MAYBE it’s the powerful real ale, but the very walls of the ancient Three Daws pub seem to whisper of the smugglers, sea shanties and spooks of its past.

With claims of being Kent’s oldest pub, this riverside tavern dates back to around the 1400s and has a warren of rooms which are all steeped in history.

Even the prices seem thankfully stuck in time with a pint of Proper Job costing £3.20 and the most expensive main stretching to £6.95.

There was just the right kind of company at the bar with friendly locals and staff who indulge the newcomer with tales of ghost hunters camping overnight and capturing mysterious moving orbs on camera.

But for more misanthropic moods you can retreat into one of the many corners – used over time for a multitude of dark deeds.

Alone, it was suddenly easy to conjure up a swinging lantern and low voices when the pub acted as a smugglers’ den – rumour has it that secret tunnels carve an escape route beneath the cellars and across The Thames.

Or to picture the poor sods who popped in for a pint and ended up shipped off to the West Indies in the naval press gang raids that followed.

I chose the homemade potato and watercress soup (£3.50) which was hearty and served slapped up with nearly half a loaf of bread – testament to the good value and I made a note to try the Three Daws Roast for £5.95.

The soup was scalding hot and a little too salty for my usual tastes but the atmosphere made up for these minor details and I wolfed it down.

I commend the owners for refusing to conform to trends of glamming up and ruining a good old-fashioned boozer – especially one with so much character – and even the slightly run-down toilets were somehow comforting.

Ship pictures and black-and-white photographs from Gravesend’s past add to the heritage that haunts the pub – where some of the staff fear going upstairs in case they are greeted by a resident ghost.

The spooks left me in peace during my visit, but I did spy the surreal sight of a dark bird kite which was tied to the pier and soaring in ominous circles. Perhaps, the walls whispered, they had noted me after all and left a mental souvenir to signal portending doom.

Three Daws, Royal Pier Road, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 0BJ

How it rates (Out of five): DÉCOR *** (A good old-fashioned pub, true to its shipping routes, with some faded paintwork in parts)

Drink **** (Excellent real ales at spookily low prices)

Price ***** (A pint is around £3.20 and most mains set you back 5.95 with sandwiches at £3.50)

Atmosphere *** (Sit back and let your imagination take over with the history that haunts this ancient watering hole)

Staff **** (Very amiable and knowledgeable about local legends)