OUR recent Teesdale tour took in Stubb House, which is about a mile to the west of Winston, and about which we know very little – although it may well be haunted.

It sits just off the A67, screened by trees, near Whorley Hill reservoir. It has a grand site, overlooking the Tees.

A house has been here since 1333, but the current Grade II-listed building went up in 1690, with fashionable pavilions added either side in 1816.

Douglas Burdon kindly sent in some side avenues from his research which show that during the century or so of its construction, it was occupied by people with surnames Holmes, Kipling, Harrison and Stanton – all of them relatives.

Bert Travis, from Northallerton, wrote enclosing a copy of his mother’s birth certificate which shows she was born at Stubb House on October 12, 1884.

“As the certificate says her father was a hind. I suspect she was born in a cottage or, most likely, the gate house,” says Bert.

Then he adds: “I remember reading a book about Lewis Carroll which said his father was a visitor or was connected with Stubb House, but at nearly 90 my memory is not good!”

He does his memory a disservice. Lewis Carroll’s real surname was Dodgson, and a branch of the Dodgsons did live at Stubb House in the mid-19th Century when Carroll and his family lived not far away at Croft-on-Tees.

Stubb House must be lodged in lots of other people’s memories because on June 6, 1958, the Darlington & Stockton Times reported: “The first hostel of its kind in the country, Stubb House, near Winston, is to open next week as a youth holiday and training centre. The first visitors will be 60 teenagers from many parts of County Durham. A Georgian-style mansion, Stubb House was acquired by Durham County Council in order to conduct a bold experiment in youth work.”

Right into the late 1970s, youngsters from Consett to Shildon were sent on week-long visits to Stubb House. For many of them, it was their first stay away from home – and almost certainly their first encounter of a ghostly grey lady who was said to inhabit the upper corridors.

If you have any memories of Stubb House, or its ghost, we’d love to hear from you: chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk