Bestwood Country Park was famously King Charles II’s Royal hunting lodge, Bestwood Lodge Hotel has its share of ghostly stories.
If you approach Bestwood Country Park from Park Road through Bestwood Village, one encounters structures of its former mining heritage from the 1800s to the 1980s, along with Lodgewood House, the local ranger station office.
Does Neil Gywnn still offer oranges?
An account given to us was a gentleman possibly in his early 60s, he claimed he was on the adventure playground, not a few minutes walk from Lodgewood House pictured above. He said he was pushing his grandson. I believe he said the lad was 6 on the swings. Before resting on the bench, take in the scenery. The grandfather saw an interaction with the lad and seemingly no one! He put out his hand as if taking a gift. his grandson came bounding over and said a lady with a basket of fruit came to him and offered him an orange. “The lady gave it to me” When asking where the woman was, the lad turned around to point but there was no one around and the pathway was visible for some distance in both directions, “There’s no way a woman or anyone could have walked off without me seeing them.”
For those who are aware of Charles II antics in Nottingham, there is a notable figure he was engaged in relations with, Nell Gwynn. Nell famously was an actress, known for her wit and temper. is known as Lady of Orange, due to her time at the Drury Lane theatre, where her mother and Nell would keep the punters pitchers of brandy full, and would sell oranges. Interestingly, at the time, the way you would eat an orange was to cut the top off like a boiled egg and eat out the fruit within. She became mistress to the King in 1669, spending much of her life entertaining the King and his friends at the Bestwood Estate amongst other venues, there are several pubs and stores in the area with her name.
Men in Black
One of the first accounts to be given to me, was from Park Road, from a person at the riding school on said road, Park Road to the right side of the road had a steep hill. an incline with a gate, where she described a black car, a BMW possibly, very expensive, “so immaculate it looked out of place.” It was there for hours. “I could see there were two people inside. So I walked up, and knocked on the window.” There the strangest thing, it was like two people in black suits staring out, they weren’t moving. The driver turned and looked at me, he didn’t look right. Then the car started up, but he didn’t move his hands then drove forward off the incline took a left and disappeared in the direction of Bestwood village. “I would swear like he didn’t have a mouth.”, “Very weird”, and “Like a doll” were among her descriptions.
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