Wednesday May 4th 2022 

Belated 'May Day' and 'Beltane' wishes to all of our visitors!  However you celebrate this time of the year - if you do, of course - we sincerely hope you had a lovely, safe time!

Beginning a couple or so years ago, the 'Oak House' museum - situated in West  Bromwich - began hosting a 'Green Man Day' to celebrate this transitory point in the calendar!

For those who might not be aware of this site, this beautiful, old,  timber-framed property was initially built at a point in the 16th Century.   Over the generations, it is recorded as having passed through the hands of  numerous owners until finally purchased by Alderman Reuben Fairley - three  times Mayor of the region! - who initially wanted to use the house for his  own, family home.  However, he finally decided to present the site to his  beloved town and it was eventually opened as a museum in 1898.  In the  mid-20th Cent., the house was given Grade II Listed status.

My own introduction to the house came around 35 years ago now, when I first  discovered the building and used it for a study in an architectural  photography exam.  For a great many years afterwards, I became a semi-regular  visitor to the place, finally - in decades to follow - bringing my partner  and my children here for the occasional day out too.

 

 

 

During my earlier visits - as occurs with most historic sites - I had  specifically asked staff if there were any 'ghost stories' associated with  the locality... and had always been told 'NO'.  Visiting with a friend at one  point, however, he informed me that he had (just then) asked someone about  such things and they had told him that the figure of an old woman was  sometimes seen in one of the downstairs chambers...  This, needless to say,  struck me as odd - given all of the times I'd heard to the contrary - but  wasn't exactly sure how to take a lot of what the friend said, as he was a  considerable joker anyway...?

A few years later, I spotted a correspondence, in the Express and Star  'letters' pages that mentioned a school party visiting, around 20 years  earlier.  One girl said that she'd felt ill upon entering the property and  the feeling stayed with her for the duration of their visit.  A companion had  the strong feeling that she had 'been there before' - even though she hadn't  - and predicted that there would be a pane of glass, in a window upstairs,  that carried 'writing etched on it's glass'...  She also said that, if you  looked out of a particular window, you could see a small bridge... which  turned out to be accurate!?  In response to that letter, a few days later,  Folklorist, Andrew Perrins, wrote to the E and S to say that the smell of  sweet pipe tobacco is sometimes reported in the building, despite the fact  that no one was smoking. 

Intriguingly, some years later, once all of the paranormal furore' of the  last couple of decades first began, it was a little perplexing to discover  that the Oak House was apparently being 'rented out' for paranormal  investigations...?  While I do love the site, it did strike me that the  popular 'suddenly become haunted' virus that has sorely afflicted so many  previously 'not haunted' properties, over the last 20 years, had possibly  caught another victim?  Rolls eyes! As a matter of interest, I checked out  the associated blurb - belonging to one of the commercial companies that used  the site - to see what kind of things were supposedly being reported there  (according to them, at least).  There was a page or so of data, but, from  what I could gather therein, most of the spookiness was supposedly 'gleaned  by a psychic' during a visit!  Rolls eyes!

I'm not sure if the commercial ghost nights are still held or allowed at The  Oak House, but - while I don't follow such matters anyway - I had seen  mention of some 'spooky events' there... activity nights for children, by the  looks of things... being occasionally staged (Halloween, etc) over the years.

 

 

 

Returning to the 'Green Man' events... I had previously attended in May 2019,  on what turned out to be a gloriously sunny and warm day!  On that day, there  were the stalls of a craft fair set up in the main avenue to the house itself  and, at certain times during the proceedings, 'Mummers' performed amusing,  historic skits on a lawn nearby...  Roving, period-dressed, musicians walked  the grounds, along with a splendid 'Green Man' and accompanying 'fool'.  On  the patio of the next-door entrance centre / cafe, 'Morris Men' sporadically  danced and folk music was played.  Greatly due to the lovely weather that  day, public interest was rather high and, clearly, a lovely day was had by  all in attendance...

Sadly, needless to say, any event like this is going to almost-entirely  depend on the sh*tty English weather and - after a promising time of sun and  warmth - May 2022 has clearly decided to come in wet and dreary!  Rolls eyes!   Albeit only presenting as a miserable, mildly drizzly, day, such conditions  served to 'dampen down' proposed attractions at this years event and such  things as the craft fair and 'Mummers' plays were understandably missing. 

To their credit, however, the '1st Sedgley Morris Men' DID brave the elements  (albeit waiting for a lull in the rain first! Lol!) and I was - thankfully -  able to capture a lot more impressive photographs of their dancing than  managed on the previous visit...!  Something that I'd completely missed  previously was the fact that the fine gentlemen concerned were not just  performing at the Oak House that day, but had actually been 'out and about'  since around 6 a.m. dancing at different sites!  Why this hadn't somehow  dawned on me previously, I do not know - given the prominence of the day in  the Pagan calendar and so forth - but my thanks to the lovely lady  (associated with the Morris group), who 'opened my eyes' on this point!

 

 

As imagined, the 'Green Man' himself (above) was an ever-present attraction - roaming  the general site - with his young 'May Queen' and female, 'antlered'  companion!  (As with the Morris Men, I was grateful to be able to get much better photographs of such characters this time around too!)  Another -  beautiful - attraction this year was a charming, tree-like, 'stilt-walker',  that hadn't been present during the 2019 event!  (Below)

 

 

 

So - despite the drizzle and slightly cut-back size of the event, it still  turned out to be a most enjoyable experience indeed!  While not too blatantly  advertised (I find) there are a number of events held at the Oak House,  during an average year, so it is always advisable to make a point of keeping  an eye on the relevant web content if you might be interested in such  matters!  Thankfully, I was reminded of the 'Green Man Day' by my good friend  John Chance this year, otherwise I would have probably missed it myself!   Rolls eyes!  (Sadly, John himself was unable to attend, due to illness, it  seems - bless him!)  Alternatively, if you're ever in the West Bromwich /  Black Country region, with an hour or so to spare, it is always well worth a  visit to this wonderful, historic site if possible!

 

A page on the 'Sandwell Council' website, dedicated to the Museum and associated events, can be found by clicking HERE

Tuesday 3rd May 2022

Something of a 'From The Archives' post, but I've just been discussing this particular matter with a friend abroad and realised that there was no complete account of the dealings concerned online.  As a result, I've quickly - drawing on older documents - tapped out a fuller version of the overall story involved...    

Back in mid-2001, 'Carlton Television' contacted the 'West Midlands Ghost Club' to enquire whether we would be interested in conducting an investigation into the 'Dudley Canal Tunnel', part of the extensive network of mines and waterways that run under Castle Hill, Dudley. The resulting visit  would have been filmed and broadcast as part of the popular documentary series 'Water Ways', which focused on the history of the Midlands canal system.

However, after a degree of correspondence on the topic, it transpired that Carlton T.V. had to eventually shorten the amount of time being dedicated to this particular topic in the episode concerned and ended up cancelling the prior arrangements.  Instead of a more extended section of the show featuring a 'vigil' inside the mines, they had - for the sake of brevity - opted for a brief, segment of narration, delivered by an on-screen presenter simply standing at the entrance to the tunnel network...

Due to the fact that some kind of 'investigation' had - albeit arranged by a TV company - been accepted by the authority responsible for the tunnel system, we did subsequently 'test the waters' with a view to a private visit of our own.  Needless to say, we didn't carry quite as much weight as a major media company (Lol!), so we were unceremoniously denied access straight away!

At that point in time, this basically drew an abrupt end to our involvement with the site.  We had previously heard some rumours about the network being 'haunted' in some way... mainly through a handful of fairly old newspaper articles (in the W.M.G.C. files) - some dating back to the 1970's - that spoke of such matters.   Coincidentally, during early September 2001, a number of advertisements for a brief series of 'Spooky Excursions' along the Dudley Tunnel system, began to appear in the local media:  

 

"Ghost Tours 2001 - Explore under Castle Hill and visit the sites of unusual, mysterious and grisly incidents dating from the 18th Century to the present day. You will be transported by boat and travel through tunnels, mines and caverns....."

While the idea of a commercial 'Ghost Tour' would usually have group members dashing for the nearest sick bucket, this particular enterprise struck us as sufficiently 'out of the ordinary' as to merit further investigation...  As a result, a small number of club members attended a most enjoyable boat trip, through the tunnel network, on October the 27th, 2001.  

During the visit, one of our members took a recording of the information related by the guide and notes from that recording appear below.  Of course, we cannot personally vouch for the validity of any of the stories noted, but a spokesperson for Dudley Canal Trust Ltd. assured us that the researchers concerned had all done a thorough job on chasing up relevant tales and sources.  Some of the data mentioned did tie-in with information (mentioned above) that we already had in our own archive:

"On Oct. the 8th, 1964, the tour boat 'Electra' entered Castle Mill Basin with some 30 to 40 passengers on board. A man situated at the front of the boat began indicating towards the nearby entrance to the Wrens Nest Tunnel and everyone on board looked up to see the figures of two children seemingly standing just above the water level..... As the boat moved a little further into the basin, it suddenly swung sharply to the left - towards the entrance of the aforementioned tunnel - completely bereft of human control!

Local legend has it that two children, one eight and the other twelve, made a raft one day and attempted to paddle themselves through the Wrens Nest Tunnel. Sadly, a sudden gust of wind struck the raft, capsizing it, and both of the children drowned.

On October the 8th 1999, a Medium is said to have been invited to take a trip into the lengthy network of tunnels and caves, in an endeavour to cast light on some of the supernatural stories associated with the site. She immediately reported that a great many people had lost their lives in the mines and around about that general area.

As the boat carrying the Medium passed directly under the covered air shaft in the Tipton Tunnel, she suddenly exclaimed: "It was there, it was there - 1906 they're telling me, it was there......." Strangely, no further information was offered on this rather dramatic outburst and no explanation has ever surfaced to account for what was said?

Upon entering Shirts Mill Tunnel, the Medium said: "Write down the name Lilly Baxter - they're telling me 1926...." She claimed that another woman was apparently crying at her side - a woman who had lost her husband who went by the name of George Fell.  He supposedly used to mine ore in the area and had disappeared one night, never to return. Apparently, she is still wandering around down there, vainly searching for him.  At this point it is said that the medium suddenly claimed she just couldn't go on and the boat had to immediately turn back to base!

 

On the left hand side of Shirts Mill Basin is 'Murder Mine' (above) - so named because, during the 1950's, when the cavern was being cleaned out, an unidentified female skeleton was discovered here.  Sadly, the remains have never been identified.

Lights have been reported turning themselves on and off in the limestone cavern called 'Little Tess'. Once part of a much larger cave, 'Dark Cavern', metal roller shutters - used to seal the area off at night - have been found lowered during daylight hours, stopping boats from entering. On occasion, a mysterious figure has been seen standing next to the entrance of the tunnel, and, at times, the cavern is said to go icy cold.

During the 1980's, when the canal system was being restored, a photograph was taken of the men working inside the cavern. Upon having the shot developed, it was noticed that there were some 25 people in the image - one more than could actually be accounted for! The 25th man was never identified! It was here that one Thomas Baker - a young miner - was crushed to death by tons of falling rock in the mid-19th Century.

In the area known at the 'Singing Cavern', only 12 miners were ever allowed to work there at any one time due to loss of life through rockfall. During the renovation of the caverns, a JCB driver, working alone, supposedly heard someone calling out his name. The incident had such an effect on the man, he apparently never came back to work there again!

One barge Skipper reports having clearly seen someone passing across a raised section of walkway in front of his boat. Strangely, his 50 or so passengers saw nothing at all? Again - apart from the people situated on the boat - the cavern was known to be completely empty...

From time to time, footsteps are heard walking around 'Singing Cavern'. One Miner, John Whitehouse, is recorded as being crushed to death here under falling rock, while another, William Mc. Master, was literally 'blown to smithereens' in a premature explosion as he packed explosives into rods.

A 'Phantom Legger' was once associated with the Dudley Tunnel itself. Legend has it that he was said to appear to passing boat skippers and endeavour to 'leg' their barges through the tunnel for them! (Very accommodating!) Occasionally, the sound of a mouth organ has been heard playing in the tunnel. In years gone by it was not unknown for local children to steal a boat and take a ride down into the tunnel. One such child is believed to have been sitting at the bow of the boat - playing his mouth organ - when he slipped and fell into the water and, unfortunately, was crushed to death.

In 1926, a young man was murdered just above the entrance to Quarry Pit Shaft that leads into the Dudley Tunnel. Bargees are said to have reported seeing balls of mist floating in the centre of the tunnel. As the boat draws near - they mysteriously vanish. At times, sparkling lights have also been seen hovering. Again - as the boat approaches, they too disappear......."

Following the tour, a small write up of our visit was placed on the (then) W.M.G.C. web site.  As a result, the following December, we were contacted by someone associated with the 'Lord Wards Society', who offered the information that the medium mentioned in the tour notes had subsequently refused an offer of a further visit to the canal / tunnel network.  On her initial visit, she had, apparently, only managed to travel as far as the 'Castlemill Basin', before calling off the investigation and refusing to enter the mines themselves.  It was stated that she had clearly been overcome by the work she was having to do?  Beforehand, she supposedly had no inkling of where she was going, so would have seemingly been unable to research the site.   Never the less, she produced enough evidence to sway one very sceptical member of the DCT by relating things she could not have known under normal circumstances...

 

 

There then followed a break of some 6 or so years regarding any form of further involvement with the site.  However, in 2008, group members were finally able to successfully negotiate with 'Dudley Canal Trust', resulting in a brief 'investigation' (albeit in the loosest terms, due to the overall scenario concerned) on September 5th, 2008.  The visit took place between 8pm and approximately 11.30 pm.  Due to the small size of W.M.G.C. membership, we were pleased to be able to invite a number of our friends from the 'Black Country Paranormal Society' along for the visit too, including our long-time friends Wayne and Heidi Pickrell.  As well as paranormal-group-related attendees, we were accompanied by our boat ‘skipper’ for the night, his second in command, and two members of the (canal) 'Halloween Ghost Tour' staff.  During the visit, we were able to tour a number of sites within the canal network, including 'Murder Mine', 'Little Tess Cavern' and the 'Singing Cavern'.

As with most W.M.G.C. investigations, the event itself passed fairly quietly, though a couple of matters are possibly worthy of listing:  

On the initial approach into the canal network, one of the researchers reported a considerable power drain on the battery of his video camera.  While he had only been recording for a limited amount of time at this point, the battery level meter indicated that more power was missing than could be accounted for.  The camera concerned was fully charged before use and such an effect had never occurred previously at any other location or time. 

 

At the beginning of a vigil held in the 'Singing Cavern', another video camera was found to have a depleted battery, despite having been fully charged before entering the site.  The camera had only just been unpacked at this point in time, being set up by an investigator for use during the forthcoming vigil.  Again, the camera concerned had never done this at any other site or time.  (It eventually had to be plugged into a mains socket within the Cavern itself before it could be used).  During this same period, an infra-red torch – used in conjunction with the aforementioned camera during investigations to boost it’s night-shot capacity  – was found to be exceptionally hot to the touch.  It was almost too hot to handle comfortably.  Once again, this effect had never occurred previously on any other occasion.

During the 'Singing Cavern' vigil the overall group split into three, smaller teams and took up separate positions within the cavern.  A member of the group situated in the topmost portion of the area concerned reported briefly hearing a sound of physical movement – akin to someone traversing a nearby walk-way.

A number of those present inside the 'Singing Cavern' mentioned hearing a noise akin to the sound of children's voices, sporadically, throughout the stay.  This is a familiar motif regarding the tunnel system, having been reported numerous times over the space of many years.  However, on this occasion, the sound concerned was clearly identified as a by product of water dripping from the roof / ceiling of the caverns and the acoustics of the area involved.              

Throughout the visit, group members were regaled with ghost stories associated with the network by staff members.  We were told that, on a recent visit to 'Murder Mine', a gentleman reported inexplicable 'battery drain' from electrical apparatus.  Upon changing the batteries, the freshly installed set also instantly drained?  As the man had mentioned this to the skipper of the boat concerned, the latter felt something take hold of him and push him towards the waters of the canal...!  Also, in the 'Singing Cavern' - while the popular 'web cams' were being installed - a person watching the proceedings, via one of the cams, called down to the technician concerned and enquired ‘who’ the ‘other person standing next to them’ was?  The man involved was completely alone in the cavern, despite witness testimony to the contrary!

Around the time that our visit was carried out, the 'Black Country Evening Mail' and 'Dudley News' kindly took an interest in the venture and ran articles on the matter.  (Image at head of this post and below).

 

For anyone interested in local, Black Country, ghostlore, it probably doesn't need to be mentioned that - following the W.M.G.C. visit - the canal tunnel network and mine system has, apparently, become rather popular with regards to ghost tours and paranormal investigations, echoing the same type of ventures involving the associated 'Black Country Living Museum' too...