Geoff Harris: Gayna and I have been working together for 35 years. Although our performances have changed over the years, our aim has always been the same – to provide fun, family entertainment that parents and children can enjoy together. We originally worked as teachers but were tempted into a life of performance by the lure of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd. 

We have performed for English Heritage for about 20 years. The Spooky Walks sprang out of the daytime Ghost Hunts we host at Wrest Park during October half-term. We were asked to create a separate Halloween event for the evenings. The Spooky Walks are just that – a 40-minute walk through some of the more remote parts of Wrest Park’s woods, stopping every now and then to listen to a ghost story.

The popularity of the event is probably because it is very different and the people involved do not take themselves too seriously. Gayna and I play Mrs Rosie Bottom and Mr Obadiah Squires, time-travelling ghost hunters by appointment. The presentation is very tongue-in-cheek and the emphasis of the walks is on humour.

We are not there to scare anyone out of their wits, although we do make people jump every now and then. As well as the stories, we get the crowds singing, we ask ghostly riddles and we tease people mercilessly. There is also the opportunity to be in a beautiful place at night, something you are never usually able to do. That, combined with the walks though dark woods, makes it something of an adventure.

The thing Gayna and I love about these events is the response of the people we entertain. We hope people will go away smiling and that there will be lots of conversations on their journeys home that start with, ‘Do you remember that bit where…’ and, ‘I liked the bit when…’ and, ‘That was so funny.’

After work, Gayna and I will be spending Halloween by our blazing fire, whereas Mrs Bottom and Mr Squires will be time-travelling, tracking down ghosts and leading intrepid ghost hunters on spooky woodland trails to laugh the spectres away for another year.