Haunted Wycombe pub where chaplains mingle with striptease dancers

The White Horse pub on West Wycombe Road looks innocuous enough from the outside, but appearances are deceptive.

The 100-year-old building is a local oddity, inhabited by ghosts, exotic dancers and clergymen. It is also under new ownership and at risk of demolition, pending planning permission.

Pub landlord, Alastair Watts, has been at the helm of The White Horse for twenty years, and says the potential closure signals the "disappointing" loss of a unique establishment.

Unique indeed, the pub has two floors, each with striptease stages alongside a standard bar and snooker area at ground level and a flat upstairs.

Under previous ownership, the ground floor stage hosted bands such as Coldplay and Snow Patrol, but by the time Alastair became landlord, it had been remodelled as a boudoir-like joint. 

"I know people say it's tacky or seedy, but the way I run it, it's good, safe fun. I was never keen on those private dance booths they have at some clubs and I make sure the dancers, who are mostly from the UK, get paid for every show from each audience member.

"It's important to me that I remain an entertainment agent, I'm not willing to provide any more than that."

It's not just exotic dancers in high heels who populate the unassuming freehouse, however.

Alastair explained that about ten years ago, he noticed some of the dancers who had come from overseas to work were having emotional difficulties, so he spoke to a local minister about providing a supportive presence at the pub.

"We've had a chaplain ever since. They're mainly Methodist and don't drink but they come in and talk to the dancers and they're a really friendly, nice bunch."

Alongside stripteases and clergymen, Alastair said there have also been quite a few ghost sightings at the pub over the years.

The most memorable experience he had himself, whilst in his upstairs flat in the early hours of the morning.

He recounted: "There was a grey figure of a young girl who walked right past me as I was drinking a cup of tea at about 3:30am. It was very unnerving.

"One of my regulars told me just the other night that he thought he'd seen a man at the other end of the bar when there hadn't been anyone there. He'd only just come in, so it wasn't the alcohol speaking!"

The building's pending demolition is a consequence of purchase by a local property developer, but Alastair says business has suffered since the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Because it's listed as a sexual entertainment establishment, we had to stay closed for 16 months.

"We're still open for business at the moment, but it's disappointing to see numbers fall especially when I've put so much into the place."

While patronage often fluctuates, Alastair says they have come to rely on away game football supporters, for whom it has become a tradition to stop by on match days. 

He will miss being landlord, he says, if the planning permission is granted and the building is demolished, but a lot has changed during his tenure. 

"The whole character of the area has changed so much over the last twenty years. When I came here, there were lots of factories around the back and a big working population who would stop by on their way home.

"It's a pity but that has largely gone now. If the planning goes through, this site will be turned into a block of flats, which I've already seen happen to so much of the nearby area."