Wednesday 16th February 2022

On Sunday, February 6th, 2022, John Chance (of 'Ghostcallers UK') kindly invited me to visit the picturesque ruin of St. Mary's Church, Colston Bassett, Nottinghamshire...  As always, I am so greatly indebted to John, for his unwavering generosity in involving me in such thoroughly ripping adventures...!

While this was my first ever visit to this location, John tells me that he has been here a number of times, over the years... on one occasion arranging to meet up with veteran, ghost investigator, Peter Crawley.  (*I've personally 'known of' Peter since the late 1980's / early 90's, when I'd come across his name - more than once - in the old 'Psychic News' Spiritualist newspaper!)  While I believe John was only visiting for the day on the occasion concerned, the stoic Peter had traveled down to the site by train and was intending to spend the night there, alone, and entirely at the mercy of the British weather, before making his way back home again, by rail, the next morning!  Lol!

With regards to the history of this beautiful site - situated in equally stunning countryside - the older parts of the existing church itself are said to be from Norman times, but it is suggested by many to date from the even earlier Saxon period, probably.  (Saxon-age stonework has been found in the area).  The structure was added to over the following centuries... a factor that may well have contributed to it's unstable condition, in the end?  By the mid-18th Century, the building is already recorded as being in a 'ruinous state' and, in the early 1890's, the roof was purposefully removed - along with much of the interior of the site - on the construction of a new church (St. John The Divine) in the vicinity.  Bells from St. Mary's were transferred to the newer structure, in the nearby village itself.

What can be seen of the church today is supported by English Heritage and the site is a scheduled Ancient Monument with Grade I listed status.

 

 

Interestingly, the surrounding graveyard is still consecrated and contains numerous, fascinating and beautiful grave markers.  Many of these are made from 'slate' and date from the 18th Century, onward.  (See images above - but I'm afraid my photography doesn't do justice to the examples concerned!).  The incredibly intricate detail that can be seen on these particular gravestones reveals what a thoroughly superior material slate actually was for this purpose... most of the sophisticated artwork concerned being literally 'as new' today, even after the space of up to 300 years or so!  In comparison, most of the more common 'stone' memorials - from exactly the same time period and much later too - are now worn 'blank', by simple erosion / weathering...

With regards to the alleged 'haunted history' of this location, I did search my bookshelves for references, prior to our visit, but - somewhat surprisingly - found no mention at all anywhere(?)  This included more general volumes on British haunting's, as well as the likes of 'Haunted Churches' by the late, great Elliott O' Donnell (publ. 1939) and 'Haunted Churches of England' by Graham J. McEwan, etc.

 

Quickly turning to 'Google' for guidance, it seems that literally every reference to be found had been copied from 'The Paranormal Database' (or, at least, from the same reference material the website drew it's data from?)  The latter reports that the sound of bells have been heard, gently ringing out from the site (despite the fact that they were transferred to St. John The Divine, around a kilometer distant, over a century ago).  The sound of hymns being sung in the ruins has also been reported, it seems.  Candlelight has seemingly been witnessed within the structure, but, when investigated, the building is found to be dark and empty.  A strange 'moaning noise' has been noted here by some... the suggestion being that it comes from underground; perhaps from a concealed tunnel?  (*On the latter, I've not found any mention of a crypt at St. Mary's Church, but how unusual would this be for such a location of this antiquity, we cannot help but wonder?  There is a hefty, stone slab, situated in the floor of a side-chapel within the ruin, that is cracked... and the sheer thickness of the slab itself, as indicated by the depth of the crack concerned, is considerable!  When viewing the stone - which once carried some text on it's surface, but it now appears to be too worn to actually make out - I did wonder whether this, because of it's sheer dimensions, may have been used to 'cap' an entrance to a crypt, maybe?)

 

Looking at the position of the ruin itself - set alone in fields, perched on a hillock - the old cliche' of saying that 'it looks like something from a ghost story' just couldn't be applied more fittingly to a place!  Of course, this appraisal is taken from a visit in the middle of a lovely, bright (if terribly windy) day... so I could only imagine what shivers a night-time view of the same location might conjure up in visitors!?  (At this point, I think back to our intrepid friend Peter Crawley once more!  Lol!)  In viewing the overall location - a roughly circular 'enclosure', the shape of which follows the roundish hill on which it stands - you cannot help but get a rather primal and / or archaic feeling... and I believe I indicated to the graveyard border itself, at the time, and said to John that I'd imagine some ghostly, black dog to 'patrol' such a boundary after darkness fell...!?

 

 

Ghosts aside - this is a very pretty and wonderfully atmospheric location indeed and, as with many such places visited, we'd thoroughly advise anyone thinking of touring the region to place this spot on their itinerary!  St. Mary's is, obviously, a highly popular port of call... clearly appealing to ramblers and dog walkers - the ruin lies amid a network of cross-country footpaths - as well as 'paranormal enthusiasts' too.  However, if you do decide to stopover here, please do exercise a degree of care and attention for your surroundings.  Sadly, the popularity of the site has sometimes had a negative effect (at least in recent times, anyway), in the form of acts of blatant vandalism.  Such activity has been covered by the Nottinghamshire media, with articles being found HERE and HERE....

Once again, I should just like to extend my considerable gratitude to John Chance ('Ghostcallers UK') for his kindness in inviting me to accompany him on such a lovely outing!  MANY THANKS matey! 

 Tuesday 15th February 2022

Just after Halloween, 2021, the W.M.G.C. were contacted by 'Birmingham Mail' reporter, Jamie Brassington, and asked about some of the more interesting cases that we'd happened to come across in our region...  While we'd very much avoided dealing with the media in more recent years, we were more than happy to share a small list of sites with Jamie... and his article on such matters was subsequently released on the 8th of November.  To view the piece, please visit the link HERE.

Tuesday 15th February 2022

As anyone who has followed the W.M.G.C. for any length of time will possibly know, our most productive case to date - one that we've avidly researched for over 15 years now - is the (fairly infamous) story of 'Madam Piggott'... a well-known legend, based around the Newport region of Shropshire. Again, as many will already be aware, our interest in this particular quarter has resulted in numerous press releases, over time;  a number of both daylight and night-time excursions to the area by club members, and many, many interviews with witnesses to alleged 'sightings' of the ghost in the general area concerned...

In chatting with another researcher in recent weeks, I had jokingly described this particular legend as 'The ghost that keeps on giving...', the comment concerned generated by the simple fact that - over the space of so many years now - there literally seems no end to the (albeit sporadic) flow of first and second-hand reports and anecdotes pertaining to this alleged haunting...?  While many of these reports come to us years - often decades - after the events involved, the supposed haunting is still, very much, an 'ongoing' matter...

For the sake of brevity here, I will dispense with any 'listing of associated lore' in this post and just advise readers to search this blog for previous mentions of our involvement with the case... and also take a look on Google for any entries dedicated to the Madam Piggott mythology (of which there is a fair bit!)  Philip Davies' little article on 'Spooky Isles' is a reasonable (if brief) overview of the lore - see HERE - as is the Wikipedia entry for the ghost - HERE.

With regards to the reasons for this fresh mention of the subject, I'm happy to report that I've recently had the pleasure of speaking with a gentleman who has seemingly had not one, but 'two', separate brushes with this enigmatic apparition!  The witness concerned no longer lives in the UK, but his encounters occurred at different points in decades past, when he was still very much a young, Shropshire native.

In the first instance - an Autumn evening during the 1980's - the witness was giving a lady-friend a lift home after a night out.  He lived a distance from the Newport region, so knew nothing at all about the area or it's folklore.

Having reached the house of the young lady - and paused for a chat - it was around 3.30 a.m. when he finally started his homeward journey.  It was a clear night and the moon was bright.  Only around 5 minutes after beginning his drive, the lad spotted - standing at the side of the road - the figure of a woman dressed in dark, old fashioned, clothing...  Initially - partly because of the long clothing the woman wore - he considered that she may have been a horse rider who had somehow lost her mount, but, as he draws closer, she began to move away from the road.... and walked straight through a nearby wall!

Imagining she had passed through a gate that he just didn't see, he drew to a stop around 20 yards further on and walked back to where he saw the figure.  No gate... just a solid, stone wall.  He then looked over the wall, but there was no sign of the woman anywhere?  Despite the wholly bizarre scenario, he still decided to shout out a tentative 'Hello' and asked if anyone possibly needed help... but no response came!

Around a week later, he returned to the location and, in speaking with the girl he'd taken home, was told that he'd surely had an experience with 'The Lady Of Chetwynd'....

 

 

Around 3 years later, the man was cutting through the same area, as part of a driving job that he had at the time.  Again, it was the early hours of the morning - around 2 am, this time - but he'd decided to head into Newport, hoping to possibly catch a 'kebab shop' still open in the town.

Driving along the same stretch of thoroughfare that contained the wall from his previous encounter, he says he was doing around 60 mph when he spotted a 'shadow' move quickly across the road, around 300 meters in front of him.  He looked towards the wall, where the shape had seemingly gone and... suddenly... there she was... situated on the opposite side of the wall to the road.  Strangely - as the wall concerned is easily 5 feet high (or possibly more at certain points) - he could see the figure from the waist up, as if she were standing on something behind it?  (However, there was nothing there when he checked).  As he stared, he also became aware of the fact that she was also 'transparent'... but not a 'ghostly' see-through effect... rather just 'shadowy' in nature?   

Reaching a point of close proximity, the woman was clearly looking him straight in the eyes, their mutual stare feeling like it lasted for the longest time!  He says that it seemed extremely difficult to take his eyes from her... almost, in some way, as if she didn't want him to stop looking at her?

Despite having slowed down considerably during the encounter, the van suddenly mounted the curb and headed onto the grass beyond... sliding - with the aid of the brakes - to a halt some 2 feet from the wall itself!  In stopping, he had immediately exited the vehicle and looked for the woman, but she had - as in the previous encounter - simply vanished!

The witness has never ventured down that particular stretch of road again...

Interestingly, a lot of Madam Piggott related folklore claims that she is something of a misandrist - because of the ghosts 'creation story', of course - and has been accused of purposefully trying to harm numerous males, traveling through the region.  (A trait shared by many folkloric character the world over, of course).  While our witness in the aforementioned instances says that he felt no fear during his encounters, some could probably construe his latter experience as potentially malevolent in nature, perhaps?  (Well, the chap did almost 'crash into a wall' because of the power of the woman's fixed stare, etc!?)  Furthermore, car crashes on the stretch of road in question are absolutely rife - some being fatal - and it's often been queried whether Madam Piggott herself might have something to do with the accidents?  (*Personally, from experience of the area, I put such things down to the fact that all and sundry seem to treat the road like a Formula One race track!)  

However, in mentioning the above, I have previously spoken with 2 other people who claim to have had bizarre, driving-related, experiences in the general region... but ones that definitely seemed to be of a protective nature?  Both motorists were passing through the area when they became aware of someone sitting in the rear of their vehicles... one getting a glimpse of someone briefly, while the other sensed someone seated there.  The first estimated that their 'passenger' was possibly male, because of the size of the shape they saw, while the second had a feeling their interloper had long, dark, hair.  One 'heard a voice' in their head, giving a warning to beware, while the other felt a 'strong feeling of caution' being received.  In both instances, this 'caution' is said to have helped them both immediately avoid road accidents and, potentially, saved them from great harm or even death!?  

Coincidentally, around the same time that the aforementioned interview was being conducted, word of a second 'female apparition' was also being related to the W.M.G.C.  As with the Newport case, our interest in this other haunting is rather considerable... in fact, news of this particular matter first caught my eye over 25 years ago now, upon it then being mentioned in an article published in the local press...

 

 

The location involved here is 'Rough Wood', in the Short Heath area of Willenhall... which is a tract of ancient, oak woodland, first catalogued almost 1,000 years ago!

It is quite well-known in the region that the site is allegedly haunted, though, unlike 'Madam Piggott', this particular ghost appears to be remarkably 'shy' in comparison. While most Short Heath residents will have heard of 'The White Lady', actual, first-hand, 'witnesses' - despite the fairly widespread, timeworn, legend thereabouts - can be easily counted on the fingers of one hand, it seems...?

Thankfully, once in a blue moon, the occasional sighting is reported, however, and we've had the good fortune of being able to interview two, separate, witnesses 'on location' (in the wood) in recent years... the second meet-up taking place only a couple of weeks ago, in fact!

While no longer living in the immediate area, our confidante told us that he grew up in Short Heath and visited Rough Wood practically every day during his childhood / youth.  On the evening in question, he and a friend were making their way home, around 9 pm, when they experienced an abrupt drop in temperature and spied the figure of a woman, a few yards away.  It was an old woman that they saw, who appeared 'white' from head to foot; pale, old-fashioned clothing and white hair... seemingly oblivious to their presence, looking away from them, towards the nearby canal.  

What really made the pair uneasy, however, was the fact that - in knowing the woods SO well - they knew that the woman was somehow situated in a most peculiar spot indeed...  The point at which she was standing was - they'd instantly realised - the middle of a small pool of swampy water, some 6" deep!

What is most compelling about this brief encounter is the fact that the witness and his friend knew all about the 'White Lady Ghost' that allegedly haunted the area, but, despite literally living in the woods at times - all times of the day and night - this was the first (and only) time they had encountered anything like this?  

The only other peculiar incident that our witness could relate about Rough Wood concerned a 'bravery test' that, as young lads, all members of his group of friends had to go through.  This was a simple enough task and involved walking from one entrance - through the wood, in pitch darkness - to another.  When it came to his turn, he had reached a particular point when he was aware of someone, or some thing, jumping out of the nearby trees and plopping down onto the path he was following!?  As it was absolutely pitch black, however, he saw nothing... but took to his heels and did his best to flee the area, without breaking his neck!

 

 

While the latter-mentioned could obviously be just a case of the jitters, brought on by the scenario concerned and some lively woodland creature or other, I mention it here because of a conversation had with another W.M.G.C. member around a month ago...  In his youth - during the 60's - the brother of the group member and his friends would often light camp fires in Rough Wood and sit around them, chatting.  One night, the fire was crackling away and the usual congregation had assembled, when the sound of something clearly large, crashing noisily through the nearby foliage, rattled the group!  The noise was so disturbing that they all took flight... finally coming to rest, breathlessly, on a distant hillock, from which they could still see the glow from their camp spot.  As they watched, however, something began visibly 'stamping out' the fire, sending sparks flying into the air in it's apparent frenzy...!?  

What struck me as particularly interesting about the 'white lady' sighting above was the fact that the witness stressed that they knew that the apparition haunting the woods was supposed to be dressed in a long, white, flowing dress.  Local folklore has long dictated this and still does to this day, whenever the story is mentioned.  However - the figure that the lads saw that evening clearly wasn't dressed this way!?  In describing the type of clothing seen, he said that it was something he'd imagine his own grandmother to wear - 1930's, 40's or 50's style skirt and separate top - and definitely not the long white dress local children knew the resident ghost wore....?  Similarly, with Madam Piggott, she is an apparition that is often classified as a 'white lady ghost', but, in looking through a list of actual sightings, the varied - often entirely contradictory - descriptions given seem to intimate that she probably has a reasonable wardrobe at her command?  Yes, she is, seemingly, most often described as wearing some kind of long, white garment... but, as with the sightings reported above, she is also seen wearing dark, greyish - perhaps even black - attire too!?

 

Tuesday 15th February 2022

As on a number of occasions in recent weeks, I am greatly indebted to my good friend, John Chance - of the Wednesbury-based, 'Ghostcallers UK' group - for his generosity in inviting me to visit the following site with him...

Having been a highly parochial researcher for so many years, I must admit that I'd never - at least to my knowledge - heard of Ordsall Hall, in Salford, Manchester, previously.  (*Ironically, after writing the previous line, I've just spotted the hall being used in the background of an advertisement on Youtube, believe it or not!  Lol!)  John had mentioned the place to me on a few occasions, possibly over the space of a couple of years or so, but the name hadn't rung any bells at these times and - in my defence, upon recently searching my book collection for references - I couldn't find any (historic or otherwise) published data on the 'ghostly history' of the location...  John had, however, told me that it had a good haunted reputation and he had both visited the place previously and taken part in an investigation there.  (During which, certain 'activity' was reported / recorded).

 

 

For anyone who has never visited Ordsall Hall previously, I cannot stress what an absolute delight it is to initially see the place 'hove into view'!  It is situated in an - otherwise - entirely residential and industrial area, so, to be driving through such mundane scenery (sorry Salford, but it's fairly dour!)... and suddenly find yourself confronted by a beautiful manor house, that is in excess of 750 years old; well, it is utterly breathtaking, to say the very least!  Lol!

Having played many roles in it's long life - family home for the space of centuries, then, subsequently, a working men's club, school for clergy, radio station, and so forth - the site was finally purchased by the local corporation in 1959 and opened as a museum during the early 70's.  From the mid-noughties to the early 2010's, the site received over £5,000,000 in renovation work... which clearly shows in the property today!  The building is utterly stunning and immaculately kept!

 

 

In looking into the topic of alleged hauntings, it is clear that the site takes it's ghostlore quite seriously and could even be said to be noticeably 'proud' of it's heritage.  In a number of locations, word of the resident ghosts can officially be seen... not only in text form - painted on the walls of a staircase - but also on a notice board in an upstairs display / museum area. (See image above).  A popular 'Ghost Cam' - where interested parties can 'log into' a live feed and keep an eye out for anything 'spooky' going on - usually runs at Ordsall, but, at the time of our visit at least, this particular service was not in operation.  

Wikipedia tells us that the popular 'Most Haunted' TV series seemingly visited the location in 2005... but this isn't anything that I'd be aware of, or in any way interested in, if being brutally honest!

The hall itself lays claim to three different ghosts.  The most well known is said to be 'The White Lady', who is believed to be the apparition of Margaret Radclyffe.  She has allegedly been spotted in the Great Hall area (see pic below) and in the upper, West Wing Gallery.  It is believed she walks the hall in a nightly search for her beloved brother, who, unfortunately, was killed in battle in 1599.

 

 

Another ghost is that of a little girl named Cecily, who seems fond of the idea of other children being present in the hall.  At such times, she is alleged to make her presence known by manifesting as the perfume of roses and lavender!  Somewhat bizarrely, some suggest she is the ghost of a woman who committed suicide after being jilted by her lover... so why would the associated apparition be that of a small girl, we wonder?

The final ghost - according to hall listings - is that of Sir John Radclyffe who died in battle in France, at Saint-Martin-de-Re.  He is described as a fairly jovial spook, who seems very fond of the ladies...  On occasion, he is believed to have cheekily pinched the bottoms of female visitors to the site!  Lol!

According to John Chance, there is yet another ghost that supposedly haunts the hall too, but, because of the potentially delicate nature of the matter concerned, we shall refrain from listing it here...

Ordsall Hall can be booked for overnight investigations, it seems, and - probably needless to say - the spooky reputation of the site has been mentioned in the local press on a few occasions.  Two 'Manchester Evening News' articles on such matters can be viewed HERE and HERE.

 

 

If page visitors ever happen to be in the Manchester area, with a couple of hours to spare, then be assured that this time would be VERY well spent in a visit to Ordsall Hall.  Irrespective of it's charming ghostly heritage, the site itself is both visually stunning and historically fascinating!  (Please do be sure to check opening times before going, needless to say!)  The hall website can be visited via this LINK.

Once again - in ending - my gratitude goes out to the lovely John Chance, for taking me along with him on such a thoroughly superb visit!

 

Thursday February 10th 2022

 

Over the Christmas period and continuing right up to the present, a number of fresh cases and word of strange encounters have continued to flow in to the group.  As always, we are eternally grateful to anyone who takes the time to speak to us about their personal experiences, as this kind of scenario is, very much, our 'bread and butter' when it comes to the existence of the 'West Mids. Ghost Club'....

One fascinating incident was kindly related to me by a Night Security Manager who - in 2001 or 02 - was part of a team associated with an historic site in the West Midlands region.  He tells us:

"It was a clear cold night at around 2 a.m.  I had 3 security officers on site, based in a porta-cabin situated towards the main road.  My immediate job was to check on the officers welfare, as they had been having problems with the generator that provided electricity to the security hut.  I had pulled up in a marked security vehicle at the gates leading to the complex concerned.  The gateway itself was lit by street lighting.  After locking the car, I unlocked the pedestrian gate, entered the site and locked the gate behind me.  As I walked towards the hut, I felt the need to look round. As I did, I saw - stood to the side of the car, some 30 yards distant - a man... about 5ft 8" tall, well-built, in Victorian attire; very 'Peaky Blinders', with a cloth cap.  In his left hand he held a shovel over his shoulder, while, in his right, there was an old style lamp.  Despite the fact that he was looking straight at me, I couldn't clearly make out his face, but I'd say he was probably in his 50's or 60's, judging by his demeanor.  I initially looked at him for about 5 seconds in all, not really giving it much thought...  Turning away to walk towards the shed, I then turned quickly back... and he was gone!  I was never a believer in 'ghosts' or the supernatural before this event, but that night, everything changed!"

It was also mentioned that security guards at the site had also experienced 'strange incidents'... to the extent that they had often started patrolling the area in groups of 3!  They claimed to have seen inexplicable 'figures' in certain parts of the overall complex and - possibly as an understandable by-product of the aforementioned - a general feeling of uneasiness dogged them as they worked...

Of particular interest in this account is the fact that, around the same, general time being discussed here, a member of the W.M.G.C. had, in fact, become aware of the property and contacted them re. any potential happenings.  The response received indicated in the negative, so no further interest was taken in the site at the time.

Following my recent conversation with the officer though, the same group member has freshly contacted the property - after a space of almost 20 yrs! Lol! - and, in explaining the aforementioned scenario, we have kindly been invited to investigate, if we wish!  (*Different management were involved, from request to request, it should be noted... the recent invite coming from the current owners).

However, in reflecting on the key experience, mentioned above, it can't help but be noted that the encounter concerned occurred 'outside' the complex involved - in the grounds of the building - so what point actually 'investigating the property' itself, we cannot help but query?  Under such circumstances - not that contact has been made with current management - the idea of investigating at first hand is deemed best to be 'left on the back burner', in lieu of (hopefully) further reports, more conducive to a research scenario, being reported to us...?

In other quarters, two, separate, industrial sites have recently been visited by group representatives;  the first being a case reported to the club in recent weeks, while the 2nd is - somewhat embarrassingly - a location  that we were invited to visit around 2 years ago!  (Hangs head in shame!)

The first case involves an old(ish), reasonably small, unit, situated on the periphery of a typical, industrialised portion of my hometown.  In decades gone by, staff at the site had come to regard the property as haunted, following the reporting of numerous, peculiar events.

The 'ghost' was referred to as "Old Fred" and the story was that he could have been the ghost of a worker who was crushed in an accident when the building was previously used as a stores by a different company.  (It was estimated this could have happened in the mid-60's or early 70's, but, at the time of writing, no evidence has been discovered to support such suggestions).  

Numerous people at the site experienced strange happenings, including three office workers, who witnessed an inexplicable figure  - dressed in warehouse worker, cow-gown style garb - just before 6pm one evening, as they were about to lock up.  The manager sent one of the men to locate whoever had just walked through the workshop, to tell them that it was 'home time', but they found no one in there when they investigated?  A company secretary also once claimed to have seen someone sitting in a chair, in the corner of her office, on one occasion too.  (She had, it seems been watching the classic, British ghost story, 'The Green Man', on TV the night before her sighting, so chose to try and laugh it off... but fellow staff apparently saw she had been sincere about her claim!?)  A Gentleman, who was usually first to unlock the premises first thing in the morning, sometimes saw the ghost and said he appeared to be dressed in a workman's 'smock coat', similar to that of the people who actually worked in the workshop.   

Many 'experiences' were said to be of a minor, 'sensory' nature... several staff feeling something, or someone, situated near to them when working alone.  Cold sensations were reported, along with the sensation that someone was standing close by, behind you.  The resident cleaner and 'tea lady' was said to have 'run out of the building' on a number of occasions, claiming that someone had 'touched her', it seems!?  One man, working alone on a Saturday morning, said that his radio had repeatedly been turned on and off, during the shift.  Another - again alone in the premises, during a holiday period - saw a door to one of the offices, fitted with a strong spring, opening and closing of its own accord...  He is said to have voiced the query: "Hey! Do you know you've got a ghost in here?" to the management!

As the events mentioned here occurred in decades past - and the site had subsequently passed into the hands of another company in the interim - I couldn't help but wonder whether any of the reported 'ghostly reputation' had carried on through to present times, perhaps?  However, in seeking out management at the current business occupying the premises, it seems that they genuinely have no record whatsoever of 'peculiar happenings' within the unit concerned.  While feeling a little 'let down' by such a discovery, it can only be stressed that this isn't exactly an uncommon ending to such, moderately historic, enquiries, eh!?

Literally a stones throw from the above-mentioned site is the second local company premises; a location that initially came to our attention after the owner seemingly caught a peculiar 'mist' or 'breath' effect on external, security camera footage, in the early hours of one, freezing morning, over 2 years ago.  The incident completely baffled the company owner, as the camera overlooks a tiny, completely enclosed, yard - at the rear of the business premises - containing no cover whatsoever but a small shed, with it's rear situated 'under' the camera concerned... the front of the structure facing directly away from the camera lens.

 

While the accompanying images (above) are blissfully inadequate in illustrating the effect concerned (we know!), it gives a small indication of the scene concerned that can most clearly be viewed on the video footage itself.  Pics 1 to 4 run through a sequence showing the 'breath' appear... the first image containing no effect.  The above row of shots are unadulterated grabs of the sequence, which cover the space of 1.5 to 2 seconds duration.  For the sake of clarity (and, again, we know you can actually see very little on these grabs anyway!) I have outlined the 'spread of the breath', in the icy air, with yellow, in the row, for comparison, found below.

 

So... what we have here is, for the sake of brevity, what appears to be an exhaled 'breath' - outlined by the icy morning air - seemingly directed from (someone?) out of view of the camera, in front of the shed, in what appears to be an upward direction.  The issue is that this effect appears at a point on a continually running stream, with no 'cause' for the effect - i.e. a person - moving into or out of shot before or after the effect is seen?  Again, the camera covers a tiny courtyard with (unbroken) building on 3 sides and a high, wire-topped wall on the 4th...  What makes this all-too-clear (on the security footage) effect and, if there is a logical answer to that question, then why - in all of the years that the camera has constantly been covering the yard - has the security programme not outlined the same, or similar, effects?

While this is something of a conundrum in itself, visitors might have guessed that this isn't the only strange feature associated with the business concerned...  In speaking with the current owner of this long-term, family run business, I was told that the site also plays host to some (albeit mild) 'strange' activity too!

It's said that, inside the old, industrial property, people have often 'felt they weren't alone'... and he himself has 'seen things out the corner of his eye' on the factory floor, which pretty much still looks exactly the way it would over a century ago!  A relative of his used to work in an upstairs office at the site (sharing pretty much exactly the same view of the courtyard as the camera mentioned above) and they had looked out of the window one day to see a man, dressed in Victorian, working garb - heavy apron and flat cap - seemingly in the process of visiting the 19th Cent., outdoor privvy, situated in the yard!  At another time - in the same office - they had turned around to see a piece of A4 paper seemingly 'floating down from the ceiling' behind them!?  Again, presumed activity - save for on a couple or so occasions - appears rather gentle and even playful:  "Things tend to go missing, only to be found back in the middle of the desk later on, or the next morning...."

Whatever might be going on at the premises concerned, the present owner has kindly told me that he has been keeping an eye on the security system, since the above-mentioned occurrence, and will certainly drop me a line if anything else untoward crops up!