A PSYCHIC
WALKS INTO A BAR…
…and redefines the Great British Pub as
the place to have your best reading yet!
I must confess I was feeling rather
self-conscious walking into a pub
on my own. I’d been having visions
of asking at the bar whether I was
in the right place and receiving
bemused looks in return, but it turns
out I needn’t have worried. As soon as I
enter The Chequers pub, a charming ‘olde
worlde’ pub in Hertfordshire, local to me,
I see a large banner welcoming guests
for ‘Psychic Destiny Psychic Nights’.
Four tables to the side of the bar area are
adorned with brightly coloured metallic
cloths, psychics with stacks of cards and
small crystal balls, all welcoming me in.
The host psychic Eleanor Grace (of no
relation to me!) greets me with a warm
smile and exudes confidence.
Social setting
Eleanor has been working as a medium
and clairvoyant for thirty years, and
it’s clear she knows her stuff. My first
question is about the choice of venue –
I had wondered if pubs are rather ‘low
vibrational’ for spiritual energy. Eleanor
explains that her clientele, 75% female,
enjoy being able to just rock up to the pub.
“A private reading in a social setting gives
enough privacy yet anonymity for women
to stop by after shopping or a meeting,
without needing to tell anyone one else
where they were headed,” she explains.
After a period of time some years ago
when psychic readings were unfairly
given rather a bad name, Eleanor and
some of her professional colleagues had
worked from their own home or visited
clients in theirs, but this proved timeconsuming.
“Wherever the reading takes
place, though, it seems many people like
to keep the fact that they’ve had a reading
confidential,” she tells me.
Saw it coming
Sometimes, the readings even reveal that
the pubs themselves are haunted. She
speaks fondly of The Gate in Northwood,
Middlesex, where apparently a regular
drinker named Fred, now in spirit, always
makes his presence known to her. “With
three or four mediums together, the
energy is enhanced,” she says, “it’s like
Eventually, right at the end of the evening,
they’ll sit down for one themselves!”
Decision-making power
People often ask about relationships
and Eleanor finds that she often has to
confirm sad suspicions. However, clients
often report that they feel able to make
better-informed decisions after seeing her.
“Sometimes we give warnings; I advised a
woman not to go on a skiing holiday, and
if she did, definitely to avoid the slopes.
The woman ignored me and came back a
couple of weeks later having had a bad fall,
complete with three pins
in her leg!”
Home truths
My own reading begins with Eleanor
gently holding my hand and asking me to
visualise myself at a beach, looking out
onto the horizon. She then reveals some
people in spirit she could see who were
‘looking out for me.’ She tells me about my
grandmother (who I have never met but
have always felt connected to) was there
on the beach beside me. “She literally
‘sweeps the way for you’”, Eleanor says,
and she reminds me that I could always
come here for help whenever I need it. She
goes on to ask if the name Johnny means
anything to me. Indeed it does – my uncle
Johnny sadly passed a few weeks ago.
She then asks me to pick out twelve
cards from her deck. She proceeds to talk
about my work and frustrations
I have, all of which are true. She says I
have four children – I do – and she picks
up on my sportiest son who is extremely
“I had wondered if pubs are rather’ ‘low vibrational’ for
spiritual energy” a light being switched on for those in the
spirit world.”
She has found that holding these
nights in pubs has been incredibly popular,
though being in such an ‘open’ setting has
meant that she has had many different
sorts of welcomes. “A vicar might pop into
the pub for his pint, offering to pray for
me!” Of course, she’s heard all the gags in
the book, too. “‘I bet you saw that coming’
has been said many times,” she says, “and
many men will watch and make jokes all
night as their girlfriends have a reading.
Words: Janey Lee Grace
I must confess I was feeling rather
self-conscious walking into a pub
on my own. I’d been having visions
of asking at the bar whether I was
in the right place and receiving
bemused looks in return, but it turns
out I needn’t have worried. As soon as I
enter The Chequers pub, a charming ‘olde
worlde’ pub in Hertfordshire, local to me,
I see a large banner welcoming guests
for ‘Psychic Destiny Psychic Nights’.
Four tables to the side of the bar area are
adorned with brightly coloured metallic
cloths, psychics with stacks of cards and
small crystal balls, all welcoming me in.
The host psychic Eleanor Grace (of no
relation to me!) greets me with a warm
smile and exudes confidence.
Social setting
Eleanor has been working as a medium
and clairvoyant for thirty years, and
it’s clear she knows her stuff. My first
question is about the choice of venue –
I had wondered if pubs are rather ‘low
vibrational’ for spiritual energy. Eleanor
explains that her clientele, 75% female,
enjoy being able to just rock up to the pub.
“A private reading in a social setting gives
enough privacy yet anonymity for women
to stop by after shopping or a meeting,
without needing to tell anyone one else
where they were headed,” she explains.
After a period of time some years ago
when psychic readings were unfairly
given rather a bad name, Eleanor and
some of her professional colleagues had
worked from their own home or visited
clients in theirs, but this proved time consuming. “Wherever the reading takes
place, though, it seems many people like
to keep the fact that they’ve had a reading
confidential,” she tells me.
Saw it coming
Sometimes, the readings even reveal that
the pubs themselves are haunted. She
speaks fondly of The Gate in Northwood,
Middlesex, where apparently a regular
drinker named Fred, now in spirit, always
makes his presence known to her. “With
three or four mediums together, the
energy is enhanced,” she says, “it’s like a light being
switched on for those in the
spirit world.” She has found that holding these
nights in pubs has been incredibly popular,
though being in such an ‘open’ setting has
meant that she has had many different
sorts of welcomes. “A vicar might pop into
the pub for his pint, offering to pray for
me!” Of course, she’s heard all the gags in
the book, too. “‘I bet you saw that coming’
has been said many times,” she says, “and
many men will watch and make jokes all
night as their girlfriends have a reading
Eventually, right at the end of the evening,
they’ll sit down for one themselves!”
Decision-making power
People often ask about relationships
and Eleanor finds that she often has to
confirm sad suspicions. However, clients
often report that they feel able to make
better-informed decisions after seeing her.
“Sometimes we give warnings; I advised a
woman not to go on a skiing holiday, and
if she did, definitely to avoid the slopes.
The woman ignored me and came back a
couple of weeks later having had a bad fall,
complete with three pins
in her leg!”
Home truths
My own reading begins with Eleanor
gently holding my hand and asking me to
visualise myself at a beach, looking out
onto the horizon. She then reveals some
people in spirit she could see who were
‘looking out for me.’ She tells me about my
grandmother (who I have never met but
have always felt connected to) was there
on the beach beside me. “She literally
‘sweeps the way for you’”, Eleanor says,
and she reminds me that I could always
come here for help whenever I need it. She
goes on to ask if the name Johnny means
anything to me. Indeed it does – my uncle
Johnny sadly passed a few weeks ago.
She then asks me to pick out twelve
cards from her deck. She proceeds to talk
about my work and frustrations
I have, all of which are true. She says I
have four children – I do – and she picks
up on my sportiest son who is extremely
