Very Very Frightening Bob Minor at Pluckley, Kent

A different type of video, as All Hallows' Eve approaches. The audio for the introduction to this video is the theme to 'Darling Buds of May', which was filmed in the village. You will also be pleased to know that this was the last video I filmed on this camera, which seems to have a phobia of being in focus! There has been a church at Pluckley since at least 1090. By the 13th century a stone church stood on the site, and traces of that building survive today in the blocked lancet windows at the east end of the chancel and in the base of the tower. Most of what we see now was built in the 14th century, when the chancel, nave and tower were constructed or rebuilt, and the tower was topped with its distinctive broached, shingled spire. The nave still has its medieval crown post roof, with five crown posts and two tiny round windows above the easternmost one. Inside the chancel you can also see a piscina and double sedilia, features that recall the church’s medieval services. In the 15th century the church was extended. A south aisle and south parvis porch were added, along with the Dering Chapel, which dates from around 1475. The chapel belonged to the Dering family of nearby Surrenden, who were the leading family in the parish for centuries and are commemorated throughout the church. Several medieval and Tudor memorial brasses in the nave honour the Derings, the oldest being that of John Dering, who died in 1425. A carved wooden screen from 1635 separates the Dering Chapel from the south aisle. In the 19th century the chapel’s east window was blocked to make room for memorial tablets. The Dering estate was eventually sold off in 1928 after financial difficulties. The church also retains traditional box pews, a medieval font and an atmospheric churchyard with 18th-century chest tombs and gravestones. Some windows were damaged during the Second World War, and the east window was replaced in 1954. The church has been Grade I listed since 1967. Pluckley was chosen as the filming location for the ITV series The Darling Buds of May, which ran from 1991 to 1993. The programme was based on the novels of H. E. Bates, who lived nearby, and starred David Jason and Pam Ferris as Pop and Ma Larkin, with Catherine Zeta-Jones as their eldest daughter Mariette. Set in the 1950s and celebrating an idyllic rural life of orchards, oast houses and large family gatherings, the series needed a village that looked unchanged by time, and Pluckley fit the part. St Nicholas’ Church was used as the setting for the wedding of Mariette and Charlie, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Philip Franks. Today the village still draws visitors who want to see the filming locations, and Visit Kent has promoted a Darling Buds tour based on Pluckley. The village has a second claim to fame as well. Pluckley has long been called “the most haunted village in England”, with stories of anywhere from ten to seventeen ghosts. Among the best known is the Red Lady, said to haunt the churchyard of St Nicholas. These tales are folklore rather than established history, and a Telegraph journalist questioned them in 2008, but they have added to the village’s reputation and its appeal to visitors. For more information on the supposed hauntings of Pluckley, please see my website page:- https://www.olliewatson.co.uk/paranor... The tower holds a ring of six bells. Cast in 1853 by Charles & George Mears, the peal was last rehung in 1964 by Mears & Stainbank, when they were hung in a new frame. The tenor weighs 12-3-25cwt and is tuned to 'E'. 6 bells, 12-3-25cwt in E.