Some Of Our Media Related Excursions

Over the years, the W.M.G.C. have been called upon to take some small part in a number of investigations and cases by a variety of media related sources.  Sometimes, such requests have been - for whatever reasons - impossible to fulfill on the part of the club, but we have always strived to remain a 'media friendly' concern and have, on the whole, enjoyed a good, working relationship with many T.V., radio and newspaper related concerns.  As mentioned elsewhere on this site, we have had two television appearances in recent years, along with some 45+ radio sessions and over 250 newspaper articles and interviews.

The article below briefly outlines some of the more interesting sites that we have covered during our associations with media related sources......

 

 

Beginning with our first, televisual foray - in late 2000, the group was asked by the B.B.C. to take part in a programme dedicated to the subject of 'Midlands Ghosts'.  The show was intended - in pre-'reality TV' days, of course - to be made in a 'fly on the wall' style format, focussing specifically on a paranormal investigation scenario.  At the time that this show was proposed, a particular property called Belgrave Hall, in Leicestershire, had then been receiving considerable, international attention with reports of ghostly goings on........  

Built between 1709 and 1713, the site held a long standing reputation for being haunted, but - ironically - it wasn't until some anomalous film footage was recorded by an external security camera in Dec. 1998 that news of the buildings 'ghostly reputation' finally 'leaked out'.  Unfortunately, the 'ironic' reference above, points to the fact that such comparatively 'weak' data as the security footage should have actually been the 'evidence' to eventually bring this fascinating building to world attention!

Not wishing to waste too much time on the subject of erroneous paranormal claims in this particular section of the site, suffice it to say that the footage involved actually showed little more than, what was found to be, an 'oak leaf' - from a nearby tree - falling past the lens of the security camera involved....!!   

With regards to possible 'real' paranormal activity at the site, the figure of a Victorian woman in a long terracotta coloured dress and black boots has been seen on more than one occasion. Inexplicable footsteps, clearly originating in empty rooms and on deserted staircases, have been reported with increasing frequency by staff and visitors.  Three people working in the house claim to have detected the smell of cooking coming from the long disused kitchen. One reported the scent of a casserole being prepared, while the others clearly recognised the smell of bread and gingerbread baking........

 

 Belgrave Hall - rear / garden aspect

As with quite a few, allegedly, haunted sites, there are also a number of properties in fairly close proximity to Belgrave Hall which also hold their own 'spooky' reputation.....  

Almost directly across the road from the Hall is the Talbot Hotel, a centuries old hostelry situated only five minutes walk from Red Hill…. once the site of the local Gallows!  The Talbot was often the last port of call for doomed prisoners on the way to their 'date with the rope'.  Probably the last civilised action many people would have experienced in their lives was a 'quick one' in the bar before shuffling - or, perhaps more accurately, 'swinging' - off this mortal coil!  It is said that the pub garage once served as a mortuary; most probably a stopping off point for the unfortunates on their way 'back' from the gallows too?

The ghost of a man with a disfigured face has been spotted, on occasion, in the pub.  For reasons undisclosed, it has been suggested that he could possibly be one of the many who had cause to visit nearby Red Hill.

A previous landlady reported having seen the figure of a young boy in the pub cellar and elsewhere on the premises.  Coincidentally, equipment within the cellar itself has often been inexplicably tampered with and, at times, stock has actually disappeared with no easy explanation.

The sound of footsteps and movement has been heard to originate from the flat above the pub.  Such noises manifested during an previous vigil at the site and thoroughly perplexed investigators when it was revealed that researchers inside the flat had detected absolutely nothing, while a separate group, situated in the bar below, supposedly picked up an impressive array of sounds?

At the very end of the street which houses the above properties is the church of St. Peters, where sightings of a female apparition have been made.  One witness reported having watched the figure of a woman clearly passing through one of the gravestones in the cemetery, before turning round and - somewhat cheekily - giving him a wave!

Our investigation of the three sites concerned took place on Saturday the 13th of October 2000 and entailed a collaboration between members of the West Midlands Ghost Club, the Black Country Paranormal Society and ASSAP.

For the duration of the vigils, the researchers present were formed into three groups of four people.

During the first vigil of the evening, a number of researchers from groups 1 and 2 reported clearly hearing the sound of something akin to a female 'Sigh'.  Members of 'Group 2', who were seated looking over the second floor landing, claim that the noise seemed to originate from a point below where they were situated, while a researcher on the floor below (the only one from 'Group 1' to hear the sound, which he personally likened to a female 'yawn') believed that the noise came from somewhere up near - or perhaps on - the second floor landing itself. The only female researcher in the building was a member of 'Group 2' and one of those who reported hearing the anomalous 'female' sound.

An investigator from 'Group 3', situated in the hallway on the ground floor, claims to have felt a distinct change of atmosphere - akin to a panic attack - at approximately the same time as the above mentioned experience.

While conducting a vigil in St. Peters Churchyard during the early hours of the morning, two if the investigators from 'Group 1' claim to have had the strong feeling that they were being watched.  Upon later relating their experience to the manager at the Talbot Hotel, they were informed that they had been standing in close proximity to the resting places of two previous Talbot landlords at the time.  (Though, what this had to do with their experience is anyones guess?)

 

 

At the public house itself, the only disturbance during the night were two loud thuds detected by members of 'Group 3'. Subsequent investigations revealed nothing to account for the sounds.

During the very last vigil of the night, a member of 'Group 3' reports having clearly heard a scratching sound for approx. 30 seconds - the sort of noise that would perhaps be made by a rodent - originating from the door of the Curators Office on an upstairs floor of Belgrave Hall.

Because of some scheduling difficulties, the planned broadcast date for the finished documentary - Nov. 2nd 2000 - was cancelled and the programme eventually didn't get to see the light of day until Thurs. Jan. 18th 2001.

In very late 2005, the group were contacted by a source at ITV and asked if we would like to take part in yet another, proposed programme focussing on ghost stories of the Midlands region....  In this instance, however, the club was given free rein over the planning of the forthcoming scenario and W.M.G.C. member, Steve Chew, subsequently contacted a site which he had been showing interest in for some time at that point.  And so it transpired that the group carried out an investigation of the Tudor House Inn, Warwick, on the 11th / 12th December 2005.  The Inn - also serving as a busy hotel - is a large, timber-framed building, allegedly erected during the early 17th Century period........

 

 

As mentioned, the property itself had been a site of considerable interest to certain group members for some time, who had previously heard that the site was allegedly haunted by an apparition known as 'Jenny'.  

Peculiar and disturbing atmospheres had allegedly been reported by different people in certain sections of the building from time to time, including a landing of the property, a staircase and two different rooms in the hotel area.  Footsteps had regularly been heard in the main bar when there was no living soul in that section of the property.

Two people - who were present at the time of the filming - reported seeing a figure in white, or light-coloured, clothing walking up the bar staircase, to the first floor area.  Inexplicable singing and the sound of music had also been heard from the bar area and a visiting psychic told management that the site was haunted by two ghosts - those of a little boy and a young girl. (Though no actual identification of these spirits was proffered at the time, it seems?)

Somewhat peculiarly, it seems that a noise akin to a 'heavy barrel' - being rolled along the ground - has been reported on numerous occasions, seemingly originating from 'outside' the building, during the early hours of the morning!!  One story associated with the alleged haunting concerns a burly, builder - built like an American wrestler - fleeing the hotel mid-way through a stay and being found by staff openly 'weeping' on the bonnet of his car!!  He would not say exactly what he had experienced, but he would only re-enter the building if he was allowed to sleep with the father of the current manager for the rest of the night!!!!!

 

 

In the end, 3 group members spent an interesting 7 to 8 hours at the Inn, in the company of an ITV film crew.    As with most of our investigations and excursions, nothing of a blatantly paranormal nature was experienced.  However, at approx. 2.49 a.m., group member, Len Jackson, was walking along the reception area corridor (going to retrieve a camera from the restaurant area) when he heard a loud 'hiccup' type noise!!  Despite having checked the region concerned, he could not find a source for the sound and later admitted that the experience caused him to be momentarily reticent to actually enter restaurant area.  (A state which is certainly not normally associated with Len on investigations!)

The resulting broadcast - 'Central Extra: Ghost' - went out on Monday, January the 9th 2006.

Moving on to radio related affairs now,  the W.M.G.C. were absolutely thrilled to be asked to take part in an exciting project - an investigation of Warwick Castle - by Radio W.M. In October 2007.  The investigation itself was organised as a by-product of some (incredibly painstaking) effort from the W.M.G.C.'s Steve Chew and keen interest from our friend, Radio W.M. D.J., Danny Kelly. What was doubly exciting about this affair was the simple case that, as far as we can ascertain, we were the first independent, non-commercial based group to be granted individual access to the Castle.....

 

 

Three separate sections of the castle were focused on during our 6 hr visit, being places - we were informed - that were allegedly associated with numerous reports of paranormal activity.  The sections involved were: the Barbican, the Dungeon and the Fulke Greville (or 'Haunted') Tower.

The group split into two separate teams for the sake of the first part of our visit.  At 10.34 p.m. our first vigil began, with Team One in the Dungeon and Team Two in the Barbican area.  During this period, Team Two notice what they describe as 'a flash of light' - akin to a distant camera flash - seemingly coming from the direction of an empty room containing a figure of a Knight. (Or possibly from the rooms / corridors beyond it). Kev Wallace experiments with his own camera flash at different distances along the corridor concerned and the light - although diffused - is capable of being seen even from the farthest end of the corridor. It was noted that there were also perspex windows in the walls of the corridor concerned - translucent - so there was some potential for a strong external light being able to pass into the area, etc.  Having said this, no strong external lights / flashes were ever noticed during the duration of the stay.......

While the bulk of the team initially felt comfortable in this area.... after about 10 minutes Kev did say he was starting to feel a little differently about the room. There seemed to have been a noticeable drop in temperature that most of the group detected and Claire Chew said it felt as if someone was blowing cold air on her face.  Julie Badger also felt the temperature drop around her face but more so around her knees.

At 11.26 p.m., Danny Kelly begins an interview with John Conway (while standing at the base of the Fulke Greville Tower). A group member took a photograph of the proceedings and a 'mist' appears on the left hand side of the resulting photograph. (Note* either Kev or Steve was standing just out of shot to the left hand side of the photographer, so the 'mist' effect was most probably a result of their breath straying in front of the camera in the cold night air).  Subsequent to our visit, a copy of the photograph is jokingly sent to Danny Kelly and he amusingly dubs the mist as the 'Hoodie-Monk'.....  Having mentioned the image on one of his shows, he informed the group that he eventually emailed the picture to over 40 different locations, world-wide!!!!!  Laugh!!!

At 11.40 pm, Team One was situated in the Fulke Greville Bedroom, while Team Two visited the Dungeon area.  At one point during the vigil, Steve - who was situated in the doorway of the corridor adjoining the bedroom - reported hearing a "nasal, catarrh-clogged, inhalation sound" coming from behind him, on the left hand side. The noise came from a different direction to the positions of the other team members present. On questioning his 2 companions, they said that they had heard, what sounded like, a high performance car in the distance.  It was not confirmed, however, if both sounds were heard exactly at the same time?

Just prior to Midnight, Kev had been standing in the Dungeon, in front of the window, when he reported having heard a sound coming from just behind him - far left hand corner of room if standing with back directly to entrance to stairs - which sounded like a brief 'clump'.  Nothing could be found to account for this noise and nothing like it occurred again during the visit.

 

 

During our time at the castle, a peculiar - but wholly explicable -  phenomenon was noted by group members.  Kev and some of the others present witnessed a split-second flash of light seemingly coming from the bottom of one of the wall mounted light fittings.  (Which are clearly switched off).  Two to three minutes later and a similar flash is seen to come from another fitting on the wall directly opposite the first.  At 2.51 a.m., Kev and Nick witness the peculiar flash effect from the wall mounted light next to the stairs door.  Both happened to be looking in the direction of the light concerned when it occurred.  Kev now theorises that this effect may have been the cause of the flash witnessed by Team Two during their vigil of 10.50 p.m.?  A little earlier in the evening, a security guard had been questioned by the group regarding this flashing light effect, but, despite some years experience of the site, he admitted that he has never experienced this himself, nor heard of any such happenings in the past.......?  While discussing the general effect, Kev mentions that he has gone exceptionally cold indeed. While this subsequent matter is being discussed, both hear a dull, solitary 'thump' sound seemingly come from the area above the room they are in. (A locked off area).

During an early morning vigil session, Steve and Kev investigate a sound (reported by both Kev and Nick earlier in the night) like 'footsteps' seemingly coming from a floor above when travelling along the undercroft corridor to the toilets.  They discover that the noise is clearly not ghostly in nature, but is nothing more than the result of water falling from an overflow pipe (on an upper floor), onto the glass roof above the Undercroft corridor!

In the early hours, Steve and Claire report that - although it was already cold in the Barbican - distinct, spontaneous, temperature drops were felt at various times. (No thermometer in vicinity to confirm such feelings, unfortunately). One particular drop in temperature made Steve's legs "tingle." As the vigil progressed, an increasing uneasiness affected both, with a feeling of being watched.

For the final vigil of the night, a video Camera is set up in one of the Barbican rooms, facing from the left into a main room in which a table and "mock up" food has been arranged.  Nothing of an obvious paranormal nature was reported, however, it has to be noted, although it was already cold, distinct temperature drops were again felt at various times.

 

 

During the session, Steve reported witnessing two "lights" appear on the wall next to the camera at separate intervals. One was a large dull flash, the other a very small yet bright circle.  John notices a dull flash from the room containing the figure of the knight. The group were positioned in the room off the staircase at this point and all subsequently felt a sudden drop in temperature around that time........

 

 

With sections of the current building purportedly dating from as early as the 13th Century, Madeley Court itself is both a most historic and (allegedly) haunted property.  During our visit, we were regaled with stories related to the site by one of the Managers.  She told us that a colleague had been setting all of the cutlery out in the cellar restaurant on one occasion and, on leaving the room momentarily, returned to find that all of the tables has suddenly been piled up on top of one another!!

In a fairly new room called the Abraham Derby Suite, a member of staff had been in the process of leaving the area when an access door to the bar slammed shut of it's own accord......  On another occasion, the Manager and a colleague had been in there, in the process of setting the room up for a conference and they both distinctly heard two children - a girl and a boy - singing and laughing from the opposite end of a large table!!!  As they listened, the noises stopped abruptly and the Manager got the impression that the children had become aware that they had been overheard and ceased their play as a result!?

Room 11 is said to probably be the most haunted section of the hotel, despite it's comparatively tiny size.  A number of guests have supposedly seen the partial apparition of a man, standing half-way through the bed; situated around mid-section of the piece of furniture, with his legs invisible below the level of the bedclothes and mattress!!  It is also said that some people have reported seeing a womans face peering in at the window..... despite the fact that the room is situated on the 2nd floor of the property, up in the eaves of the roof!!!

 

 

A separate section of the site to the main hotel is the Mill building, which houses a bar, kitchen and conference area.  It is here that the Manager says that she has seen the apparition of a small girl.  At the time in question she was situated in the kitchen, working at one of the food preparation surfaces, when she spotted the figure of the little girl, seemingly in the process of playing peek-a-boo with her over the other end of the counter!!!   This child is an apparition that a number of people have allegedly reported over the years, aged around 5 yrs old and dressed in 15th / 16th / 17th Century clothing.  (Typically, she is said to have shown her presence at an event hosted by a certain 'commercial' ghost concern at the Hotel..... but, given the shenanigans of such dubious set-ups, would we have expected anything less dramatic, eh?  Laugh!!)

The girl has also allegedly been experienced by a staff member in an upstairs kitchen at the mill - felt tugging at the womans clothing as she washed up at a sink!  Downstairs in the mill, the indistinct figure of a man has also been seen standing near the bar.......

Interestingly, it is not only inside Madeley Court that ghosts are reported.  Externally, the figure of an old woman wearing a long skirt, sacking apron and hood has been seen by a visitor to the site during the 1970's.  The same person also reported seeing a group of what appeared to be period gypsies or peasants standing between the barn and the main building around the same time......

A teenage boy, who lives locally, reports having been passing the Court late on night, when he suddenly became aware of two, huge shapes situated either side of his path.....  He says that he instantly knew that they were neither men, nor animal..... but seemingly something in between!!!!  Retreating as quickly as he could, he discovered that the shapes followed him until he reached the nearby windmill and, breaking into a run, he thankfully lost them!!

 

 

Once again - as with many W.M.G.C. events - our evening at Madeley Court passed without significant event.  Still, the site was such a magnificent and  historic property to investigate..... and some fun was had at the expense of  the somewhat 'shaky' radio crew in attendance at times!  Laugh!!!   During vigils held in Room 11, W.M.G.C. members had to sit at the window at which the old woman is said to appear, because crew-members were apparently too afraid to do so....... and, at another point during the night, one of the lads in attendance almost suffered a heart-attack when he was poked by a japester-companion, while sitting in total darkness!!!  Laugh!!!  

"I just couldn't resist it!" chuckled the D.J....... but the subsequent reply will have to remain unpublished on such a family oriented website!!!