10 ghostly places near you!

Ghosties, ghoulies, creepies and crawlies... yes, it's Halloween! As the dark evenings close in now is the time to spook yourself with Clive Aslet's ghostly tour of London.

TOWER OF LONDON Tower Hill, EC3. Crammed with ghosts, including the thin wraith of Henry VI who was supposedly murdered here and, needless to say, Anne Boleyn.

BANK OF ENGLAND Bartholemew Lane, EC2. Haunted by Sarah Whitehead, dressed in black crepe, who repeatedly called here after her brother was executed for forgery in 1812.

ST JAMES GARLICKHYTHE Garlick Hill, EC4. The skeleton of 'Jimmy Garlick' used to be kept in a glass case as a memento mori - now his ghost returns.

COCKPIT STEPS Queen Anne's Gate, SW1. A headless woman once frightened the life out of two Coldstream guardsmen here.

ST JAMES'S PALACE Pall Mall, SW1. In 1810, the Duke Of Cumberland was attacked by his valet, whose daughter he may have seduced. The valet then cut his own throat. Now he stalks the corridors.

HOLLAND HOUSE Holland Park, W8. The youth hostel is haunted by the Earl Of Holland, who was beheaded in 1624. Another headless ghost.

HAMPTON COURT East Molesey, Surrey. Almost more ghosts than visitors. Most dramatic is Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine Howard, screaming for clemency.

LONG WALK, WINDSOR CASTLE Windsor, Berks. Richard II's huntsman, Herne, hanged himself after being dismissed. Now he rides wildly at the head of a spectral hunt.

RULES Maiden Lane, WC2. It is said that a ghostly trickster haunts the ladies' lavatory of this oldestablished restaurant. I am unable to confirm.

OLD ROYAL NAVAL HOSPITAL Greenwich, SE10. Admiral John Byng, memorably shot 'pour encourager les autres', haunts the rooms in the Queen Anne block.

Further reading: Walking Haunted London by Richard Jones (New Holland, £9.99).