The Flask Highgate. Highgate. N6.

The Bullet In The Wall.

The 18th century Flask is one of Highgate’s most atmospheric pubs. It was once patronised by the artist William Hogarth (1697-1764), whom, it is said, once sketched, on the spot, a fight that he witnessed on the premises, between two customers who set about each other with their beer tankards.

The ghost of a female phantom haunts the pub, although no-one is certain of her identity. Some claim that she is the ghost of one of the pubs former maidservants, who committed suicide when an illicit romance went wrong.

Others maintain that her apparition is connected with a bullet that is embedded in the wall of the snug bar to the right of the entrance. Nobody is certain when, why or at whom it was fired and its link to the haunting is, to say the least, somewhat tenuous.

However, staff always know when her ghost is about to honour them with a visit, because her appearances are presaged by a sudden and alarming drop in temperature. A full blown manifestation is a rare occurrence, but lights certainly begin to mysteriously sway back and forth, glasses are moved across tables in front of surprised customers, and some people even suffer the alarming sensation of feeling her invisible form blowing gently down the backs of their necks.