Thursday 29th February 2024

Back in late September, 2023, John Chance – of GhostCallers UK – invited me along on a visit he was making, to a site of potential interest, slap-bang on the English / Welsh border. This was, he informed me, a place where he was intending to conduct a forthcoming ‘ghost investigation’… so wished to take a little look at the location first.

Never having been involved in the more popular and / or commercial side of this field, 99% of the places that John has ‘introduced me to’, in more recent years, have been completely unknown to me, previously… and this lovely spot proved to be no exception!

Situated on the Ceiriog River, ‘Chirk Mill’ stands at the foot of Chirk Hill, just under 10 miles from Wrexham, in North Wales.  There has been a mill present on this site for over 500 years, though the current, Grade II Listed, structure has portions known to date from the late 18^th Century.  Over its considerable lifetime, the site has served many purposes, it seems… including processing corn, whiting, glue and mica.  During the 1920’s, the property was fitted with a turbine and was actually used for generating electricity for the town right up until 1930 or so!  There would have been a sizeable, rambling, house - formerly situated on the East side of the mill – but, sadly, this apparently suffered a catastrophic fire and was eventually demolished in the 50’s…

Since the 1970’s, this huge property has been the home of the ‘Seventh Heaven’ bed company… an incredible, bespoke, antique bed business! (WEBSITE).  It is here that, as the base for this enterprise, the ghostlore associated with the locality has finally become officially noticed and gained considerable repute…

With regards to strange incidents at the site, back in September, our host for the visit - one of the owners, Tracy Butler - told us of an experience that she’d personally had one night, when rousing from sleep.  Looking out of the window of the house, across the drive, she had spied – just the other side of a large tree at the front of the property – a tall, dark ‘shape’… seemingly in the process of ‘gliding along’, in the direction of the mill!?  The area where the figure was seen was previously occupied by a quaint row of workers cottages…

Quite commendably, for what many might regard as a fairly disturbing experience, the stoic Tracy told us that she had, mentally, tried to ‘convey a message’ to the form – actually ‘encouraging it’ – but, to no avail, it seems!?

 

 

While the location is, admittedly, still comparatively ‘new’ to the ghost hunting scene, just the briefest of online searches reveals a mass of ‘spooky’ information about the locality!  Data listed by groups that have previously visited the property, for overnight investigations, reveals a host of intriguing references… including talk of full bodied apparitions, inside and outside the property. 

Seemingly, visitors have spoken of seeing figures at some of the upper windows in the structure and the apparition of a young girl in the grounds…  It’s been said that ‘disembodied voices’ have been heard on upper floors, along with scratching sounds and inexplicable 'forlorn cries' from the attic…?

While actually being shown around the latter area, Tracy had mentioned a most tantalising-sounding snippet of video that had seemingly been caught here by another visiting association.  In one portion of the room, there is a section of reasonably low, antique shelving, holding an array of equally ‘period’ treasures and curios...  Situated on the junction of two of these units - firmly wedged in a seated position by a sturdy beam and section of wooden board - is one of the creepiest-looking dolls that it has ever been my displeasure to meet!  Lol!  No offence to the... errr... 'young lady' involved - please DON'T come and haunt my dreams! - but I'm hopelessly 'creeped-out' by dolls!  Lol!   (See pic below).

 

It was, apparently, while committing the area to video, a visiting ghost investigator claimed to have caught this relic ‘sitting up’… seemingly of its own accord…!?  *Shudders!*  

With an array of ‘spooky data’ already being mentioned – just pushing ‘talk of ghosts’ to one side – fans of more ‘historic’ and ‘physically substantial’ mysteries would surely be fascinated to see this article which appeared in the ‘Denbighshire Free Press’ on the 7^th September, 1998.  Click on the image below to see a larger version of the scan, if need be:

 

 

I must admit that – with all of its peculiar implications – a snippet of wholly tantalising data such as this is the kind of conundrum that REALLY 'gets my antiquarian juices flowing'! Unfortunately, however, this piece appears to be where this puzzle begins AND ends – at least for the time being – as, as far as my research has gone to date, this is the only mention to be found on the topic anywhere!?  A subsequent inquiry to ‘Wrexham Museum Services’ sadly revealed that they had no knowledge of such affairs at all…?

Needless to ponder… just what could this most peculiar-sounding carving have been?  Why did someone see fit to seemingly ‘hide it’ in the walls of this ancient structure?  Could the bizarre sounding object possibly have some kind of 'occult-related' significance and, if so, does it potentially link to the different incidents of ‘strangeness’ reported at the mill, over the years…  And… where did this item disappear to, immediately after being found, over 150 years ago…???    

John had purposefully planned the recent investigation as a small affair, involving just five people: himself, three of his more ‘regular’ attendees at investigations and yours truly.  Firstly, this was a welcome opportunity for me to meet other, ‘ghost hunting’ friends of John: the lovely Lynn Murphy, Amanda Mullins, and Jess Howell… who all turned out to be most charming companions for the duration of our stay!  Strangely, despite having associated with John for a few years now, I realised that this was the very first time I’d actually had the opportunity to come face-to-face with close associates of his! 

Secondly… and of considerable interest to me: having always striven to purely remain a completely objective and observation-based researcher previously, the ‘mode of investigation’ conducted by John and company was entirely ‘new’ to me… at least from a hands-on, ‘personal experience’ angle. 

To avoid explaining in detail unnecessarily: the plan for the evening would be a series of ‘séance-esque’ scenarios, conducted in different sections of the building, at different stages throughout the stay.  As well as actually carrying out these ‘sittings’ – the holding of hands in circles and the likes – more modern, technological methods were also experimented with, such as certain phone apps and ‘Spirit Box’ sessions…           

 

While I’m quite used to coming away from time spent at a haunted site completely ‘empty handed’ myself – this can greatly be said to be ‘the norm’ for me – our stay was, on this occasion, rather ‘quiet’, as far as blatant ‘results’ were concerned.  (*It should be mentioned here that I’ve often considered that ‘I’ may well be to blame for such eventualities, as I have often been told that my sceptical standpoint can be somewhat detrimental, where ‘ghosts’ and, particularly, ‘spirits’ are involved?  Certainly, this is something often implied throughout the annals of paranormal culture, at least…?)

Following our first session in the attic area of the building – where, initially and MOST embarrassingly, I had to ‘learn the hard way’ what ‘not putting my phone on Airplane Mode’ can actually do to a K2 Meter! – the group, over the next handful of hours, moved from area to area, floor to floor, mostly conducting bouts of ‘direct contact’ experiments; a process which John concisely refers to as ‘Calling Out’.  While these tests seemingly resulted in very little, on their own, group members sporadically reported hearing numerous odd, intriguing sounds around the empty property. This mainly concerned such effects as low whistles and bangs… as well as mild ‘vibrations’ in the floor of the structure…?  On a small handful of occasions, different people had reported seeing ‘visual disturbances’ during sessions, such as – as one example – ‘something’ moving, or standing, between themselves and a nearby light source…?

Matters of a visual nature were noted on a couple of occasions during the final stint of the night, in the highly atmospheric cellar of the property!  Upon being shown around the premises at the very beginning of the evening, John had – upon first entering this area – reported seeing ‘something’ seemingly ‘move across the room’, at the opposite end to where we stood?  During a later séance-style session, around a large table in the chamber, he had also mentioned something ‘situated immediately behind’ Amanda, who was seated directly in front of him…!?

At a slightly later point, in this same sitting, it was believed that contact had been made with one of the potential, haunting entities at the building, resulting in a ‘question and answer’ style exchange…  At sporadic intervals, a faint ‘tap sound’ – emanating from a wall directly behind Jess - was heard by all of the sitters and, by utilising this noise, a dialogue of sorts was established…  (A personal observation from my own notes… but the tiny ‘tap’ involved appeared to be ‘exactly the same noise’, each and every time it was heard, which I found somewhat intriguing?) 

 

 

At the end of the session, the area of wall involved was scrutinised to considerable length by all of the group and nothing at all was found to cause such a sound?  Interestingly, also, the noise involved was not heard once following the cessation of the vigil!?

The above period heralded the end of our stay at Chirk Mill, when we eventually had to admit that the icy cold - and general tiredness – had finally beaten us all!  This was the end of a most intriguing investigation at a most gorgeous and historic location…

As always, my most heartfelt gratitude goes out to John Chance – of the ‘GhostCallers UK’ association – for, once again, kindly inviting me along on one of his spooky adventures!  As always John… ‘Thank you SO MUCH, matey!!’  Equally so, my appreciation goes out to Lynn, Amanda and Jess for their warm company and generally making me feel like ‘one of the gang’…!

Thanks from the group goes out to our hosts for the event, Tony and Tracy Butler of Chirk Mill and ‘Seventh Heaven’ bed company, for allowing us to spend a few hours of investigation at their wonderful property…

 

Monday 19th February 2024

'The Hednesford Road Happening’ – Part 2: Heading Further Afield… But Still Quite ‘Local’?’

Immediately following the appearance of the 2, local, newspaper reports, group members had decided that a night-time investigation of the Hednesford Road might be of some interest.  As frequently happens though – just as a by-product of a media appeal - we were also made aware of some ‘other’ ghostly matters, in the Brownhills region, so, in the end, it was decided that we might ‘split the visit’ and observe a small handful of locations within the same evening...  It should be pointed out that none of these locations – albeit in the same, rough area were at all related and included a segment of Brownhills Common where a figure, resembling a corpse in a shroud – but around 7 to 8 ft in height! – was spotted on 8 or so occasions.  At one point, after constantly reporting such sightings and being laughed at by their partner, the latter had accompanied the witness to the spot in question and they too had also seen the figure, allegedly!  Near to this latter spot were the ruins of a building, where a figure in a top hat and cape had been seen.

 

 

Possibly needless to report, the event concerned – taking place in late April, 2003, and incorporating all of the sites mentioned above - passed without incident.  As frequently happened at that point in time, however, the wonderful Craig Winyard – Staff reporter at the (now long defunct) ‘Walsall Observer’ – took a keen interest in the exercise and kindly covered the matter for the newspaper.  (*The image situated at the top of this blog entry came from the article concerned).  

The aforementioned media responses, as you might expect, had ranged from the fascinating to the ridiculous: tales of sexual assault, suicides, evil local characters, haunted / cursed houses and even ‘dragon sightings’ were just a few of the different matters reported to the group! 

However… within this collection of responses, certain details – at least according to paranormal culture – could well be construed as possibly ‘contributing to’ such a scenario as previously reported?  Without going into great detail, certain things were said to have ‘occurred on’ the Hednesford Road, over time, that – as far as some areas of ‘supernatural speculation’ are concerned – could well be ‘to blame’ for ‘generating’ some form of ‘evil’, or ‘negative’, presence in the locality?

 

 

Amid these reports, there was one particular account that stood out…  In a report from the Great Wyrley area, a gentleman reported having seen a black, ‘triangular-shaped’, figure, while walking along a fairly secluded trackway.  It was described as a large and seemingly hooded form, giving the impression of someone ‘wearing a cloak’… and exuding an ‘evil’ sensation?

(This encounter occurred near to an old property that – at one time – was used as a local mortuary?  As you might guess, the property is said to be haunted!) 

In relating this sighting – which had occurred almost 30 years earlier – the man had also mentioned an encounter, in roughly the same location, reported to him by a friend…  In that instance, the acquaintance had been riding a motorcycle, when he found himself seemingly ‘being chased’ by a figure adhering to the same description, just mentioned.  In attempting to accelerate away from his pursuer, the man claimed to have reached speeds hitting some 80 mph… but the bizarre form had allegedly managed to ‘keep up with him’ for a distance, at least!?

 

 

Again, as within the initial account mentioned in the previous post, there was a considerable degree of emphasis put on a ‘sense of evil’ pervading these encounters!

At this point, we have to jump forward some 2 years, the general topic having ‘gone quiet’ by this point in time.  A ghost hunting acquaintance, from the Cannock area, contacted me and drew my attention to some reports that had recently appeared in their local press.  Checking on the matter, I discovered that an A.S.S.A.P. affiliated group had been mentioned as investigating what they were reporting as a ‘unique’ phenomenon in the Great Wyrley area… which sounded remarkably like the same events that we had looked into, just 2 years earlier!?  (*The waters were slightly muddied, however, by somewhat rambling – and wholly bizarre – suggestions that the figure reported somehow tied in with ‘Mothman’ sightings reported in Virginia, USA, in the latter half of the 1960’s!?)  I had subsequently contacted the club involved and it transpired that one of the accounts they were looking into was indeed the ‘motorcycle chase’ scenario…

As a result of the contact, I was kindly invited to accompany members of the group on a visit to the locations concerned.  I had previously toured the ‘motorcycle’ location, but a 2^nd sighting in the village, known by the group – entirely ‘fresh’ information to me – was also generously shared with me.  (The sites involved were a half-mile or so apart).

Needless to say, never having personally spoken with the source concerned, I couldn’t possibly expand on the latter situation too much.  Also, given that the data is not mine to openly share, I can only say that a witness had apparently come forward with a report of seeing a gigantic, black figure ‘stepping over’ a 5ft tall, chain link fence..!   After this, it immediately – with one stride – allegedly cleared a 10 to 12 ft. wide water channel!  (See image below).

 

 

Due to the measurements involved, someone within the group had suggested an estimated height of 9 feet (for the black figure), which, I had suggested, was a little on the ‘short’ side, given the ‘stepping over’ – not ‘jumping’ - suggestions made above?  For some reason, this had elicited not only further musings re. ‘Mothman’ from a member of the club, but also a most peculiar suggestion involving ‘Spring Heeled Jack’ too…?