Queensferry Hotel, Garden City

link_to_french_translationQueensferry Hotel, Garden City

Garden City was planned as a model residential area for workers at the nearby John Summers steel factory, which had grown rapidly to become Britain’s largest manufacturer of galvanised steel by the time construction of the housing began in 1910. The First World War interrupted the scheme.

In 1915, the owners applied to magistrates for permission to extend the Queensferry Hotel, because the area’s character had changed from being a “purely rural area” to “practically an urban district”, with 212 new houses built in the previous two or three years. There was a “large motor traffic” passing, leading to the bar being almost “crowded out”. There was also considerable demand for hotel accommodation, and the owners proposed adding three more bedrooms to make 10 in total.

Inquests were held at the Queensferry Hotel in Victorian times. In June 1860, an open verdict was returned on the death of an unknown gentleman whose body was found in a pit at Sealand. One eye seemed to have been gouged out.

The hotel was well positioned to cater for traffic crossing the Dee on the Jubilee Bridge. This was the main road between Wales and England in this area until the A494 bridge was constructed a short distance upstream. The loss of heavy traffic makes the Jubilee Bridge a pleasant route for walkers today on the Wales Coast Path, which switches from the north bank of the Dee to the south bank at this point.

There have been many tales of ghosts at the hotel, often concerning a phantom who appears in a coat and hat. The headgear has sometimes been identified as a fisherman’s hat. A previous landlady reported barrels moving on their own in the cellar and hearing mysterious footsteps at night.

Where is this HiPoint?

Postcode: CH5 2RA

Other HAUNTED HiPoints in this region:
The Old Tavern Inn, Llannerch-y-Môr - ghost of legless landlord who smells of casks
Lletty Hotel, Mostyn  – will you feel fingers pressing on your back?

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