In my last update, at the beginning of this month, I had mentioned some 'peculiar occurrences', taking place in the business premises of an acquaintance. A week or so after that post, I was able to speak to the person more fully and briefly interview them about the happenings concerned in a little more detail. I was told that they had only taken over the property in December 2021 and had seemingly noticed 'strange occurrences' from the get-go...
As previously mentioned, the owner had entered the premises one morning - to 'open up' for the day - and was perplexed to find that loaves of bread had been 'placed in a row' on the floor, forming a 'proper straight line'!? Following the initial incident, this is said to have occurred fairly regularly... even happening when customers are being served, or in the few minutes when staff have 'popped outside for a cigarette' during the working day. They will turn around - or re-enter the premises - to find the loaves placed on the floor, all facing the same way...?
Akin to the above, three small tin boxes were found to have been stacked, one on top of the other, to form a tower... The owner had attempted to re-stack them in the same way, but reports that, because of their shape, this was very difficult to do... Objects are also said to 'go missing' and - after considerable searching - 're-appear' again, in the very place that they had vanished from! A staff member present mentions a little jug, that is always kept in a specific spot, recently disappearing for 2 days... before seemingly returning to it's usual resting place again, as an example. Another item moved in recent days was a 'throw rug' that had been placed on the rear of a chair in the toilet area. After closing for the day, it was found to have been thrown on the upstairs landing. The owner brought it downstairs to mention the matter to staff... and it has subsequently vanished? Staff also suggest that chairs, which have been placed flush against tables at closing time, are sometimes found to have been moved again in the morning... and cupboard doors inexplicably opened.
Lights that were definitely 'switched' off upon closing were discovered 'on' again the following morning... This would include all of the upstairs lighting. Friends of the owner would sometimes ring at night to say that they were passing the site and had noticed that the lights were 'on', despite the fact they'd all been turned 'off ' at the end of the working day.
Motorised shutters that cover the windows of the premises - and are closed with buttons inside the property - occasionally begin to close of their own accord, with customers sitting underneath or near them... Staff have to rush to the buttons and manually re-open them!
On the day before my visit in question, the upstairs of the site was said to have been particularly noisy, with a sound akin to a handful of people 'running around' for most of the day, accompanied by doors banging and clattering. This is a regular occurrence, it seems; particularly the slamming of doors. One staff member refers to a store room - situated above the kitchen area - and says that you will hear a loud 'Bang, bang, bang, bang...' sound and question what could possibly be causing such a noise? Upon investigation, however, nothing will be found to account for such disturbance...?
Initially, because of a lot of the things being discovered to have occurred overnight, it was believed that someone might have - some how? - been entering the premises after closing and actually 'living there'? A thorough check of the building was made, to try and discover how access might be attained, but no possible entry points (apart from the obvious ones) could be found? At times, the workforce said that they could smell a perfume-like odour - a man's aftershave - as well as other unexpected smells. The toilet area was also found to have been disturbed, as if someone had possibly been 'washing' in there?
Because of the above-mentioned, the owner installed cameras that could be monitored and receive 'movement alerts' at home... However, this system proved to be something of a pain, as such 'alerts' were a constant occurrence... but, upon checking via the cameras, nothing could be seen to account for the disturbance? It was noted that a faint 'chattering sound' - akin to people talking, but quietly enough as to not be able to ascertain what was being said - could sometimes be heard on the audio of the footage, along with a heart-beat-like noise at times.
One night, after receiving an alert, the owner checked along the external shutters of the premises to see if someone might have been - perhaps - standing against, or close to, them and setting the system off that way? Scanning around with the remote camera, they had a view of the street outside the property and spotted what they initially believed to have been a 'figure', squatting down against the wall of the property opposite... This was during the early hours of the morning and, scrutinising the form, they came to the conclusion that it wasn't a real person, but more of a silhouette... with the wall of the site behind somehow visible 'through' the form!? They had the distinct impression that whatever-this-was was somehow 'staring back at them'... As a result, the owner removed the cameras the very next day!
Sadly (Lol!) it seems that no more 'writing' had turned up on the walls of the upstairs room since I was first shown, a couple or more weeks ago! The owner says that they had only really noticed the wording after entering the room to make a phone call and - mid-conversation, upon seeing the script - they had fallen silent in utter bewilderment, causing the person at the other end on the line to enquire whether they were still there!? (Lol!) Upon ending the call, they had immediately rushed downstairs and actually dragged a member of staff away from customers... in order to show them what they had discovered! As previously mentioned, I believe, the lettering had clearly been written in 'pencil', while I am assured that not only is there not a pencil on the premises... but, to their knowledge, there has never been a pencil in the property either!?
The owner had initially been afraid that the main word - 'Kenneth' - had been an attempt to write 'their' surname; an assumption that was backed up by staff. It has to be mentioned that - in this (albeit erroneous) belief - the owner admits to a fair degree of trepidation: something had written their name... so could this intimate some form of nefarious intent, maybe? (Shades of the character Eleanor Lance, in the classic movie 'The Haunting', viewing her name mysteriously written on the wall of a corridor in 'Hill House': "It knows my name, this time it knows my name!" Lol!) In showing the wording to our old friend, veteran investigator, historian and author, Andrew Homer, he had commented that the lettering was what they would term 'Hooks And Hangers'... a style that used to be taught in schools, but many years ago now. When he had been working at the 'Black Country Living Museum' and emulating a 'classroom / teaching' scenario, this type of lettering was actually featured... but in a scene dated to 1912, over a century ago!
Following recent notions re. possibly getting the W.M.G.C. 'back into' a little first-hand investigating again, after the space of a number of years now, I had asked the owner if it would be possible to organise an overnight stay for some investigators? Such a visit had been kindly suggested previously, by the owner...
As a result, a small group of people descended on the property on the night of Saturday, the 15th of October, including 2 members from the 'West Midlands Ghost Club', a good friend from the 'Black Country Paranormal Society', and investigator John Chance of 'GhostCallers UK'. The intention was to perform a small, informal, objective, 'stake-out' of the premises, with a specific view to focusing on the presumed happenings and related spaces outlined by the owner and staff as 'of potential interest'. As with any investigation, while remaining objective and employing a sober stance, a degree of acceptable experimentation was introduced to the overall scenario, such as 'calling out' sessions - introducing yourself to the atmosphere of the site and inviting a response - and, in this instance, the simple taping of a 'pencil' - on string - to the wall containing the allegedly inexplicable text, with the spoken permission to answer some basic questions utilising the implement provided, etc.
During a vigil in which John Chance was alone, in a main, downstairs room (with digital voice and video camera equipment recording), he reported that he had heard a number of sounds that he would associate with a 'human' agency - from relatively close by - including 'breath-type' noises, laboured breathing-like sounds and also 'chatting', but the voices involved being too quiet to make out. (Refer back to notes earlier in this post, related to what the manager had 'heard' over the CCTV. John had not been aware of that particular detail until 'after' he mentioned such sounds himself). In this same period of time, the three other investigators sat in the room where the writing had seemingly appeared, but heard / experienced nothing at all throughout.
In later checking his audio footage, John discovered clear examples of the noises reported / experienced and copied a number of these into a sound file that was shared with the other investigators present and the owner of the premises too. As with most W.M.G.C. investigations, however, time at the property went - otherwise - quietly and uneventfully though further visits are 'on the cards'... which is greatly appreciated indeed, needless to stress!
In just drawing this post to a conclusion, it should probably be mentioned that this isn't the first time that this specific area had generated some interest of a potentially 'ghostly' nature, as, going back just over 50 years to 1971, a nearby business unit also played host to spooky happenings too! The premises - a hairdressers at that time - is in the same block of buildings and stands not 10 yards distant. Maybe it's just a matter of frequently 'similar activity' taking place in poltergeist-like outbreaks, but this site also reported doors opening and shutting, lights switching on and off... and footsteps heard in an upstairs area when there was no one there to make such sounds!? It is not revealed precisely where the information comes from, but a newspaper article reporting on the matter mentions that a young boy was said to have died in a property that formerly stood on the spot and it is his ghost that was believed to be now haunting the site....?
Again - make sure to watch this space for further updates!
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