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General
Leighton Buzzard lies on the west edge of the county and was originally two villages, Leighton and Linslade, which were united in 1965 and sit either side of the grand Union Canal. The current population is 33,620.
In 1865 a row of six terraced Italianate style townhouses was built in Church Square by John Dollin Bassett. To encourage people to buy the houses they were offered for sale with a free season ticket to London on the nearby West Coast mainline railway. The tickets were for First Class and covered a period of twenty one years.
The Leighton aspect of the name means ‘leek enclosure or herb garden’ from the Old English leac-tun. The Buzzard aspect is less certain though it could relate to the Busards who held land in the north of the county (but not in Leighton Buzzard). By the time of the Domesday Survey it was known as Lestone.
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Ashwell Arms
Locals believe that the cellar of the Ashwell Arms is haunted but no further details are available.
“The first few nights were also a bit weird. I was told a story by one of the locals, about a ghost that lived in the cellar. It took me ages to go down there on my own - especially at night, but having been in the pub for almost a year, I think he must be a friendly ghost because he certainly hasn’t bothered me.......yet!”
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The Bedford Arms
If you want to get a good night’s sleep in Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, then room three of the Bedford Arms, in Old Road, is probably not the best choice. This room is said to be haunted by the ghost of a woman who has a habit of leaning over people when they are trying to sleep. The events usually occur between 02:00 and 03:00, and have ruined many a guest’s sleep for that night. The woman has been described as wearing a long grey dress with a brown pinafore. People have also said that she has brown hair which is worn in a bun.
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The Buckingham Arms
The ghost that haunts the Buckingham Arms is one who does not have regular habits. Unlike a lot of ghosts, months may pass before it again becomes active. When the ghost does return, it starts out by opening the front gate, early in the morning, walking up the path to the public house, then knocking loudly on the door. This is just the beginning.
From then on the life of the Buckingham Arms is filled with noise. This can range from the sound of heavy footsteps running up the stairs, to bangs and crashes coming from the cellar. The ghost will also go from room to room upstairs opening all the doors and slamming them shut. Or so it sounds, but no door has ever been seen to move. The same applies to the cellar, where it sounds as if the barrels are being smashed, but there is never any damage, only the sounds.
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Lake Street
On Tuesday 28th May 1963 the ‘Beds and Bucks Observer’ carried the story of the goings on at Sid’s workshop in Leighton Buzzard two weeks before. Sid, a motorcycle expert and dealer, had decided he needed more room in his workshop so he removed a partition. Unfortunately in so doing he unleashed a poltergeist who wreaked havoc on his life.
The morning after he had removed the partition Sid arrived at work to find that three racing motorcycles, belonging to a local rider, had been knocked over and the fairings smashed. At first he couldn’t work out what had happened but eventually he decided that one of the bikes must have fallen over and took the other two with it.
A few days later Sid stayed late at the workshop as he was working on a racing gearbox that required urgent work. It was 03:00 before he finished and was just getting ready to leave when “I felt something rush by me. I looked around and spanners were flying off hooks on the wall and a tarpaulin that was covering a bike took off and soared into the air”. The whole place had become alive with nuts, bolts and cycle parts flying about. Sid grabbed a hammer to defend himself against the frenzied attack but who was he defending himself against?
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