In the mid-19th century, a horse attendant, an ostler who rejoiced in the name of Charlie ‘Spider’ Marshall, practised a curious lark. He would crawl up through the chimney of one bar at the pub. He would reappear from the fireplace in the other bar. Sometimes he would play games, with refuse to come out until locals lit a fire to encourage him. On one Christmas Eve, he set off on his chimneypiece trick, with never came back alive. His sooty phantom still survives at the Bear Inn.