The scariest place!

This Halloween was at the Old Hall Tatton Park, even some of the staff who came down from the Mansion were scared!.. and they know the people doing the scaring....though some of the haunters were quite unrecognizable.

Quite a few of the visitors were scary too....one girl on Wednesday came as a ‘mummy’ all self made costume and looked very authentic particularly with a very life like cockroach on her shoulder...she was quite terrified of the pirate though...(Allan Johnson for those who didn't realise!)

Pirate Allan

This year with the extended opening times going into the second week of Half Term, kept the visitors coming and it was very busy those last 2 days. It was well attended the rest of the time too. As usual with the added extras of face painting and mask making, Sheila and Janet, I don’t know how you keep up!... and the small rides in the Old Hall grounds it made it a full day for families and plenty had picnics on the days of good weather...and of course the story teller in the barn kept the children who were perhaps too scared to go in the Old Hall, entranced...thanks Leonie. There were hot drinks and food to keep you going as well.

We returned the place to it’s origins on Thursday, well almost as a few went back today, (Friday) and put everything away for next year...it does come round very quickly.

The last day when we finished, the 31st, I was stood at the door of the Old Hall with Mick and Dawn just chatting and my cloak which has a substantial clasp just slipped off my shoulders onto the floor, right near where someone else had a paranormal incident a few years ago. That has never happened before and it’s the cloak I wear for the Medieval or Tudor Education days and it’s never just dropped off....spooky!

Here are a few of the spooky staff...

 Ghostly Woman

 The Grim Reaper

 The Lady

 Monk

not to miss... 

The sunbathing skeleton!

Margaret Clark
History Interpreter Guide

Hallowe'en Horrors at the Old Hall

The Old Hall opened up last week to lovely weather outside and a very dark and horrible interior with ghosts and spooks and spirits, who is real and who is not?



The bogey man & dragon

©Margaret Clark


The good witch on the main door (that was Sandra and myself on alternate days) made sure everyone was going to enjoy themselves! And if they looked too afraid, to put a spell on the spooks in the Hall, that’s a Pirate from Davey Jones' Locker, a Witch and a Ghostly Lady to make them keep still and to get the visitors across to the stairs safely, after that....

The Clown/Jester was ready to scare you out of your wits and the Bogey Man had his pet dragon helping him...then a very scary Monk with metal hands and finally the Undertaker to see you out the back door...all in time to come round to the front door and start all over again.

For those not brave enough to enter, of all ages, there was plenty to keep them occupied outside with fair ground rides and a coconut shy, hot drinks and food. There was a storyteller all throughout the day, every day, and also the same with mask making and face painting...a fantastic job to all those involved (don’t know how you did it!)

Davey Jones in the Great Hall ©Margaret Clark

On the first day, Tuesday, there were two 7 year old girls, who kept telling me they were very best friends - they came through so many times completely on their own that I lost count, ended up dancing with the Ghostly Lady several times and not in the least bothered by it all...and yet there were plenty of adults unwilling to come in and lots of screaming...I’ll remember my ear plugs next year.

The team that created it all led by Mick have some very strange minds, (I’d worry about them if they weren’t good friends and I include myself in that) and worked hard to get it all ready on the first Monday and then taken down the following Monday...where did the time go? A brilliant week, let’s do it again sometime..but not just yet!


Margaret Clark,
Interpreter Guide

The Pumpkin Tree

Over the last couple of days I have been set a rather strange task: to put a dozen large pumpkins into a tree near the maze! This is ready for ‘Get Squashed in the Gardens’ taking place during October half term. Kids will be following a trail which leads them to a Beech tree which has had pumpkins wired onto it. The pumpkin required me and Simon climbing a triple rung ladder and wiring them securely into place – this needed a strong head for heights.

There is also a neighbouring tree which has been dressed with cobwebs, spiders, bats and other spooky stuff ready for Hallowe'en. I climbed up here on a rope and harness to fix them into place. The overall effect is pretty striking and I can imagine the children being impressed with it, when they come in from tomorrow.

The other gardeners have been working hard on putting together a display of pumpkins and squashes in one of the glasshouses. There are hundreds, of various shapes and sizes – it’s nice to see all the produce set out like this.

It’s surprising what tasks you get asked to do at Tatton, but it is great to have a change from time to time!