The Phantom of the Ancient Tower : The Eerie Tolling of the Bell

Not too long after the Second World War had finished, and still a time of austerity, with no television for the majority, no computers or mobile phones. Springtime on the rolling hills of Dorset's Jurassic countryside of the 1950s provides a beautiful backdrop to the latest adventure of the Penn Hill Gang.

The Penn Hill Gang consisted of five members; it had been formed by three of my teenage neighbours, all boys, and a great friend who lived across the street - a girl named Jan. It had been due to our insatiable appetite for adventure that the group had come together during the previous year, when we had jointly solved a mind-boggling mystery (The Perilous Adventures of the Penn Hill Gang). Now, once again, we all felt we were at the point of another adventure as we stood listening to an ancient, unused bell-tower which mysteriously pealed its miserable, ear-shattering chime from high on the cliffs that looked over the cove.

Our new adventure fully commenced when the local shopkeeper informed us that this bell was historical, and only rang following the execution of a prisoner.

And then, Jan saw the apparition of a ghost on the bell-tower wall which led us into an investigation that involved the most audacious plan to conquer Britain since the last war - and we were to be a part of it.