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Thread: Ghost stories

  1. #1
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    Default Ghost stories

    I've noticed a few people finding this site while looking for Warwickshire Ghost stories. So was wondering if anyone had any good ones they'd like to share.

    I'm going to look around see if I can find some too.
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    oooh great idea. Now that could be a unique selling point - a warwickshire ghost (sub) forum

  3. #3
    cathidaw
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    how about this for a TRUE ghostly tale.

    A builder friend bought an old house in chapel street Bedworth a few years ago. After making it habitable he moved in and his 2 year old son had a nursery on top floor.
    They often heard him chattering away as all children do but one day they asked him what he had been talking about the night before as it was a long time before he went to sleep. (He was now 3) . he said, "oh, I was talking to mrs J" and they laughed.
    He then often made comments about what Mrs J had said, such as "Yes I know Mrs J told me", or Mrs J. said--
    After a while things started to happen in the house--not spectacular-. for instance a piece went missing from one of those musical jigsaw puzzles kids have where, when the last piece is put in it plays a tune. They searched everywhere.
    A few weeks later they heard this thing start playing. when they looked the puzzle was complete. They were quite scared especially when the little boy said that Mrs J. had told him that she would find it for him.
    They moved house a couple of months later after checking the recorded history of the house and finding that a Mrs J. had lived and died there
    about 100 years ago.

  4. #4
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    A few years ago, I was helping a friend rewire a farmhouse in Northampton.
    It was all going very well, untill we had to run some wires under a floor, through a cellar that had been sealed off years ago. Now I am not a coward, but I really didn't fancy it, so he dropped into the cellar, and I passed him stuff and dangled a lead lamp through the hole we had opened up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman in a blue and white stripey dress in the porch, which was odd, because both the doofs were locked... I told Nigel and he accused me of trying to wind him up, (the very idea... ) but he did finish off the work in the cellar a bit rapid!
    Over the next few days, both of us saw her, not in any great detail, just a fleeting glance. until... I was running wires in the master bedroom, and I had to go downstairs for some more stuff. When I came back, the door slammed in front of me. No draughts, all the doors and windows were closed. O.K. I thought, i'll go and work somewhere else for a bit. Later on, I noticed the door was ajar, so I knocked(!) and went in and finished the room off. While Iwas working, I explained to an 'empty' room what we were doing, apologised for all the mess, and promised we would put everything staight when we had finished. I don't know if that helped her or me, but I didn't get shut out of any other rooms...
    The next day, I was threading wires on the landing, by the door to the attic, when less than 3 feet away, the dropper on the thumb latch of the attic door lifted, the door opened, and then swung shut again, but the dropper didn't latch properly first time. the latch then lifted again, the door closed and the dropper dropped into place. I went downstairs and Nigel said that 'she' must like the cleaners, because as they turned up, the room warmed up noticibly. His face was a picture when I told he she must have been in with him, and the room would have warmed up as she went off to hide in the attic....
    In all the time I was there, I wasn't in the least bit scared, but I did feel like I was intruding... we both took to talking to her as we would to a 'live' customer, and that really did seem to help. But she never did make us a cup of tea....

  5. #5
    cathidaw
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    My son was doing a survey of an old building in Cryfield Grange
    Tha m\n of the house asked if he would like to see some ancient windows in the cellar which he'd turned into a games room. On the way down there was an old wall which went down so far under the house he said they hadn't even'bottomed' it. As the descended the steps my son felt a great pressure on his chest -as tho' he was being crushed- and was afraid he would stop breathing.but as he went further down the feeling went.
    On the way up again the same thing happened -but only on the same step.
    When he mentioned it the man said that his wife had the same feeling--on the same step and would not go near it
    I have often wondered what awful thing happened there in the distant past
    especially as the house mentioned is near Gibbet Hill

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    Default West Midlands Ghost Club interest......

    Hi,

    I've only just signed up to this forum, but my name is Nick and I'm one of the founder members of the West Midlands Ghost Club, which will be celebrating it's 20th birthday next year.

    Despite the group title, we're interested in the ghost-lore of the entire Midlands area and have conducted a number of investigations at sites in the Warwickshire region - see the investigations page of our website for specifics - the most recent visit being an overnight stay at Alcester Town Hall (Warwks) on December the 12th........

    Needless to say, I hope that there are other forum users who will add to this section of the forum!!

    Seasons Greetings to all,

    Nick
    The West Midlands Ghost Club - W.M.G.C. Home

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    Welcome Nick,
    Had no idea there was a West Midlands Ghost club. Do you know of any particularly famous Ghost stories from Warwickshire?
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    Default Ghost stories

    I have experienced a few things, some 'explainable' others not. I'm afraid they are not based on Warwickshire. I was a boarder at Wells Cathedral School in Somerset and one morning before school started I went down the hill towards the local shop to buy some biscuits for breaktime. It was not unusual to pass by the Bishop of Bath and Wells or his Dean and that morning, the Dean passed by me on his way I assume back to his house which was the building next door to one of the girls' boarding house. It would have been at about 0815 or 0830. In assembly before classes that morning, the start of which seemed delayed, The Headmaster looking particularly sombre anounced that The Dean had sadly died and had been found in his greenhouse that morning by his wife at around 8am.

    If that isn't just abit spooky I'm not sure what is! My Father died when I was there and that Saturday we had a film to go and watch in our school theatre. It was to start at about 5.30 and we were all sitting very quietly in anticipation for it to do so. I was suddenly gripped by a sense of something and had a momentary flash of white light. I recall feeling rather strange- not really tuned in. The evening went on and I thought little more about it. Sunday came and went without anything worth noting. However, on Monday morning, I was summoned to the Head's office where he duely broke the news to me. My Father had apparantly suffered a huge heart attack at about 5 on Saturday afternoon. He was pronounced dead at 5.30 by paramedics called to the scene at our home. (There's more if anyone's interested?)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Will View Post
    Welcome Nick,
    Had no idea there was a West Midlands Ghost club. Do you know of any particularly famous Ghost stories from Warwickshire?
    Hi Will and Gladys!!

    Re. Warwickshire ghosts Will - how long have you got mate??? I have a couple of books on my shelves dedicated (solely) to the subject....: Haunted Warwickshire by Meg Elizabeth Atkins and Ghosts of Warwickshire by Betty Smith as well as a smattering of info. in some of the more general volumes on haunted England and the like .

    Just off the top of my head though - speaking of 'famous' sites - I must admit that I've long wanted to visit Ettington Park near Stratford......... It's such a magnificent building to begin with - fairly decent ghostlore attached to it - and, of course, it's where a substantial part of the classic supernatural film 'The Haunting' was filmed! (One of my all time fave movies!!)

    One of the more impressive haunted sites in the region - Astley Castle - has been visited by the group numerous times. A run-down of some of our activities at the site can be found on the excellent Weddington Castle website:

    New Page 75

    With regards to the WMGC's interaction with the county, we've covered Alcester Town Hall a couple of times this year and a riding stables in north Warwks a few months ago. Last year, we covered Warwick Castle for BBC Radio and, a few years ago, investigated the Tudor House Hotel in Warwick as part of a Central documentary on ghosts....... I'm sure we've covered other places too, but my memory is getting so naff these days!?!?

    Gladys - thanks for sharing your stories with us....... Please do keep them coming!!

    I visited Wells a few years ago now, mainly to see the Chapter House Stairway (where a ghostly photograph was supposed to have been taken during the early 20th Century!). It's an absolutely lovely area.....

    Re. the aforementioned photo, I've just recalled something I'd written about it for our old web site (just in case you were interested):

    "In his book, 'Haunted Houses' (Batsford Ltd. 1956), Author Joseph Braddock makes a most intriguing reference to Wells Cathedral.

    "I possess a beautiful colour print of two ghostly figures on the steps going up to the Chapter House in Wells Cathedral, Somerset. There are two figures a small child and a much taller, perhaps maternal figure in white standing framed in the archway at the entrance to the covered archway leading over the road to Vicars Close.."

    The gentleman responsible for the image described above was an old friend of the Author, one H.R. Hardy of Edgeborough, Frensham. An account of how the photograph was obtained, along with some of the photographers observations on the picture itself, were also included in Braddocks text:

    "The facts are that I went to Wells on Easter Monday, April 19th, 1954, in the afternoon. I should think the photo. was taken about 4.30pm. Seeing that there were a lot of people going around, I thought I should fail to get an uninterrupted exposure of the steps going up to the Chapter House. However, I set up my stand, and, seeing a lull, pressed the shutter and gave it an exposure of 14 seconds, watching very carefully to see that no one should walk in to spoil the photo. I counted fourteen, and did not look at my wristwatch as I was afraid I should not see if anyone did walk into the picture. I heaved a sigh of relief when nobody did."

    "The fluffiness on the steps may have been caused by light coming in from a window out of sight on the left, though it does not really look like that. It reminds me very much more of heads going up or down the steps. I can give no explanation of the two figures framed in the archway. I might just emphasise that if the cluster on the staircase was not caused by light, there certainly could not have been any people there without my seeing them. I agree that the cluster looks less like any natural flow of light, than a projection of the two figures forward one seems to see the different levels of the heads."

    So, precisely where is Mr. Hardy’s picture today? Why do we not see it regularly appear in paranormal related publications, alongside all of the other examples of what could be referred to as 'Classic' ghost photographs..?

    To the best of our knowledge, the image has never been reproduced or publicised in any form whatsoever over recent decades, leading us to believe that Messrs. Hardy and Braddock - and perhaps a small circle of close acquaintances - were, most likely, the only people to have seen it? Should such a photograph ever have been made known to literally anyone within the field of paranormal research, it simply wouldn’t have been allowed to remain in the state of obscurity that it has most certainly languished in for the past 45 years(?)"

    Best wishes to all.

    Nick
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    cathidaw
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    mY HUSBAND WAS 13, AND CAME HOME FROM SCHOOL ONE DAy. The old lady who lived next door was standing on her front doorstep. He stopped to talk to her and she gave him a lollipop then he went into his house, and his mother told him the sad news that the old lady had died earlier that day. He showed them the lollipop and they said he must have got it from someone else.
    Later they found out that she had in her house a box of these particular lollipops to give to the children who often did errands for her.

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    Hi Lex - indeed we do. We're mainly ghost-motivated (as a club), but some of our members have an interest in other matters, i.e. UFO's, certain aspects of the occult, cryptozoology and so on.

    I did take an interest in affairs at Meon Hill a few years ago..... well, mainly in some investigations carried out by a Birmingham based, psychic orientated group. Unfortunately, their investigations were - as people might guess - purely seance based and, as such, rather 'open to interpretation'. (Ahem!!) There is at least one book about this subject - the murder, etc - but I'm blowed if I can recall what it is called now??? I know Brum. Central Archives used to have a copy.......

    Cathidaw - thanks for relating your (husbands) story. I have heard of this type of scenario many times previously and such things always have me perplexed as I'm not a big believer in post-death 'spiritual existence' to be honest. Fascinating.....

    Regards to all,

    Nick
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    Nicholas, The Wells Chapter House photo story is amazing. I'm sure if I ask my 'Old Wellies', some one must know something. They have a website- just google Old Wellensians or Wells Cathedral School.This story is 'flowered up' for easy reading but based on fact from experience.

    [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]She was restless that night; a full moonlit night, quiet, still and crisp with the chill of winter in late November early December. Sleep would not come, she lay in the dark of the room with the moonlight streaming through the window to cast a path of light that gave a bright hew to the old beams and wooden floor.
    Her back had been turned away from the window but not knowing why, she turned towards it to see him. He was leaning against the sill by his left elbow. the right hand holding the left, left leg straight in counterbalance and the right bent across it slightly. He had a comforting gaze, no smile just a look that conveyed a comfort. No words were exchanged, just the look that was knowing yet comforting. He wore a wool beige knitted heavy weight cardigan and his trousers were a beige drill.She was sure no one would believe her so she felt the need to take in the details. For some reason she was unable to speak. To this day she doesn't know why.


    This is how I saw my Father 3 weeks after he had died and been buried. I saw him in my school dormatory. There was 1 other girl asleep in the room. I never told her or mentioned it to her. It is entirely explainable in terms of grief; a child desperate for her Father who had recently died.
    [/FONT]
    However,what I cannot explain is the clothing he wore and the detail I knew of it. My Mother told me his Mother had knitted him this beige cardigan and had sent it from Canada, it had only arrived a few days before he had died. Neither would I have known of the trousers, they too were a new purchase my Mum had made from M&S that week.I was away as a boarder at school at that time. C'est la vie. Ca fait comme vous voulez!

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    Hi Gladys - thank you for sharing such a moving story with us!!

    I was greatly intrigued by the particular features that you mention and such details would certainly seem to intimate some form of 'spiritual presence', rather than a simple case of bereavement related visualisation.

    Best wishes,

    Nick
    The West Midlands Ghost Club - W.M.G.C. Home

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    Thank You Nicholas.
    I seem to have been priviledged to several 'moments'. My ex- Husband's family home was origionally built in 1890 something. It was a long thin house, bright at the front where the sitting room was, dark towards the middle where the dining room was and then brighter towards the back where the kitchen stood. A long hall lead the way and the stairs were beside the dining room door. The rooms lead off from the left as you headed towards the kitchen at the end of the house. Beyond that was a downstairs bathroom.
    It is important that I explain this layout because many strange things happened there to the children of the family, my ex-Husband was 1 of 6; 2 sets of twin boys and 2 girls. They have all had experience of something that cannot be easily explained away. I always felt uneasy passing the dining room, so did they. The room was always cold regardless if the fire was lit or not. The house has since been demolished to make way for a supermarket development.
    On this particular occasion, I was sitting in the kitchen waiting for my ex-Husband to come downstairs when the electronic ignition on the gas cooker clicked several times and then 'bang' ignited a ring. One could say it may have had a fault but sorry no, it was one that had to be pushed in to start the click and then the ring knob had to be turned to release the gas. It was a modern fairly new appliance and this was the first and last time that ever happened.
    Another time, one of the younger twins was home alone (child line didn't exist then) and he was getting ready for a bath. He'd left something upstairs so went to get it but when he came down, the bathroom door was locked from the inside, the radio was playing and the taps to the bath were running- no one else was in. He literally ran screaming to the neighbours who accompanied him back to investigate but found, the bathroom door wide open, the bath dry and the radio off. Needless to say, he was made to seem very silly indeed but he has always insisted it happened.

    More recently in our own home last summer, my Daughter and I were talking in the kitchen when water began raining down from the ceiling. I thought there may have been a leak from the bathroom above. At that point my partner came home and asked why there was water all over the floor. My Daughter went to switch the electricity off at the mains, whilst I climbed on a chair to investigate the ceiling. It was completely dry and the source of the water a mystery. Then just 2 months ago, I was alone in the house and heard a thump noise but didn't take any notice until when I went upstairs I found a drawer from my Daughters chest of drawers pulled out and upturned on the floor. She was away in Bulgaria and not due home until 5th December. I left it for my partner to see as he is a sceptic, he cannot explain it other than to say, I must have done it.
    Last edited by Gladys; 29-12-2008 at 11:57 AM. Reason: More to tell

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gladys View Post
    I seem to have been priviledged to several 'moments'.

    I left it for my partner to see as he is a sceptic, he cannot explain it other than to say, I must have done it.
    Hiya Gladys,

    Thank you for your post.

    Re. your first sentence - this is one of the reasons why I'm frequently a big believer in person based paranormal activity, rather than location based (in a lot of instances). While I'm not adhering to some form of dramatic, 'haunted person' theory, I do personally believe that certain people are more susceptible to this sort of thing than others are. (I, for example, come from the exact opposite end of the spectrum to yourself and have never really experienced anything which I can say was definitely 'ghostly' in a lifetime of interest / pursuit, etc. Typical, eh???).

    Re. sentence two - this is terribly unfair of your partner!! I regard myself as very sceptical when it comes to the paranormal, but some people will tend to adhere to a 'debunker-style' belief system, which is no good to anyone if you're really trying to be objective about something!

    Best wishes,

    Nick
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    Hello All,
    Happy Sunday. I just thought I'd share the latest happening with you. I woke at around 2 am this morning to hear the sound of running water. I tuned in to find that it came from the loft; the sound of the hot water tank refilling. When I went into the bathroom to see why this may be so- I found the hot tap on the sink turned full on and running. I have no idea how long it had been doing so. I also checked around the house to make sure none of the others were doing the same. Thank fully they were not. I know you could rationalise that the recent cold weather may have loosened a washer or something like that but why then when I turned it off did it stay off? I do not sleep walk and niether does my other half unless he has just begun to. Put this together with the 'water raining down ' in the kitchen event last summer and we seem to have a mischievious poltergeist possibility. My 19 year old son is away at college in Warwickshire and my 21 year old Daughter is in Bulgaria working, so the usual teenage hormonal scenario around these activities are not here. Any ideas?

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