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.
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!
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