Bob Meredith is the author of The Haunted Cotswolds - tales of the supernatural in Gloucestershire - and is a local expert on ghosts. He definitely believes in ghosts though he has never seen one himself. Bob says: "I believe that people experience phenomena which they can't satisfactorily explain away by talking about draughts or dimmed lighting or so on. So I do believe in them. 
There are dozens, even hundreds of different types of phenomena and I really don't think you can explain them all away by saying it is a draught or subdued lighting or a dark room, that's just foolish | | Bob Meredith |
What does he think of scientists who say there is a rational explanation for so-called ghostly activity? "I have to say they are taking a very narrow view. They talk about explaining things away by draughts when people feel cold they sometimes think it is a ghost but phenomena don't all fit into that pattern. "There are dozens, even hundreds of different types of phenomena and I really don't think you can explain them all away by saying it is a draught or subdued lighting or a dark room, that's just foolish. So what ARE ghosts, the souls of the dead? Bob says: "I think there is a supernatural dimension around us, though us, in us, and I think that some people do tune it to that a bit like a radio. "I can't see or understand what brings the programmes into my radio but I know they are there and I think the supernatural is a bit like that.  | | The Elizabethan manor of Chavenage is Bob's favourite haunted house in Gloucestershire |
"Some people tune into it and know it's there - we can't see it but it's there nonetheless. "I think if we deny that that is a very dangerous road to go down." Bob maintains his belief despite never having seen a ghost himself - though he has interviewed dozens of people who believe they have for his books on local haunting. "Some people do, some people never do. I guess I am one of the ones who never do," he says. And his favourite haunted place in the county? "Chavenage Manor, just outside Tetbury is brilliant. "I have visited there many times and it has some glorious stories attached to it."
>>More about the ghosts of Chavenage and elsewhere in Gloucestershire The Haunted Cotswolds by Bob Meredith (Reardon Publishing) is available from Gloucester Tourist Information and other county bookshops. 
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