{"id":2317,"date":"2022-10-14T10:23:10","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T10:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/stamford\/?p=884"},"modified":"2022-10-14T10:23:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T10:23:10","slug":"stamford-by-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/highlights\/stamford-by-night\/10-2022","title":{"rendered":"Stamford by Night…"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the nights draw in and Halloween approaches, Nicola Sandall and her colleagues are putting on a thick jumper, a decent pair of walking boots and perhaps a pair of gloves. They\u2019re gearing up to celebrate the third season offering walking tours through Stamford, albeit walking tours with a difference… after dusk!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Stamford
Stamford by Night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cStamford really is a fantastic town in which to live,\u201d says Nicola. \u201cI was born in the town and after leaving for drama school 20 years ago, I soon found myself missing the place and wishing I was back, so I returned and began working in theatre in the town!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best things about living in Stamford is that just when you think you know it, inside out, it can still offer up a surprise, or a story, or an interesting historical footnote.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, if you really want the inside story on Stamford, the person to talk to is Jill Collinge. For over 30 years, Jill has served as the Blue Badge guide to Stamford, offering knowledgeable tours that uncover all of its history, and offer even seasoned Stamfordians the chance to learn something new about the place.<\/p>\n

\u201cJill is incredibly knowledgeable indeed!\u201d says Nicola. \u201cEveryone who meets her is in awe of the amount she knows about the town. About eight months prior to lockdown, Jill wanted to ensure that knowledge didn\u2019t simply reside with one person. She also recognised that with just a single person conducting tours, the number of people that could learn about Stamford was limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe approached five of us and we were sort of apprenticed to her as guides around the town. With more of us able to offer tours, we were also able to devise new tours, like this month\u2019s Spooky Tales Tours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had only just started working with Jill when Covid came along, and we were all locked down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way it did us a favour as we \u2013 the new guides \u2013 used to meet over Zoom and finesse the content of the tours, and take the time to fact check our history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s twilight tours will begin on Friday, 21st and will last for two weeks beginning at 7pm and 9pm, but with a child-friendly tour from 5.30pm too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we created the Spooky Tales tour we were adamant that we didn\u2019t want it to be a ghost walk but rather a tour that would reflect British history, local history too, and particularly things that actually happened in the town to real residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat meant not just telling stories which sound good, but making sure they were factually based, too. For that reason, we\u2019ve checked records like newspaper reports from the time, police reports and town council records to make sure that our anecdotes are a true reflection of the history of the town, as far as records allow us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be the third year we\u2019ve run our Spooky Tales. The first year we hosted them was between the two lockdowns, when gatherings were limited to six people. The following year we attracted more people but we tended to limit them to about 12 people. We can arrange private tours for up to 20 people but we like to be able to interact with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spooky Tales tours start at Stamford Town Hall and straight away audiences are introduced to some of the more in savoury locals and their fate, languishing in one of the town three gaols. The first was located in the bowels of the town hall, and by all accounts, it was one of the worst gaols in the country.<\/p>\n

The place was extremely cramped and so a larger gaol was created on All Saints\u2019 Place in the Victorian era. Finally, the town\u2019s gaol was moved to the building now occupied by horologists Loomes of Stamford.<\/p>\n

From the town hall, the group make their way over the town bridge to the Meadows, where Nicola and her fellow guides impart a few anecdotes about the Stamford Bull Run, a grizzly event by today\u2019s standards, one which thankfully ceased in 1839.<\/p>\n

Equally grizzly, though, was the fate of Benjamin Overton in 1801 who, in the course of baiting the bull, was thrown off the town bridge into the River Welland, only for the bull to follow him and land on him, killing the poor fellow… oof!<\/p>\n

A\u2008similarly shocking fate befell another local man, George Waterfield, in 1811. Guiding his horse through the town, Waterfield stopped to have a snooze, with the horse\u2019s reins tied securely to his ankle to prevent it wandering off. When the poor horse became spooked, Waterfield was dragged through the streets of the town and was decapitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always sensitive to the age of the children on our tours, but in fact, they usually begin hiding behind an adult at the start of the tour and then, halfway through, they\u2019re at the front and centre, relishing the grizzly bits. Often they\u2019re more enthralled by the scary bits than the adults!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spooky Tales tour then takes in St Peters\u2019 Churchyard, Barn Hill and the Corn Exchange, then Broad Street and St Michael\u2019s Church. It\u2019s at the final location from which Nicola took her inspiration for the character she occasionally dresses up as: Cassandra King was the last woman in Stamford to be hanged. Her crime was the theft of a loaf of bread… soon after it was thought she was innocent. By that time, though it was too late.<\/p>\n

What isn\u2019t too late, though, is the chance to book on a Spooky Tour of Stamford, and enjoy more anecdotes, grizzly facts and the of course, the look and feel of Stamford at night!<\/p>\n

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