http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2008/12/27/a-meal-and-a-medium-at-haunted-midland-pub-66331-22558879/2/

A meal and a medium at haunted Midland pub

Dec 27 2008 By Jonny Greatrex

IT is the Midland pub where the spirits are not just behind the bar.

In fact, you might bump into them in the restaurant, the cellars or even the bedrooms.

And now Dudley’s haunted Station Hotel is going one step further beyond.

Punters can book a ‘meal and a medium’ – food to die for, followed by a chat with the dead.

Ask for a spirit at the Station and you might a get more than just a vodka and coke.

On the last Friday of each month people pay £15 for a two-course meal, after which they have the chance to consult with 37 year-old medium Helen Millward.

Using her psychic powers, she speaks with the spirits and passes messages from beyond the grave on to relatives or friends.

Helen, who is from Tipton, says the pub is a perfect place to communicate with the departed.

“For some reason a lot of them gather here, so it is ideal,” she told the Sunday Mercury.

“There are people who have passed over but sometimes they don’t want to

pass on further, so they stay somewhere they are familiar with. They seem to like the Station Hotel.

“Most of them are passive spirits but there are one or two who are nasty.

“One, in particular, is called George is horrible, and he is responsible for things like the beds rocking.”

The dead have told Helen, who started to speak to spirits when she was just two years old, about famous guests who have stayed in the hotel, such as Laurel and Hardy and Bob Hope.

And they even ruined one man’s birthday surprise.

“One night this man walked in with a golden light over his head,” said the medium mum-of-two.

“He came in with a group of family and friends, and I could tell the golden light was his late grandmother.

“She told me it was his birthday bash and said he had a fantastic surprise coming up.

“She showed me two glasses, and I mentioned this.

“It then turned out that Beverley, the reception manager, had gone up to his room and put a bottle of Champagne in there.

“His wife said: ‘That was going to be a surprise’.”

The pub’s spooky evenings have proved very popular – with most nights fully booked.

Reception manager Beverley Meacham, 44, who has worked at The Station for seven years, needs no convincing that ghosts exist – she has had her own encounter with a ghoulish guest.

“When I started working here, I was in one of the rooms and there was a strange girl standing by the dresser,” she said. “I thought I had taken someone’s room by mistake.

“I watched her for a bit and then she just vanished. I wasn’t really scared. I was just amazed.”

* To book a meal and a medium call 01384 253418 or visit www.stationhoteldudley.co.uk

* DON’T believe in ghosts?

When Sunday Mercury photographer Jason Skarratt started to take the photos for this story, medium Helen Millward had a chilling message for him.

“There are spirits around you,” she said. “They do not want you to take pictures and they are interfering with your equipment.”

As Jason went to snap the first shot, his fully-charged flashgun batteries ran out.

“They have drained the power,” said Helen. “But your flash will work fine when you leave.”

As soon as he walked into the pub car park, Jason checked his flashgun – and it worked perfectly.

“It was the strangest thing,” he said. “I cannot explain what happened here.”