When visitors to the Fireside Grill meet for a meal, they might be meeting with more than they bargained for.

The West Saanich Road restaurant is said to be haunted by its previous owner, Katharine Maltwood, an artist fascinated by the occult.

Katharine, a sculptor, and her husband John, immigrated to Victoria in the 1930s and moved into a converted the tea house they dubbed B次元官网网址淭he Thatch.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭he house itself was a very intriguing one,B次元官网网址� says historian and local ghost expert John Adams, the man behind the cityB次元官网网址檚 year-round ghost tours. B次元官网网址淚t looked like an old, English cottage, surrounded by a Garry oak forest. It would very much have been like an old English cottage in a sacred Druidic grove.B次元官网网址�

Katharine had already gained notoriety in England for having written a book titled The Temple of the Stars, which documented her theory of a 16-kilometre-wide Zodiac carved into the countryside in Glastonbury.

She continued to create her own art in the home and when she and John died in the 1960s, Adams explains, they bequeathed the house and their large art collection to the University of Victoria on the understanding that their home would become a museum featuring their art.

B次元官网网址淭he people who ran the museum discovered right away that there were unusual things going on B次元官网网址� feelings, presences, noises,B次元官网网址� Adams says. B次元官网网址淯nmistakably, the things that you would expect to be associated with hauntings.B次元官网网址�

By 1978, the university decided that the building wasnB次元官网网址檛 the right fit, moved the art collection to UVicB次元官网网址檚 Gordon Head campus and sold the house. While the process was legal, it was clearly out of step with the wishes of its donors, Adams says.

The house then became the Chantecler restaurant, where small happenings at first B次元官网网址� some that could be chalked up to faulty wiring, such as the recurring sounding of the fire alarm B次元官网网址� became commonplace.

B次元官网网址淥ne night (the owner) was answering an alarm and he had with him a Doberman pinscher, a dog who was normally quite fearless, but who got his hackles up and refused to put even one paw into the house.B次元官网网址�

Perhaps the doberman had seen the ghost of a pug dog, which notoriously roams the site to this day B次元官网网址� a rather unusual spirit given that the Maltwoods didnB次元官网网址檛 own such a pet, Adams says.

Cold spots B次元官网网址� unexplained icy, cool air B次元官网网址� on the stairway to the second floor, and sightings of Katharine as a shimmering, white silhouette inside what was once her studio, are among the most reported experiences that Adams attributes to paranormal activity in the home.

Tim Petropolous, managing partner of Fireside Grill, is a skeptic.

Petropolous has been at the location for 13 years and has yet to encounter the spirit of Katharine Maltwood or that of the ghost pug. Though he might not believe them, heB次元官网网址檚 heard all the stories.

Some staff members, chiefly those who worked in the Chantecler, believe the building to be haunted, yet the alleged activity never deterred them from working in the location, Petropolous says.

B次元官网网址淚t was more a happy ghost or a pleasant ghost, not a scary ghost,B次元官网网址� Petropolous said. B次元官网网址淪he was like a caretaker B次元官网网址� just overseeing what was happening.B次元官网网址�

For the last three years, clairvoyant medium Dawn Kirkham has led private paranormal investigations around the region.

Other times, Kirkham claims spirits are indeed detected B次元官网网址� through the use of equipment such as electromagnetic field meters, audio recording and infrared cameras, or via spiritual activities such as a pendulums or planchettes.

She connects with spirits clairvoyantly, builds relationships and helps them to cross over B次元官网网址� a concept she acknowledges B次元官网网址渟ounds really mad,B次元官网网址� with a smile. If a spirit refuses to leave a space, she adds, she works with the client to empower them to reclaim their space.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 trying to normalize and bring out the paranormal so that itB次元官网网址檚 not somebodyB次元官网网址檚 dirty little secret,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淧eople will seek me out and whisper that theyB次元官网网址檙e having these experiences and they donB次元官网网址檛 want to be open about it, because theyB次元官网网址檙e fearful of the ridicule.B次元官网网址�

Kirkham, a Highlands resident, moved to Greater Victoria without any prior knowledge of the cityB次元官网网址檚 paranormal activity. She was pleased at the discovery.

B次元官网网址淒elightedly, this is a very haunted city,B次元官网网址� she says.

B次元官网网址淐ommunication with spirits is something that anyone has the ability to tap into B次元官网网址� WeB次元官网网址檙e all prone to that,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淪ome people will dream of things, then see them unfold and come true. B次元官网网址� Some people will get visions, visualizations and thereB次元官网网址檚 no rhyme or reason as to why theyB次元官网网址檙e thinking that.B次元官网网址�

Adams is clear he doesnB次元官网网址檛 possess any special clairvoyant powers, but claims to have experienced the presence of ghosts several times, from an initial experience as a student when he smelled what he believes to be the perfume of a murder victim from the 1800s, to sights, sounds or feelings that occur throughout his ghost tours.

B次元官网网址淧eople experience ghosts all the time. ItB次元官网网址檚 quite commonplace. ItB次元官网网址檚 said about 20 per cent of the population has had some sort of documented experience with a ghost. In some cases they donB次元官网网址檛 worry about it, in other cases, itB次元官网网址檚 more alarming.B次元官网网址�

Even after 25 years of telling hundreds of ghost stories, Adams still experiences the occasional tingle up his spine.

B次元官网网址淪ometimes something happens and we think: B次元官网网址榃hat is that?B次元官网网址� even though weB次元官网网址檙e used to it.B次元官网网址�

For more on AdamsB次元官网网址�  ghost tours, visit discoverthepast.com. Information on paranormal investigations can be found at beyondbeliefparanormalevents.com.

nnorth@saanichnews.com