The Ghost Dog of Ryecroft Street

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I used to work in Ryecroft Street, in the old brewery/laundry building, which is now part of Jessop’s Vehicle Recycling.

This was a great old building with some vaulted roofs and cobbles on the floor.  I worked there for 20 years and every now and then would see a black dog out of the corner of my eye.  If I turned around to try to see it directly, it had vanished.

I’m not a great believer in ghosts or the paranormal and it wasn’t a scary dog – like some of the Cotswold “Black Shuck” ghost dogs.  I always got the impression it was a rather fat, friendly black labrador, with its tongue hanging out and wagging its tail as it wandered around the building.

One day I happened to mention seeing this ghostly dog to the lady who lived at 91 Ryecroft Street, Mrs Jones.  Mrs Jones had worked at the laundry all her working life and, to my surprise, she told me that when she had worked there, the owner had had a black dog. Spooky!