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Halloween is the time in the annual cycle of the earth's journey around the sun when the season and day length change towards winter. This is a time that was known as the "The Thinning of the Veil" – when the boundary between the world of the living and the world of spirits breaks down to its thinnest.

This allows spirits, ancestors, and other supernatural energies to come closer, offering opportunities for reflection, communication, and connection.

The Druids and of Ancient Britain, celebrated Samhain (sow-in) at this time of year. It marked the end of the harvest and the start of the "darker half" of the year. The eve of Samhain, October the 31st was the night that the Lord of Death judged the souls of the departed and when the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living.

Great Paxton seems superficially to be a relatively recently built village with the majority of houses being post 1970’s and even the oldest few still standing being no older than the 1700’s, but it was already an important place when the minster church was started in 1020. It was described as “An Ancient Parish” at around that time.

So while we tend to think of ghosts as being from a time in the past we can more easily grasp, the depth of time here is much greater still with a proportionally greater number of potential spirits.

On the Ghost Walk you will hear some stories from here in Great Paxton as we walk around where the veil may feel thinner.

l-r: The start of the walk at the Perky Beans coffee pod - The Ghost Walk begins - Watch out for the spirit of a policeman on your walk