Friday 29 January 2010

The Kings Arms Public House - Harborne

From The Archives:

Investigation Report:‭ ‬The Kings Arms Public House‭ – ‬Harborne‭ – ‬Birmingham‭

‬Date of Investigation:‭ ‬October‭ ‬15th to‭ ‬16th‭ ‬2004.‭

‬Notes On Alleged Haunted History:‭

*‬1st night on premises,‭ ‬landlady saw‭ ‘‬someone‭’ ‬looking around pillars in bar area of pub when building was otherwise empty.‭

*‬Movement of objects‭ – ‬glasses smashed‭ ‬/‭ ‬thrown from shelves.‭ ‬Bathroom cabinet flew across room towards person in shower.‭ ‬Heavy vase flew across kitchen and smashed.‭ ‬Magazines from rack scattered in three different directions,‭ ‬etc.‭

*‬Cellar lights switched off and on of own accord.‭ ‬Feeling of being watched in general cellar area.‭

*‬Sound of movement heard in private apartment corridor at‭ ‬2‭ ‬a.m.‭ ‬Upon investigation,‭ ‬drawers of sideboard in corridor found open,‭ ‬with everything thrown out.‭ ‬As ghost is allegedly called‭ ‘‬Harry‭’‬,‭ ‬landlady shouted:‭ “‬F‭*** ‬Off Harry‭!!”‬,‭ ‬and heard someone laughing and running away down corridor.‭

*‬Landlady situated in kitchen and saw someone run into her daughters room.‭ ‬Music came on in room.‭ ‬She went in to turn music off and saw‭ ‘‬someone‭’ ‬darting into her own bedroom.‭

*‬Footsteps and banging noises often heard.‭

*‬Staff member tapped on shoulder and had her hair pulled.‭

*‬Feeling of someone getting into bed with you.‭

‬Investigation:‭

‬Present:‭ ‬Steve Chew and Frazer Smith.‭ ‬Also‭ ‬5‭ ‬people associated with pub itself‭ – ‬Z,‭ ‬L,‭ ‬A,‭ ‬C and O.‭

‬Vigil One‭ – ‬Cellar Area:‭

‬Steve Chew hears‭ ‘‬clang‭’ ‬sound from outside cellar door.‭ (‬Like noise made by a metal pipe‭)‬.‭ ‬Boiler room situated nearby.‭ ‬O possibly hears same noise‭(?) ‬Traffic sounds detected from outside property.‭

‬During vigil,‭ ‬O and Z allegedly saw‭ ‬/‭ ‬sensed‭ ‘‬flames‭’ ‬in the cellar area‭(?)

‬Later,‭ ‬O and Steve hear a‭ ‘‬shuffling‭’ ‬sound.‭ ‬Z becomes‭ ‘‬spooked‭’ ‬and believes that someone has touched her.‭ ‬Z visibly shaken by this experience.‭

‬Post vigil‭ – ‬Steve Z and L walking back into bar.‭ ‬All hear‭ ‘‬bang‭’ ‬come from the stairs area of function room above.‭

‬Vigil Two‭ – ‬Function Room:‭

‬Group conducting‭ (‬experimental‭) ‬recording‭ ‬/‭ ‬ghost baiting session and O asks if the ghosts are happy with the way that the premises are being currently run‭? ‬If so‭ – ‬then could they let someone know‭?

‬At this point,‭ ‬Steve is setting his camera up on the function room stairs and feels himself being physically‭ ‘‬pushed‭’ ‬into a nearby door frame‭! (‬Action possibly in response to the question being asked‭?)

‬Vigil Three‭ – ‬Function Room Stairs:‭

‬Ghost baiting session conducted in endeavour to replicate‭ ‘‬pushing‭’ ‬scenario.‭

‬A and C leave premises at‭ ‬3.02‭ ‬a.m.‭

‬Z believes that she hears footsteps in function room.‭ ‬Other noises also heard from‭ (‬poss.‭) ‬function room and corridor.‭

‬Vigil‭ ‬4‭ – ‬Cellar Middle Room:‭

‬Squeaking noise heard.‭ (‬Poss.‭ ‬from cellar pipes‭)‬.‭ ‬Other unidentifiable sounds heard.‭ ‬Couple of people present claim to hear sounds of muffled voices.‭

‬Vigil Five‭ – ‬Function Room:‭

‬4‭ ‘‬tap‭’ ‬noises repeated twice,‭ ‬seemingly from glass lamp shade.‭

‬Floorboards heard creaking,‭ ‬as if someone‭ ‘‬rocking to and fro‭’ ‬on them.‭

‬Researchers leave pub around‭ ‬5.30‭ ‬a.m.‭

‬Brief Summary:‭

‬Researchers observe that visit‭ ‬/‭ ‬investigation conducted in already paranormally charged atmosphere.‭ ‬Previous visit by‭ (‬dramatic‭ ‬/‭ ‬psychic motivated‭) ‬group added to ghost-lore‭ ‬/‭ ‬paranormal expectations of site.‭ ‬Clearly general sense of heightened expectation‭ (‬re.‭ ‬potential paranormal happenings‭) ‬from site based personnel.‭

‬Degree of‭ (‬site based‭) ‬prompting‭ ‬/‭ ‬feeding occurring throughout visit.‭

‬Landlady spoke of being forewarned about ghostly reputation of site prior to moving into premises.

All the best,

The W.M.G.C.

Haunted Homes #1

Recent events mentioned in a post below have brought the subject of ‘Haunted Homes’ (not the rubbish TV series, we hasten to add!! Laugh!!) to the fore.

Below are details of an allegedly haunted house, situated in the Black Country area, which were sent in to the group recently….

According to the former occupants of the property in question, the site was the focus of many inexplicable happenings. Strangely, activity only seemed to really occur in any great volume if the family living at the site carried out some form of renovation-style activity at the house, i.e. painting and decorating, or anything to do with their garden. Needless to say this is a detail frequently mentioned in conjunction with hauntings at times. The mother of the family discovered that a very house-proud, elderly gentleman used to live at the property and had actually passed away there. He is said to have loved both his home and garden very much.

During their time in the house, the family concerned report having experienced many peculiar happenings, including glass bowls flying of the table and smashing against walls, the sound of heavy footsteps traversing the bedroom floor at night, disembodied voices... and a variety of different objects going missing and then mysteriously re-appearing again, many months later.

One day, when the son and daughter of the family were very young, they ran in to their mother, shouting that they could see a ‘ball of fire’ floating in the bathroom! When she rushed to the bathroom there was nothing to be seen. She asked them where they had seen the ball and they both pointed to the same spot in the air; both said it was round in shape and had looked just like fire….

At the time, the family had a dog which would sit by the living room door, growling into the empty hall. Certain family members - and visitors to the house - had spoken, at times, of seeing an indistinct shape walking along the hallway towards the front door of the property. This shape was only ever seen through the glass of the closed, living room door and resembled someone short of stature dressed in dark clothing.

The family concerned eventually moved away from the house, though not because of the peculiar activity they had experienced while living there. They tell the WMGC that they have never experienced any further happenings at their new address…..

All the best,

The W.M.G.C.

Thursday 21 January 2010

Appeal.....

The West Midlands Ghost Club is always on the lookout for potentially paranormal related stories and data from around the Mercia region, as part of our day-to-day running of the group itself. However, as we have maintained this blog for almost a year now, gaining reasonably good visitors figures in the process, we were hoping that 'you' the visitors to this site might be willing to share some of your experiences, anecdotes and comments with us?

If you do have anything you would like to see up on this blog - personal ghostly encounters, rants and moans, or perhaps word of your own research group or pursuits, etc - then please do contact us!! We are always on the look-out for contact and feed-back from our visitors and, from the figures we've seen over the last year (give or take), people are still clearly finding this page to be of some interest..... Needless to say, we should like to build on this interest and, as a result, both bring our readers more, fresh data to mull over and generally get people more involved in what is seen here. 'You' are obviously using this blog, so why not have a part in what is said here?

We have 20+ years of stories and personal anecdotes to draw on for our posts, but we would like to see the blog become something more than just WMGC reminiscences and related waffle, if possible? Who are you? Where do you come from? What is your interest in this field? Tell us...... we're sure others would like to know too!!!

All the best to everyone - and we do hope to hear from you soon!!

Regards,

The W.M.G.C.

Ghost Of The Living.....


Just one solitary ghost story to be posted this week folks, but we're sure it will make an interesting read and hopefully inspire readers to contact us with their thoughts or any similar instances(?)

The following matter has recently come to the attention of the WMGC and the author - who wishes to remain nameless - has asked us to appeal for any similar data or references from the blog readers and visitors:

"I should begin by stressing that I loved my previous house – my home from early childhood and then onward for many years – with a passion. It was where I spent the best years of my life and I would not have left it for the world if I’d have had any say in the matter. While skimming for the sake of brevity, it should be stressed that, at the time of leaving the property, a lot of anger and frustration went into thoughts of the place. Just prior to this and during the period of leaving, a considerable degree of abnormal psychology was played out there.

As some of my friends still live in the area concerned – certainly not a million miles from my current home – I still occasionally walk past the house. I’m sure a lot of people would know what I mean in saying that it ‘physically’ hurts me to see the place at these times, knowing that someone else now lives in ‘my home’. Despite the fact that I’ve been in my current address for some years now, started a family and so on, the old house is still regarded as ‘home’ – the image that immediately pops into the minds eye - when anyone mentions the word.

Since leaving the property, I have, on a regular basis, re-visited the house in my mind; walking through every inch of the place, trying to refresh and re-refresh my memory of every nook and cranny, stair and floorboard creak.

I don't mind admitting that, for some years now I had half joked about ‘myself’ possibly ‘haunting’ my old home in some way(?) In thinking about the house, I had got into the way of seldom missing out a ponderance over whether, at some points in time, my ‘apparition’ isn’t witnessed by the current occupants, shambling across the living room carpet or perhaps bounding up the stairs of the property!

On this subject, I must admit that I have taken the notion further in actually ‘wishing’ myself on the property at times. I’m embarrassed to admit that this had been done in mixture of frustration and misguided anger at thoughts of my unwanted ejection from the place and the current residents…. “Look at me!” my ghost rages, “This is ‘My’ home that you’re living in!”. While moderately cliché, the subject of a thousand and one haunted house stories, this is a scenario that – embarrassment again – I have envisioned, in one form or another, oh-so-many times…..

Come forward to the time of writing this piece – January 2010 – and, only a few days ago, I receive a phone call on my mobile. There is person on the other end of the line who seems rather hesitant to speak with me to begin with; but they eventually ask me if I can possibly help them with some details on the history of a particular house? When I reply ‘if I possibly can….’ I'm thrown with the information that it is a place which they believe is known to me…. being my previous home! I initially thought that someone was possibly having me on, but – perversely and instantly intrigued - I still ask what sort of things have supposedly been going on there. I'm told of some fairly standard happenings – including footsteps heard coming from upstairs and voices – and I instantly jump on the latter, asking what the voices sounded like and if anything could be heard clearly? It's bizarre to relate, but I’m instantly looking for a connection with either myself or others I had lived with, and find myself crestfallen when I'm told the voices heard are those of their own family members who allegedly did not make the noises heard at the times they have been reported. On the same tracks, I then ask if anything has been ‘seen’ in the house….. but, again, I’m told that only fleeting ‘shapes’ have been witnessed, and, on one occasion, a small child seemingly saw the figure of 'a man', but was far too young to describe anything about him in detail.

The emphasis on the phonecall is clearly a query over whether I or my family had ever experienced anything of a paranormal nature in all of the time that we lived there. My simple answer is - if that house was haunted back 'then' - well, I am a Dutchman!!

Regarding the details of the happenings, suffice it to say, I could make no blatant or direct connections with myself or any of my family members and the activity concerned. What is mentioned appears to be a standard, poltergeist-like effect, quite typical of pretty much any other alleged haunting currently being reported in the early 21st Century.

I was told that another family had briefly lived in the house immediately after my departure and in the mere 12 or so months that they were there, they had experienced some rather worrying happenings. The current family had taken over the property at the end of one month and, by the middle of the next, things apparently began happening.

A quick digression should be inserted here on the subject of, so-called, ‘Apparitions Of The Living’. Such things are supposedly a recognised phenomenon in ghost-related circles and, according to statistics, 'more apparitions of living people are seen than apparitions of the dead'. Personally speaking, I think such a quote is utter hog-wash, but where 'mechanics' are concerned, the common notion about such things is that someone might think about a building so much, through a passionate love of the place, for example, that they somehow, by some para-physical means, actually ‘project’ an image of themselves onto the site concerned.

Could this be the reason for the 'haunting' in my old home, do you think?"

Friday 15 January 2010

Another Hotel Affair....


From the Archives....

On December the‭ ‬11th,‭ ‬2005,‭ ‬W.M.G.C.‭ ‬members conducted an overnight investigation of the Tudor House Inn,‭ ‬Warwick,‭ ‬in the presence of an I.T.V.‭ ‬film crew.‭

An initial‭ – ‬exploratory‭ ‬-‭ ‬visit was paid to the Tudor House last Summer by‭ (‬then‭)‬ group member Frazer Smith and Dean Steadman.‭ ‬While searching for a suitable venue for a proposed Central T.V.‭ ‬documentary in late‭ ‬2004,‭ ‬Steve Chew re-approached the site’s owners who kindly agreed to allow an investigation.

The building itself has a considerable supernatural reputation.‭ ‬Built in the early‭ ‬17th Century,‭ ‬the site is said to be haunted by a ghost known as‭ ‘‬Jennifer‭’‬,‭ ‬who announces her presence by switching lights on and off,‭ ‬rattling iron gates and creating eerie feelings in a number of rooms.‭ ‬Footsteps and the sound of singing have been heard in the main bar and a visiting psychic allegedly detected the spirits of two children on the premises.

One burly‭ ‬6‭ ‬ft builder who rented a room one night was apparently found outside,‭ ‬crying on the bonnet of his car‭ – ‬having fled the building in terror‭!! ‬He wouldn’t say what he had experienced,‭ ‬but allegedly had to spend the rest of the night sleeping in the same room as the‭ (‬male‭) ‬owner of the inn‭!!

Despite the buildings ghostly heritage,‭ ‬our visit appeared to pass very quietly indeed.‭ ‬Only one potential happening occurred during the stay,‭ ‬when researcher Len Jackson reported hearing a sound‭ – ‬akin to a‭ ‘‬hiccup‭’ – ‬in a corridor near the hotel reception area‭…

Our investigation notes for the event concerned ran as below:

Date Of Visit:‭ ‬11th‭ ‬/‭ ‬12th December‭ ‬2005.‭
Duration Of Visit:‭ ‬Approx.‭ ‬7.5‭ ‬hours.
Time of Arrival:‭ ‬Approx.‭ ‬9.00‭ ‬p.m.‭

Present:‭

Investigative Team‭ ‬-‭ ‬Leonard Jackson,‭ ‬Steve Chew and Nick Duffy.‭ ‬Also,‭ ‬for part of the investigation‭ ‬-‭ ‬Tudor House Manager‭ ‘‬Sweetie‭’ ‬and I.T.V.‭ ‬Film Crew x‭ ‬3‭ ‬persons.

For the duration of the night,‭ ‬three paying guests are housed in rooms situated on the‭ ‬2nd Floor landing.

Aims‭ ‬/‭ ‬Inv.‭ ‬Process:‭

General investigation of property,‭ ‬mainly focussing on sections of building noted as being of particular relevance‭ ‬/‭ ‬importance regarding the alleged paranormal history of the site.‭ ‬Investigation procedure incorporating:

1st person audio‭ ‬/‭ ‬visual observation.‭

(b‭) ‬Static‭ (‬area based‭) ‬audio‭ ‬/‭ ‬visual recording,‭ ‬incorporating standard‭ ‬/‭ ‬night shot camera’s.‭

(c‭) ‬General temperature recording.‭ (‬Incorporating‭ ‘‬ambient‭’ ‬devices‭)‬.

‭(‬d‭) ‬Trigger objects‭ – ‬listed below:

‭*‬12‭” ‬tall mannequin figure‭ – ‬positioned on table in Restaurant area of building.‭
*Cross‭ – ‬outlined on white paper‭ – ‬on small,‭ ‬corner window ledge of Mary Tudor Bedroom.
‭*‬Childrens chiming ball‭ – ‬situated on dresser in Mary Tudor Bedroom.
‭*‬Bible‭ – ‬placed on chair at top of Bar Room Stairs.

Brief Investigation Notes:

*9.00‭ ‬p.m.‭ – ‬W.M.G.C.‭ ‬members arrive at site.‭ ‬Speak with Tudor House staff and gather general data concerning alleged haunting of site.

‭*‬10.00‭ ‬p.m.‭ – ‬I.T.V.‭ ‬Crew arrive.‭ ‬Begin with filming external views of building,‭ ‬followed by‭ ‘‬interview‭’ ‬sessions‭ – ‬in Main Bar Area‭ ‬-‭ ‬with group members.‭

*11.30‭ ‬a.m.‭ – ‬I.T.V.‭ ‬crew film group members setting up investigative equipment in Mary Tudor Bedroom.

Camera‭ (‬utilising night shot capacity‭) ‬positioned in‭ (‬door‭ ‬/‭ ‬main window‭) ‬corner of bedroom,‭ ‬facing‭ – ‬diagonally‭ – ‬towards small,‭ ‬corner window‭ (‬on the ledge of which the‭ ‘‬cross‭’ ‬trigger object is positioned‭)‬.

Thermometer and childrens ball situated on small dresser against corridor wall of room.

Door to M.‭ ‬T.‭ ‬Room locked at‭ ‬12.15‭ ‬a.m.

‭*‬Approx.‭ ‬12.30‭ ‬a.m.‭ – ‬I.T.V.‭ ‬Crew leave building.

‭*‬1.00‭ ‬a.m.‭ – ‬video recording session in Mary Tudor Bedroom finishes.‭ (‬At this point in the morning,‭ ‘‬Sweetie‭’ ‬retires for the night to Room‭ ‬5‭ ‬on the First Floor landing‭)‬.

‭*‬1.15‭ ‬a.m.‭ ‬to‭ ‬2.00‭ ‬a.m.‭ – ‬Group members conduct vigil on staircase between Restaurant area and‭ ‬1st Floor Landing.

During this period:‭

Video recording session running in Main Bar Area.‭ ‬Camera facing up Bar stairs to‭ ‬1st Floor area.

‭*‬2.10‭ ‬to‭ ‬3.00‭ ‬a.m.‭ – ‬Group members conduct vigil in Bar Area.

During this period:

Camera‭ ‬1:‭ ‬positioned on‭ ‬2nd Floor Landing,‭ ‬looking towards Room‭ ‬10‭ ‬area.

Camera‭ ‬2:‭ ‬positioned on‭ ‬1st Floor Landing,‭ ‬facing upstairs towards‭ ‬2nd Floor Area.

Camera‭ ‬3:‭ ‬positioned in Restaurant Area,‭ ‬facing rear of property.

At approx.‭ ‬2.49‭ ‬a.m.‭ ‬Len Jackson walking along Reception Area corridor‭ (‬going to retrieve camera‭ ‬3‭ ‬from Restaurant Area‭) ‬when he hears loud‭ ‘‬hiccup‭’ ‬type noise.‭ ‬Cannot find source of sound and admits that the experience causes him to be momentarily reticent to enter Restaurant Area.‭

*3.00‭ ‬a.m.‭ ‬to‭ ‬4.00‭ ‬a.m.‭ – ‬Group conduct vigil in Mary Tudor Bedroom.

During this period:

Video recording sessions in Main Bar Area.‭ ‬Camera‭ ‬1‭ ‬situated on Bar Balcony‭ – ‬1st Floor level‭ – ‬filming down towards great fireplace end of room.

Camera‭ ‬2‭ ‬positioned facing Bar Stairs.

‭*‬4.30‭ ‬a.m.‭ – ‬Group leave site.

Conclusions‭ ‬/‭ ‬Summary:

Nothing of an obvious‭ ‘‬paranormal‭’ ‬nature was detected during our visit.‭ ‬The only event of any potential significance was Len Jacksons experience at‭ ‬2.49‭ ‬a.m.‭ ‬in the Reception Area Corridor.

Temperatures within the building dropped steadily by‭ ‬1.5‭ ‬degrees during the course of the stay.

Doc Ends.

The resulting I.T.V.‭ ‬documentary‭ – ‬produced as‭ ‬an episode of‭ ‬ the popular‭ ‬‘Central Extra‭’‬ series‭ – ‬aired on Tuesday,‭ ‬January‭ ‬10th‭ (‬06‭)‬.

Best wishes to all,

The W.M.G.C.


The Moat House - Tamworth


‭From the W.M.G.C. archives.....

C‬onstructed around‭ ‬1575,‭ ‬the impressive Moat House Restaurant in Tamworth,‭ ‬South Staffordshire,‭ ‬has been utilised for a variety of purposes during it’s lifetime,‭ ‬including periods as a private residence,‭ ‬a gentlemen’s club,‭ ‬a hospital,‭ ‬an asylum and,‭ ‬more recently,‭ ‬a public house and restaurant.

Reports of ghostly activity at the site stretch back at least three decades and include a vast array of diverse happenings.‭ ‬Apparitions,‭ ‬poltergeist effects and mediumistic‭ ‬/‭ ‬psychic episodes have all been regularly experienced.‭

Just some of the apparitions allegedly witnessed on the premises include an old woman in a rocking chair and a lady in Victorian costume both seen in the library.‭ ‬A gentleman wearing a smoking jacket‭ ‬-‭ ‬carrying a brandy glass and smoking a cigar‭ ‬-‭ ‬has been seen in the main entrance hall to the building.‭ ‬An‭ ‘‬ugly‭’ ‬little girl apparently resides in the Restaurant‭ ‘‬Tower‭’ ‬and a‭ ‘‬grey lady‭’ ‬has been witnessed in the kitchen and living room of the resident staff accommodation.‭ ‬A terrifying face‭ – ‬so horrible that one of the witnesses concerned had to leave the premises upon seeing it‭ – ‬has also been spotted peering through the kitchen window‭…‬.

Some of the more startling poltergeist-like effects reported include:‭ ‬A kitchen knife allegedly sailing past the face of one staff member,‭ ‬in an otherwise empty room,‭ ‬before embedding itself in a nearby notice board.‭ ‬On another occasion,‭ ‬two members of staff were alone in the building when a heavy metal rack,‭ ‬loaded with literally hundreds of plates,‭ ‬toppled over of it’s own accord in the kitchen.‭ ‬Bottles have been witnessed flying across a bar and smashing onto the floor‭… ‬again,‭ ‬seemingly of their own volition.‭ ‬One staff member has heard her name being called out by a disembodied voice‭ – ‬while the sound of a woman singing a lullaby and the noise of a baby gurgling have been reported from the Function Room‭……‬.

West Midlands Ghost club members carried out an investigation of the property on‭ ‬the‭ ‬9th of July‭ ‬2004.‭ ‬The duration of the investigation lasted approx.‭ ‬6‭ ‬hours.

As with most of our investigations,‭ ‬the event was‭ ‬based around particular areas of the property which had been specifically pointed out to the group as sites of‭ (‬alleged‭) ‬paranormal activity,‭ ‬with a‭ ‬number of‭ (‬manned‭) ‘‬vigils‭’ ‬and audio‭ ‬/‭ ‬visual recording sessions‭ ‬being‭ ‬staged in various parts of the premises throughout the night.

As with a great many investigations,‭ ‬the evening passed mainly without event,‭ ‬save for a trigger object‭ ‬-‭ ‬based in‭ ‬a‭ ‬2nd floor Children’s Room‭ ‬-‭ ‬being found to have moved twice during the night.‭ ‬Following it’s initial movement‭ (‬of approx.‭ ‬1‭ ‬cm‭)‬,‭ ‬the object was re-positioned and,‭ ‬some‭ ‬50‭ ‬minutes later,‭ ‬was found to have moved again‭ (‬by‭ ‬0.5‭ ‬cm‭)‬.‭ ‬On both occasions,‭ ‬the object had moved in the same direction.‭

This particular site was purposefully chosen for this experiment as,‭ ‬during a recent visit by another local research group,‭ ‬a trigger object had allegedly moved of it’s own accord in the same position.‭ ‬Having mentioned the above,‭ ‬basic experiments with group members moving in close proximity to the object concerned did cause vibrations and led to the movement of the object concerned.‭

With regards to‭ ‘‬recorded‭’ ‬data,‭ ‬the only matter of mild interest were some peculiar‭ ‘‬knocking sounds‭’ ‬which turned up on video recordings made in the Library area of the property.‭

An article,‭ ‬briefly mentioning‭ ‬the groups visit to the Moat House,‭ ‬was subsequently released in the‭ ‘‬Tamworth Herald‭’ ‬newspaper on July‭ ‬15th‭ ‬2004.

Regards to all,

The W.M.G.C.



Thursday 7 January 2010

Hotel Experience......

The following account, from 20 years ago, concerns a picturesque, country hotel in the heart of the Midlands.

“My partner and I were working on the re-construction of new bedrooms in the old annexe of the hotel, which had previously been an old stable block. We were erecting partitions to form the rooms and there were 2 labourers also working with us who were clearing away rubbish and rubble. At the end of the annexe, there was a bathroom and stairway to an upstairs area in which we were working.

I was working about halfway down the room and my partner near the entrance at the top of the stairs. The labourers had just taken out some rubbish and, as I was sawing some timber, I was suddenly very aware of someone walking past me. I saw a shadow, but carried on working. Half lifting my head, I thought I saw the figure of someone walk into the nearby bathroom. I called out to whoever it was, but there was no answer. I then called out to my partner, Rob, and asked if he’d seen one of the labourers come in and walk past me. He said he hadn’t.

I went to the bathroom and called out, but no one answered. I slowly opened the bathroom door – there was no one in there – but I had the strangest sensation down the back of my neck. On going to leave, we had to turn the lights off and the switch was near the bathroom concerned. We ran like hell out of there when we’d finished!!

Looking back on the experience, my mate and myself have a good laugh over it now and again!!

At the time we received this note, the group contacted the hotel concerned on a number of occasions for some form of comment, but never received an answer to our appeals…..

Regards,

The W. M. Ghost Club

A Ghostly Nurse?

As frequently occurs, a lot of presumed ghostly experiences fall into that ‘did they, or didn’t they happen?’ bracket….. Under the current climate, most people certainly do not ‘err on the side of caution’, but tend to immediately swing in a pro-paranormal direction!!

The following, brief account was sent into the group during the late 1990’s…

Susan had to go into a Midlands hospital for a two day stay, involving a minor operation.

She had been put into a small side-room for her stay, which had a draw curtain across the entrance, that was ‘pulled’ at night. On the night following her operation, Susan had a feeling that someone was in her room and turned her head to see a nurse, standing at her side, with a beautiful, smiling face. She thought it strange that the nurse didn’t speak to her during the short time she was there, but took in her frilly cap and armbands, white apron and fob-watch. “You don’t see nurses dressed like that these days!?” she thought to herself….

After only a brief time, she saw that the nurse had now apparently gone. She did not notice her leave the room and didn’t see the drawn door curtains move at all?

Susan informed us that she has never told anyone about her peculiar, little experience; apart from her husband, who puts the encounter down to the after effects of her surgery. She is wholly sceptical about such a theory, however, as, after the operation, she had eaten a meal and had been up and about in the afternoon walking around….

Susan later discovered that the hospital concerned had been built on the site of an older medical building – so the figure of the ‘older style’ nurses would be a regular feature around the place at one time(?)

Tales of ghostly nurses are a regular feature in hospital folk-lore the world over and it seems that literally every medical establishment will have at least one ‘spook’ on the staff!! Even the grandmother of one W.M.G.C. member spoke of seeing such a silent vision in Walsall during the 1980’s - and our files are fairly ‘littered’ with similar anecdotes related to literally ‘every’ hospital in the Midlands region, bar none!

But what of ‘phantom patients’, we wonder? Where are they?

Regards to all,

The W.M.G.C.