really struggling with Daniel Deronda. I’m finding most of the characters insufferable, the novel very slow paced and the author’s interruptions with obscure comments or even slightly racial statements very annoying!!
That’s interesting! I haven’t read Daniel Deronda, but it’s true that sometimes nineteenth century novelists, no matter how revered, can strike us that way.
Interesting to see where she grew up! I just read that a series of books are being published under woman authors’ real names, including George Eliot born as Mary Anne Evans. I wonder if the pub will ever change it’s name though I do like the name George Eliot!
Thank you for your comment. That will be an interesting exercise – we identify creative works so much by the name of the creator, and we are all so used to the name George Eliot. The name Mary Anne Evans carries a totally different resonance, only because it carries with it all the presumptions about women in that society. She was an extraordinary woman of independent thought. Some take the view that ‘Middlemarch’ is the greatest of all novels. I went to a fascinating exhibition about her in the Nuneaton Museum.