The Griffin in Thornaby is renowned for its friendly atmosphere, so perhaps it is pride in this fact that keeps one of the very first landlords of this wonderful pub tethered there, despite dying on the premises in the 1970s.
Pam and her husband took tenancy of the Thornaby premises in the late 1990s and it wasn't long before she regularly saw a man in a long coat and trilby hat after last orders as she checked the pub when closing up. 'It was like we were both doing the same job, making the place secure', she told us. She caught glimpses of the old man out of the corner of her eye on many occasions as though he too was checking the toilets, doors and windows were safely secured. Upon mentioning this to several regulars in the pub, Pam found out her description matched that of Smithy, the very first landlord of the Griffin. He was an elderly gent and died of natural causes on the property sometime in the early seventies.
The first time she witnessed the phenomenon was one Tuesday night when she had only been at the pub a few weeks. She and another member of staff closed the cellar door when it suddenly burst open and wall of freezing cold air erupted from the cellar. It was as though 'something invisible' was inside the cellar and was determined not to be locked in there. 'I felt like it wanted to make its presence felt, like it wanted to affirm its authority,' said Pam.
Many were the incidents during her tenure of the pub. Lights mysteriously going off and on, beer pumps operating themselves, glasses flying off tables and smashing - and once, a pint of beer appearing on a table. No one admitted to placing it there and remarkably, it stayed fizzing and fresh for hours. Nobody dared touch it!
Pam held a spiritualist night in the pub in 2001 and the spiritualist told her - without any prompting whatsoever - that a man, in a long coat and trilby hat was present in the pub. Okay, he might very well have heard rumours about Pam's claims, but what she had never divulged to anyone was that the spirit she often saw had a dog with him. The spiritualist said, 'He loves his dog and it is never away from his side.'
The Griffin pub is a charming place full of light hearted banter and good, honest Thornaby folk. Pop in and have jar and don't forget to raise a cheer to Smithy who helped make it that way.
