This Halloween Island Echo looks at the history of Betty Haunt Lane and legends associated with 1 of the Isle of Wight’s oldest pubs that is situated nearby.
The Blacksmith’s Arms – at the junction of Betty Haunt Lane and Middle Road – opened in 1730. It was said to have been a hunting lodge, then a hangout for smugglers and finally a Blacksmith’s shop.
According to local legend, while the pub was the haunt of smugglers, the barmaid was a smuggler’s daughter, known as Betty. In the 18th century, excise men were stationed in Admiralty cottages not far from the inn. Whenever contraband was expected to pass along Middle Road, she was tasked with being amorous and available to the customs officers.
To her great misfortune, Betty fell in love with one of the excise men. She then proceeded to betray her colleagues to the officers. Those who escaped justice were said to have murdered her excise officer lover. Shortly after, she was strangled in what is now known as Betty Haunt Lane – which leads from Forest Road to what is now known simply as The Blacksmith’s on Middle Road.
Betty’s death is not the only grisly happening to be associated with the Blacksmith’s Arms. On 11th April 1963, 45-year-old farm worker William Alfred Roach murdered 48-year-old Evelyn Todd, the then pub landlady, by fracturing her skull with a block of wood.
Roach was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
What ghostly happenings are associated with the Blacksmith’s Arms and Betty Haunt Lane?
Barmaid Betty’s ghostly scream is said to still echo in the vicinity of the eponymous Betty Haunt Lane.
A brush with a ghost was blamed for a heart attack suffered by Lancashire holiday maker Mary Breedon, who had been drinking in the Blacksmith’s Arms before venturing down the lane.
Mrs Breedon claimed to nurses in St Mary’s Hospital that she had heard running footsteps before turning to see who was there. She then heard the rapid breathing of a woman running for her life. The spectre apparently ran straight through Mary. Afterwards, she claimed to have seen a woman in the distance with shoulder-length hair, apparently wearing a long, old-fashioned skirt.
There have been further claims of supernatural happenings in the Blacksmith’s Arms itself, associated with the murder almost 60 years ago.
Landlady Evelyn Todd was believed to have been murdered at 03:00. After her death, her dog was said to have howled at precisely the same time in the early hours of the morning.
When the pub was taken over by William Cuming following her death, he claimed his dog had also howled at this early hour. And the dog of the following tenant – Peter Drewery – acted in a similar manner: howling after midnight.
Subsequent tenants have apparently not experienced supernatural events but have had difficulty in finding cover whenever they wanted time off. Those that have looked after the pub in the absence of the regular landlords and ladies have been reluctant to do so a 2nd time, having been ‘spooked’ by mysterious events while in temporary residence.
Do any Island Echo readers know of unexplained happenings in the vicinity of the Blacksmith’s Arms or Betty Haunt Lane? Please let us know in the comments section…
Bet back in the Day Betty was a busy lass.
Well done Island Echo
Love the old stories of the island
More of these stories please!
Very interesting let’s see more stories
More stories please I really love them
Over 30 years ago Riding my bicycle to work at 5.45am along forest road as I went past the military cemetery a man jumped over the wall and went into a frog like stance staring at me – he was wearing Army clothes with dark wavy hair – I carried in cycling past as he had frightened me as I looked ahead there was a lady (looked as if I was looking at a black picture) and in a long gown riding a old fashioned bike she looked at me I turned to check if man still there he had gone and as I turned to check for lady she was then gone
All very strange