Paranormal History

Dover Castle

Often described as ‘the gateway to Britain’ Dover Castle has stood up to the elements, and enemies of England, for almost a thousand years. The history of the site however goes back even further as the Romans used the landscape to their advantage, not by building a fortification but by building a lighthouse, what they named a Pharos. Although this headland would have been a natural defensive point it wasn’t until after the Romans left that its use became more militarily based when the Anglo-Saxons built a Burh, a fortified town, which had its own church, St. Mary-in-Castro. When the Normans invaded they quickly gained control of the south-east, using it as a base of operations in their conquest, the people of Kent were the first Anglo-Saxons to suffer the privations of their rule with Dover itself being given Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, he had the Bayeux tapestry created to glorify the Norman Invasion and the subsequent Battle of Hastings, its curious to note that this Tapestry would have been woven by Anglo-Saxon women who may have even known some of the men who had died on it, plus of course it technically isn’t even a tapestry. Odo, like all Norman overlords treated his new subjects harshly and soon they were in revolt, they found a strange ally, Eustace, Count of Boulogne, was even closer an ally to King William than Odo was, it was Eustace who had been responsible for carrying the papal banner in the Battle of Hastings. This banner was given to William by the Pope and was a big boost to William for it gave all men in Europe the idea that god would be on their side in the conquest of Harold Godwinson’s England, and so men from all parts of Europe flocked to Williams army, the idea of it being a French invasion is wrong for the composition of Williams forces were as ad-hoc as the army fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan is today. The revolt however ended in failure for Eustace who shortly after landing troops and trying to take Dover was driven back, when reinforcements arrived, along with Odo himself, Eustace fled back to Bolougne.

The main reason Eustace couldn’t take Dover was because William himself had ordered the strengthening of fortifications during a short stay there in Autumn 1066, the fortification seen today (with the exception of the Pharos and St. Mary-in-Castro) was mostly built in the later time of the reign of King Henry II (1154-89) who built many castles and fortification in England. Structures such as the Keep, known in French as a Donjon, where we get the modern word Dungeon from, the inner bailey and part of the outer curtain wall was built during Henry II’s reign with the rest of the curtain wall built during Henry III’s reign. It wasn’t until the 1740’s and the rise of the conflict with France began once more in earnest, the Seven Years War, the Napoleonic Wars and then the arms race between the countries during the Victorian period. In the 1740’s major works actually lowered some towers so they could take artillery and be more impervious to their effects, barracks were built and more tunnels dug. It was these tunnels which became the scene of action during World War Two, not in conflict with France, but that of Hitler’s Germany. In 1940 the British and French had been beaten in northern France and Belgium, the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F) had attempted an armoured counter-attack at Arras which scared Hitler into stopping his Panzers chasing the B.E.F into the Channel, Goering, Hitler’s head of Airforce (Luftwaffe), boasted he’d level the port where the British were retreating to. The port was just across the channel from Dover and visible on good days without the need for any binoculars, the port being Dunkirk (Dunkerque in French). Operation Dynamo was launched, the rescue of the B.E.F its aim, the hope was for 30’000 men to be rescued, in the end almost 350’000 men were taken from the beaches and harbour installations of Dunkirk (one of them being my Grandfather). The operation was overseen by Naval officials based at Dover who used their platform to better see the action they were commanding.

Dover Castle today is a tourist attraction and has been for many years, its military use is now virtually non-existent, however during the Cold-War it would have been the Regional Centre of Government in the event of a Nuclear attack.

Dover Castle has had many different ghostly sightings in its history, most however don’t date back to its knightly residents but to more modern times, it is said that the ghost of a drummer boy haunts the Western Heights battlements, he has mostly been heard drumming along on dark nights, it is believed he was once murdered and had his head chopped off though the causes and evidence of this is sketchy at best. In a section called the Kings Bedchamber sightings have been reported of a spirit, however only the lower half of a man’s body has been seen, two members of staff witnessed this not so long ago, first seeing it in the doorway to the Bedchamber, on following the legs they entered the Chamber and could find no one in there. Similar sightings occur on a set of stairs to the Keep where a faceless ghost of a woman has been seen, she is known as the Lady in Red after the colour of her long flowing gown. She has also been seen in the Mural Gallery close by, though it may be a separate entity as another ghost dressed in Blue has been seen here, this Blue spirit’s sex has not been ascertained but has been seen on regular occasions, mostly by male members of staff, usually indicative of a female spirit. The most modern ghost comes from the Second World war period as both a man and a women dressed in Naval Uniforms have been seen, usually they are seen by tourists who are on a special guided tour, the tourists naturally enough believe them to be re-enactors and ask questions about them, only to be told there are no people dressed up in Uniforms in the tunnels (where they are seen). The faces of these people have not been seen, genuine reports always see them walking away, I say genuine because sadly several people also claim to see them waving at them but not dressed in a Naval Uniform but rather an Army Khaki Uniform, this may be true as during the war all services used Dover Castle as a headquarters, but the people simply making up rubbish can be distinguished as they claim the spirits wear Medical patches on their uniforms, due to an erroneous story that the Castle was used as a hospital during WWII.

Photographs abound of supposed spirits at Dover, this one is a good one, though do take peoples testimonies with a pinch of salt.

www.yourcounty.co.uk/Kent51/dovercastle.html

If you should visit Dover Castle do so with three things, a steady nerve, for parts are assuredly haunted, a keen respect in history, so you don’t upset the ghosts, and a good pair of walking boots, because the place is huge.

Thank you for your time.

CJ Linton.

Old Bell Inn & D Lefferty & Sons, Derby.

The Old Bell Inn is one of the oldest pubs in town, dating back to the 1680’s it shows an older appearance due to its Tudor style timbering but these were additions done to the building in the early part of the 20th Century. There are many reported sightings of ghosts at the Old Bell, downstairs there is a Victorian Lady seen dressed in Blue, she stands quietly waiting to be served then when staff go anywhere near her she vanishes. Poltergeist activity has been reported downstairs too, with objects being moved or disappearing and reappearing days later. One unfortunate Barmaid was actually struck on the back of the head by a coat hanger as she left a certain room, she knew immediately it was paranormal because she was the last person to leave the room. Upstairs the Inn has its own ghost too, this is a serving girl who was supposedly killed by Jacobite supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie when his army stayed in Derby for two days in December 1745, however local church documents do not record any deaths by foul means whilst the largely Scottish Army was billeted in the town, so this story may have been yet another Victorian fabrication designed to fit in with the sightings of a young serving girl, whoever she is and whatever age she comes from she has been seen by many people, in the 1930’s the Landlord’s infant son was in his room when he suddenly developed a fit of coughing, the Landlord raced to the bedroom and on opening the door he saw the shade of the young lady standing over the child, who it seemed liked the ladies presence for his coughing fit had stopped. Roughly twenty years later and the same room was used by another landlord as a nursery for his young child, the landlords wife was busy changing the child’s nappy one day when she had to leave for a brief second to get some nappy pins, as she returned to the room she too saw the ghost of the young lady, this time stooping over the child as if to pick the baby up, many now believe this is not a serving girl at all, but perhaps a nursery maid who was put in charge of a youngster who perhaps passed away whilst in her care, it seems that for any young child staying at the Bell Inn they have a guardian looking after them round the clock.

The public house currently known as D Lafferty and Sons has the reputation as being the most haunted place in Derby, a big reputation indeed. I say currently known because in recent years this pub has had its fair share of name changes, to anyone with an indulgent passion in the paranormal it is better known as the George Inn. This public house was originally constructed around 1693 at a time when the social standing of Derby was increasing; its use was as a coaching Inn where people travelling from all over the country would stop over for a nice warm bed and a hot meal. It has also been home to Derby’s own Militia named the Derby Blues, this unit of armed and trained men were formed just before Bonnie Prince Charlie came to town, and when news reached the Blues’ commander, the Duke of Devonshire, of the imminent arrival of the Jacobite army he gave the order that the “Derby Blues shall retire” and thus open warfare never came to the streets of Derby. The George has also seen its fair share of Royalty, though rarely has a British Monarch stayed here. In 1763 Prince Viktor Friedrich Von Halt-Benburg stayed at the Inn, as did the Duke of York and King Louis the Ninth of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1771. Workmen digging in the cellar in 1992 uncovered a grisly reminder of Derby’s more troubled times. A skull was uncovered, just a Skull, a few animal bones, decayed shoes and bits of leather, naturally everyone has their own belief as to who this skull belonged to and why it was in the cellar. No one knows for sure, the Skull dates back many centuries and is a female skull, yet that is all that is truly known about this grisly find. Because the George stands on Iron Gate and Sadler Gate I believe the remains come from a Viking “midden”, which is essentially a hole in the ground where household rubbish would be dumped. Vikings named their street’s Gata, where we get Gate from, though not known for sure this is my opinion. The main haunting in the George itself is of a man dressed in a blue coat of the 18th century fashion, perhaps the Duke of Devonshire making the sad decision to run away rather than fight, this ghost has been seen many times and has also been blamed for poltergeist activity within the building, crockery in the Kitchen has been seen flying through the air, only to land on the floor without a scratch. As frightening as the ground floor is in the George it is nothing when compared to the level of poltergeist activity within the refurbished cellars where metal buckets and plastic stoppers for beer kegs have been thrown at people working down there in the recent past. Yet what frightens the staff most of all are the groans and moans of a dying man which is heard within the cellar and sends an icy chill through the people who hear it. Over the years the George has had many different uses, even a dentist and a stop-off for a corpse on his way to burial.

Just a taste of a new book i'm writing on the various places around the country known as our "Ghost Capitals".

CJ Linton.

Tredegar House

Tredegar House stands today as an impressive late 17th century building, both the building and the grounds cover around 90 acres of land and tell the history of this part of Britain for many centuries, but mainly for only one family, the Morgan’s.

For five hundred years the Morgan family lived at Tredegar House, obviously their first home would have been a much different affair than the grand manor home we see today. In 1402 Llewellyn ap Morgan held the land and had a house built on the site, this time period, and indeed this year of 1402 was during the period of the Welsh uprisings headed by Owain Glyn Dwr (Owain Glyndŵr) and as a result of this the English passed a series of laws against Welsh people, known as the Welsh Penal Laws. This forbade welshmen from holding senior official titles, the bearing of arms or buying Property in England. Education of Welsh children was forbidden as well as people being allowed to gather for public assembelies, these rules applied to Englishmen who married Welshwomen too. Overall they were designed to stop the Welsh from gathering together and heading off to give the local English lord a bloody nose. It is debatable if this system worked or even if it was implemented to its fullest extent, the laws were ended in 1535-42 by the Laws in Wales Acts. However this highlights the question, were the Morgan’s Welsh?

The answer is… probably, it is thought the Morgan heritage actually goes back as far as 1089 when Bledri, third son of Cadifor Fawr Lord of Cil-Sant, was on good terms with the Norman conquererors of England. They in turn gave Bledri lands in Monmouthshire, where his name appears as one of many witnesses to a church grant to Bassaleg of Glastonbury. So where does the Morgan name come in? Well sixth in line from Bledri is Llywellyn ab Ifor who marries the sole daughter and heir of Sir Morgan ap Maredydd and their children inherit the lands of their grandfather, of which Tredegar is named.

The Morgan family seem to have kept themselves to themselves during the turbulent times of the Welsh Revolts, in fact despite laws preventing Welshmen from doing so it seems the Morgans took part in political goings on in this period, Llywelyn ap Morgan himself sat on a jury in this time period. Llywelyn passed on Tredegar to his son Jevan, who in turn gave tredegar to his son John, known in welsh as “Y Marchog Tew”. He is remembered in a bard written in 1460, this story / poem tells of his trip to Jerusalem where we was created a Knight of the Holy Sepulchure. Sir John came home to once more find the land in trouble, for it was the time of the Wars of the Roses and although it seems his family had always tried to stay on the fence Sir John Morgan instead fervently supported one side, or rather one man. Luckily for the Morgans that man was Henry ap Tudor who won at Bosworth (with Morgans help) and went on to create the Tudor dynasty. Sir John Morgan, despite going to Jerusalem and fighting in the Wars of the Roses still found time to father ten children! His eldest, Sir John Morgan was knighted after the Battle of Blackheath. The lands and house of Tedegar passed from father to son and some of these men lived truly remarkable lives and held various Welsh titles and estates, from Sherrifs to Sea Captains. In fact one Morgan, Miles Morgan, married Catherine Morgan, a relative of his and died when his ship, the Red Lion, sunk in a colonizing expedition to the America’s in 1578. When Miles’ ship went down he had no heir, but in his will (written before he left) he gave the lands of Tredegar to his brother in law Thomas Morgan, he was both Sheriff of Monmouthshire and a member of parliament, as was his son, who in 1603 was knighted Sir William Morgan. Again a Morgan found himself in a land beset by civil war, the Morgans this time chose the wrong side and opted to support the King in his fight with Parliament.

Or did they? King Charles stayed at Tredegar on the 16th and 17th July 1645, no doubt he was in much remorse for his main army in England had been destroyed at Naseby in June, however at this time there was still hope for Charles as in Scotland the Royalists there, under Montrose, had fought well at the battle of Alford in Aberdeenshire. If Montrose could come south then Charles would still have an army in the field to perhaps salvage victory from defeat, in the end Montrose’s men were defeated in August at Philliphaugh and the war was truly lost. But what part did any Morgan play in this, well in the aftermath of Naseby people within the Royalist army began to look for reasons for their defeat, one of these scapegoats were the Morgans who were branded as “Hinderers” to the Kings cause, both Sir William Morgan and his son-in-law Sir Trevor Williams were arrested on the 11th September by orders of the King. It was Charles however who lost his head before anything could become of Sir William and so Sir William Morgan was reinstated as MP for Monmouthshire in 1654, his lands and title were passed to his eldest son by his first marriage, Thomas Morgan MP passed on to his third son his position as MP, also named William Morgan. There was also a Sir Anthony Morgan of Kilfigin who was not allowed his lands back post civil war because he was a “Papist delinquent”. Sir Anthony was a son of Sir William, but by his second wife, where as Thomas and William came from his first wife.

Thomas was succeeded by his eldest son William, who married his first cousin Blanche Morgan (do these people have three ears?) Next in line was another Thomas Morgan, who gave Tredegar to his brother John when he died without an heir, He was appointed custos rotulorum for Monmouthshire in 1700 and Lord Lieutenant of Brecknock and Monmouthshire in 1715 . He was a strong supporter of the Whigs and represented Monmouthshire in Parliament from 1701 till his death. In the late 1600’s and early 1700’s the reign of Britain was taken from James II to William of Orange and his wife Mary. In other words from a Catholic family, to a Protestant one. John Morgan, who held Tredegar at this time, amassed a fortune and was known as “the merchant” for his trading empire, with these funds he rebuilt Tredegar House from its fifteenth century base to the house we can still see today, as well as the house there are stables and an orangery, this was a place where exotic citrus fruits could be housed during winter, a little like putting that exotic palm fern into a modern day greenhouse today.

Thomas Morgan passed on his estate and fortune to his son William Morgan who was MP for Monmouthshire, his brothers had died before him and as he had no children the Tredegar lands went to his uncle, Thomas Morgan of Rhiwpera (an estate bought by Thomas “the merchant” Morgan). Thomas Morgan of Rhiwpera was also known as “The general” and was MP for the Borough of Brecon. His eldest son was also named Thomas Morgan, this time with the nickname Thomas “the Younger”. This Thomas was also an MP, firstly for Brecon and then for Monmouthshire. Devoting his life to politics meant that Thomas never took a wife and so he left everything to his brother Charles Morgan of Dderw who also took up positions at parliament for both Brecon and Brecknock. Charles lived as his elder brother did and died without an heir, therefore the estate of Tredegar (among other estates) passed to the third brother and son of “the General”, John Morgan. John Morgan’s right to being MP for Monmouthshire was at first contested by a “nabob”, Valentine Morris of Peircefield. Morgan won and became the MP for Monmouthshire. For a brief period the Morgan line died out as after John Morgan the line of succession passed through his elder daughter Jane, she had married Charles Gould. This Charles Gould held very prominent positions within the government of Britain, including being MP for Brecon.

Charles Gould was knighted and given a baronet in 1779, the day after he changed his name to Charles Morgan, thus re-establishing the Morgan name in the region and country at large. Charles and Jane passed on their wealth and estates to their eldest son, also named Charles; he in turn passed on everything to his eldest son, again another Charles Morgan. This Charles was famed for his liberal views and in protecting his agricultural workers in the Brecon and Monmouthshire regions; he was the first Baron of Tredegar. This Charles had three sons and split the estates between all three, his first son Charles was MP for Brecon, his second son Godfrey became Baron and Viscount of Tredegar whilst his third son Frederick took control of Rhiwpera Castle. Godfrey and Frederick, unable to enter parliament as their elder brother had took to the military to better themselves. Both fought during the Crimean War with Godfrey being commissioned as Captain in the 17th Lancers, a Regiment involved in the “Charge of the Light Brigade” episode of the battle of Balaclava. Godfrey passed on Tredegar to his nephew (after dying unmarried in 1913) Courtenay Morgan. Courtenay lost the Vicountancy when his uncle died but he still became Baron Tredegar, his son however took the Tredegar title and became Viscount F.C Morgan in 1926. This Morgan in turn passed on Tredegar to his only son, Evan Morgan who lived until 1949.

After the death of Evan Morgan the lands of Tredegar never had a Morgan in control again, a sad end to a long and illustrious succession. Tredegar house became a school for around 20 years before being taken over by Newport County Council who still hold reign over the property today.

Ghosts of course abound in this old house, of course not only would the Morgan family call Tredegar home but also the army of servants would too. Up in the attic, where many servants would sleep, the spirit of a Victorian or Edwardian period man has been sensed by mediums, he is said to be annoyed at people being in the area. Within the attic is the Architects office where there are stories of a haunted hat-stand. A man named Vernon Morgan worked there in the 1980’s, one day he placed his coat on the hat stand, at which point his co-worker told him it was a waste of time as it would fall off, surely enough the next time either of them looked at the stand Vernon’s coat was indeed on the floor. The hat stand was moved to a smoking room further below and the strange phenomena stopped, presumably whatever was throwing coats about is still in the office.

Whilst as a school a pupil reported being moved in his bed (again as a boarder his bed was in the attic area). He claims to have seen a man in waistcoat and round glasses standing over him whilst he was trying to sleep. Other parts of Tredegar are haunted too, namely the Bells passage and Family Dining room are both haunted by a little girl in a white dress, she has been seen and sensed in both these areas many times, in fact this little girl has touched people, pulled on fingers and peoples dresses though it may only be women she is capable of communicating with in such ways. In the corridor leading to the bachelors staircase people have reported hearing their names, or other words called out. Despite the name of the location within the building the voice has been reported as that of a lady, and not as you might presume that of an inebriated young bachelor dragging himself from the billiard room to his bed. A woman has been seen dressed in white here too, but not for around 90 years.

Rumour has it the woman in white could be named Gwyneth Erica Morgan, sister of Evan Morgan the last Morgan in possession of Tredegar. Gwyneth lived in London in the 1920’s and one evening simply left her home and was not seen for some months, she finally reappeared floating dead near Lime House Dock. Many stories abound as to how and why she met her death, it is thought her pockets were full of stones and she had committed suicide. It is believed she haunted Tredegar because her father (Courtenay) refused to bring her body home and bury it at Bassaleg, the ancestral family burial grounds. Suicide at this period of history was worse than Murder and Courtenay could not forgive his daughter for this shame she had supposedly brought on the Morgan family.

It is also said the ghost of John Morgan “the Merchant” haunts his old bedchamber, strange goings on have been reported here, especially when it comes to camera batteries (in fact this happens in other parts of the house too). One medium on a tour of the location suddenly developed a limp, complained of a bad back and went blind in one eye. Only one member of staff knew that these symptoms were also suffered by John Morgan some 300 years previously and the only place this information was kept was in a box at the Wales National Library.

So why do so many ghosts call Tredegar home? Obviously it’s a very old building with lots of occupation, both in its own walls and on the site in general. However it is believed by some that when people practice the occult it draws spirits into locations, and it is this reason which may point to Tredegar’s supernatural goings on. The last Morgan in control of Tredegar, Evan Morgan, was a keen practitioner in the occult, during the late Victorian age all the way to the late 1940’s people living in stately homes would often attempt séances after the grand dinner parties, usually more for their entertainment than any actual attempt at contacting the dead. Evan Morgan however was different, he took the séances to a whole new level and even had his own “magic room”, this meant a room full of curiosities such as hairy fish or skeletons of mermaids, all fake of course, in fact many people wrote in their own diaries about visiting Tredegar and being part of Evan’s strange occult practices.

Aleister Crowley, probably the best known practioner in the occult at this time period described his visit to Tredegar in his own journal, an excerpt of which states the house had “the largest and best equipped magic room that I have ever seen”, praise from Caesar indeed! Occult images and adornments were said to have festooned the entire house and upon Evan’s death they were all taken out by a loyal footman and buried in the grounds somewhere, just like the exact location of Evan’s magic room the place where these are buried is a mystery.

In fact Tredegar is just that itself, a massive house of mystery, history and ghosts.

Thank you for your time.

CJ Linton.

Fordham Universities Haunted History.

The Bronx, New York City, New York State. A place more associated with Italian-American gangsters or the legendary films Ghostbusters 1 and 2. Yet in one of the greenest areas of the Big Apple lies Fordham University, its own history goes back to 1841, yet it was built on top of much older buildings, one being Rose Hill Manor House where Robert Watts built his home, he was a Scotsman who had made his fortune as a merchant in New York. The other building was a hospital, a place which conjures up images of dark corridors, a smell of carbolic, and a sense of death. Right on top of these two buildings was built a magnificent University, its gothic architecture and cobbled roadways have featured on many films, the perfect setting for mysterious goings on, and scary deeds. Yet what many fail to realise is that Fordham University has no need of Hollywood Spirits, for it has plenty of its own ghost stories to keep many a student awake in the dead of night.

Fordham University was so named in 1907, before that it was named St. Johns College, Fordham being adopted when the College grew to become a University, its name is taken from the area of the Bronx where it is thought a ford crossed the Bronx River close by (Ford near the Hamlet) though it may be a reference to an Anglican priest named Rev. John Fordham, no one is too sure. In many ways Fordham is like every other University the world over, it is a place of frantic activity, students busying themselves with various forms of social activity, whether its studying a specific subject, playing a certain sport, playing a set role in a play, or drunkenly dancing badly with the a member of the opposite sex. What all of this activity, all of this emotion, and all of this passion may give birth to is still unknown, it is said that where a man or woman has walked, a spirit will call it home. In a University where hundreds of thousands of people have walked, imagine the possibilities for Paranormal Activity. Fordham University does not disappoint!

At first the University was for Jesuit’s to study, one man synonymous with ghostly tales is Edgar Allan Poe, he was a good friend to many of the first Jesuit students, it is claimed when he wrote of “The Bells” in 1849 he was referring to the bells of Fordham. Keating Hall is an impressive structure, built in the gothic style from the outside it looks imposing and yes, it looks haunted. Inside it is no different, on the First Floor of Keating Hall there are some seating area’s where students can relax, many do so, and some do not. In the same area are relics of the history of the University, belongings of Jesuit Students from over 100 years ago are kept on display, could it be these holy men who cause people to feel uneasy, as if being watched by unseen eyes, cold spots are often felt here too, perhaps most un-nerving of all are the dark shapes, almost like shadows, which have been seen fleetingly in this area. By no means is spirit activity held in this one place, on the Third Floor people walking have felt a cold hand placed on their shoulder, whilst some have reported seeing a ghost manifest in the “Blue Room”. The Auditorium of Keating Hall has a staircase to the rear of it, actors on stage have heard a crashing sound from this staircase, on rushing to the scene they find a chair at the bottom, upon reaching the top of the stairs they find no one is there to have thrown the furniture down the staircase, again cold spots have been felt in this area, as well as on stage. Martyrs Court of Keating Hall houses students, in a shower room a blonde woman has been seen, she does not move, does not respond to the shocked onlookers, she simply stares straight ahead and then vanishes, another ghost has been seen on this level, a man this time seen walking past doorways, only to disappear if anyone takes a look outside to see who it was. Perhaps most un- settling of all is the basement, it is believed to be on the site of the morgue of the older hospital building, it now houses books and seating areas. In the early 70’s a security guard stopped to rest his tired feet, as he sat in a chair rubbing his sore arches he heard the door slam shut, he knew he was alone, it could have been a draft, but then chairs started to move, they too being slammed into the walls, pushed by some unknown force. The Security Guard screamed and fled, and never returned to his job, it is even said he left his shoes where he had taken them off.

Keating Hall is not the only location at Fordham which is haunted, far from it, Finlay Hall was originally a medical school, where students would dissect cadavers, in recent past it has changed to house students for other colleges found in the University. Many of those students have woken at night with the horrible feeling of someone gripping their throat with ice cold hands. In O’Hare Hall a worker during construction had an accident and died, he is said to continue hammering on walls in the dead of night. In Hughes Hall locked doors have been seen to open on their own with force, a little boy has also been seen and heard in this area, particularly on the upper floors of the building. Not only is the Auditorium in Keating Hall haunted, but also the Collins Auditorium is haunted too, here a ghost has been seen in the balcony above the stage, whilst on stage actors have been frightened by hearing whispering voices as they work, on more than one occasion the ubiquitous cold spot has been experienced. The Administration Building is possibly the oldest on site; it is of course haunted, this time only by a smell of cigar smoke which has been experienced on numerous occasions.

Fordham University is undoubtedly one of the most haunted locations in the world; with thousands of people calling it home it is no doubt that ghosts will do so too, perhaps because like many people, University was the best time of their lives.

Thank you for your time.

CJ Linton.

Shildon, the cradle of the Railway.

The town of Shildon is best known for its Railway heritage, when in fact the history of this location goes back much further, as far back as the year 821 when the land was given to the church, back then it was known as Sceld dun (or Scyld dun) meaning shield/refuge hill. Between the years 1175 and 1547 the area of Shyldon came under the ecclesiastical laws of the Priory of St mary at Neasham. With Henry VIII's usurpation of holistic powers the land was transferred to the local gentry, therefore in 1547 the land had passed to the Thickley Punchardon Estate under the lordship of the Lilburn Family. The Lilburn family's main claims to fame were their opposition to royal authority, John Lilburn being a member of the 1569-70 Northern Rebellion against Queen Elizabeth's reign, there was also a member for the Lilburn family who signed the death warrant of King Charles I to have him beheaded at the end of the first civil war.

The Lilburn's of Shildon were often at loggerheads with the Byerley's of Middridge Grange, especially during the Civil War when Anthony Byerley commanded a Regiment known as Byerley's Bulldogs. By 1717 the Thickley estate was sold by the Lilburn's, they would no doubt have needed money in the wake of King Charles II's return to power and the years of monarchical upheaval with the Glorious Revolution and Jacobite Rebellions. In the late 18th century and early 19th century coal began to be mined in vast quantities in the region of what was to become known as the Auckland Coalfield, Shildon however was still a small hamlet with only around 100 inhabitants, yet in the period 1820-50 all that was to dramatically change.

Shildon's rise was due to it being situated at a point where horse-drawn wagons of coal were transferred to coal driven locomotives, here sprung up workshops for repairs and maintenance, as well as the rise of the workforce in the New Shildon works there was a massive influx of foreign immigrant labour, mostly from Ireland (in nearby Eldon Lane one street was named Paddy's Row). People brought the many vices associated with a labour force of mixed social, political and religious backgrounds, many times simple disputes were turned into almost riot conditions. Drunkenness was rife in many parts of the area, most immigrants lived in tents until proper accommodation could be built, by the 1850's the population had risen to around 3000 people.

It was 1825 that saw the largest change in Shildon's fortunes, two names being at the forefront of this change, Stephenson and Hackworth. George Stephenson was born in Wylam, just under ten miles from Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1781. He was uneducated in his early life, his father (Robert) worked as a fireman at Wylam Colliery, at the age of 17 George began work as a Brakeman for Water Row Pit in Newburn, his job was to stop the winding gear at the pit head, he soon saw the relevance of education and so paid for his own teaching in reading, writing and arithmetic. During this time of his life he travelled and worked on various Collieries in the north east of England, he also suffered greatly in that his wife Fanny (Frances) Henderson whom he married in 1802 lost a daughter in childbirth, she too then died of consumption, a term which covered a range of diseases in the Victorian period, though they had successfully gained a son, Robert, in 1803. George decided to leave the area and so moved to the north of Scotland, he returned from Montrose only a few months later after his father had been blinded in a pit accident. In 1811 an incident occurred which changed not just Stephenson's life forever, but the history of the world too. At the High Pit in Killingworth the pumping engine had broken down, Stephenson offered to fix it and did such a good job that he was given the role of Enginewright for Killingworth and probably all collieries in the north east. It was whilst studying steam driven engineering that his life began to change. In 1818 he began to design a safety lamp for miners, at the same time a London scientist was also looking into a solution to the risk of naked flames in gas filled mines, Sir Humphry Davy and George Stephenson's designs differed in that Davy used a gause to shield the flame whilst Stephenson used a glass screen, Davy was awarded ?2000 for his design, though Stephenson proved he had worked independently and had not stolen the design, Davy however was adamant he had stolen the design and could never believe a low born man such as Stephenson could have came up with such an idea. This gave Stephenson a healthy dislike for London and it's so called theoretical scientific experts.

Richard Trevithick designed the world's first Steam Engine Locomotive in 1804, ten years later George Stephenson designed his own for hauling coal from the Killingworth Colliery, he named it Bl?cher after the Prussian General who was Wellington's ally at the Battle of Waterloo. In total he built 30 Locomotives whilst at Killingworth, then in 1821 the Government passed a parliamentary bill allowing the building of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, designed to connect all the various coalpits in the Auckland Coalfield to a single railway to take coal to Stockton on Tee's. Originally the plan was to use horse drawn transport however the man behind the scheme, Edward Pease, met George Stephenson and radically changed the plans to allow locomotives to do the work. Edward Pease, George Stephenson, Michael Longridge (of Bedlington Ironworks) and Robert Stephenson (George's son) set up a locomotive building works in Newcastle, their first locomotive was originally named Active, but it was changed to Locomotion, they built three others in short succession, Hope, Diligence and Black Diamond. It was the Locomotion which first hauled passengers inside a carriage known as Experiment, along with an 80 tonne load of coal and flour for nine miles in two hours, inside the carriage were local dignitaries and people associated with the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first Passenger train had arrived.

Although Locomotion was George Stephenson's first engine it is thought he was ably assisted by Timothy Hackworth, a man he would have known from his Wylam Colliery days. Timothy Hackworth was the head engineer for all of the Stephenson works, he lived in Shildon and oversaw the building of many engines in his time, most notably the Royal George and the Sans Pareil. He was a staunch Methodist and in hsi time as overseer at the New Shildon Works he set forth the following rules.

1. The meal times allowed are from 8 to half past 8 in the morning and 12 to 1 for dinner throughout the year.

2. Overtime to be reckoned at eight hours for a day, but not until a whole regular day has been done.

3. Every workman to put on his time board with his time, the name of the article or articles he has been working at during the day and what engine or machinery they are for.

4. Every workman who is provided a drawer for his tools, with lock and key, the drawer and key to be numbered, and all his tools to be marked with the same number as well as the letters SDRWC; the key to be left in the office every night when the man has left work.

5. Any man who is longer than a quarter of an hour after the bell is wrung will lose a quarter of his daily pay.

6. Any worker who does not call for his time-board in the morning and return it to the office in the evening, or when done work, will be fined sixpence.

7. Any workman leaving his work without giving notice to the clerk or to the foreman will be fined one shilling.

8. Any workman swearing or using abusive language to a shopmate will be fined one shilling.

9. Should anyone or more send for Beer, Ale or Spirits into the works (without leave) to be fined one shilling.

10. Any man introducing a stranger or any person to the works (without leave) to be fined one shilling.

11. Any man giving in more time than he has wrought, to have double to time taken off that he has overcharged.

12. The companies timepiece at the shop to be the guide for the workmens time.

13. Any workman taking tools from a lathe or other piece of machinery to be fined one shilling.

14. Any workman not returning taps or dyes, or any general tool, to the person who was in charge of them, to be fined sixpence.

15. Should and person leave their work for the purpose of drinking, in working hours, he will be considered as having forfeited his position.

Timothy Hackworth was obviously not a drinking man, yet he was a very charitable man, he paid for the building of a Sunday school close to his home at the Soho Cottages where local children could be educated along religious lines. Today the entire area of the works is a large scale museum, from Hackworth's home and Sunday school, his works shed down to the old sidings which have now been turned into a museum housing many trains and carriages from all over the world. It is well worth a day out and you may be lucky enough to catch a ride on an old locomotive on the site of the very first passenger train in the world.

CJ Linton.

“Remember the Alamo!”

In early 1835 Texas, then a part of Mexico, erupted with a revolutionary zeal, its cause was to extricate itself from the governance of Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. He ruled Mexico as a dictator, centralising power and quashing anyone who stood in his way. By October 1835 armed uprisings in Texas as well as other parts of Mexico, supposedly a Federation, had turned into war, Mexican Federal troops were fired on by civilians at what was later called the Battle of Gonzales, though only 18 Texan’s took part in this brief encounter in which a Mexican Cannon was stolen, when the Mexican’s said they wanted it back they came under fire. The Mexicans from Gonzales fled to San Antonio de Bexar (pronounced Bay-har) which is modern day San Antonio. At the time San Antonio de Bexar was a small town, the Spanish Missionary dominated the skyline, today it still stands, surrounded now by much higher buildings, the business and commerce of a modern day city almost seem to overlap the older building, yet no one in their right mind would tear down this old building, originally built in 1718 as a Spanish Catholic Mission it was never completed, for this missionary is the Alamo,, a place which had changed hands time and again during the Texan Wars, and a place still lodged deep in the hearts of every Texan, and many other Americans too.

After their victory at Gonzales the Texan’s formed a volunteer army, this small force travelled down the Texan coastline, taking on larger Mexican forces at Goliad and Fort Lipantitlan and defeating them again and again. The Texan Army, bolstered every day by fresh recruits, not just from Texas but the US and Mexico, split up after Fort Lipantitlan, the majority of the men went with General Stephen F Austin to lay siege to the Alamo and capture not only the Mexican troops of its garrison, but also its cannon. After a number of small skirmishes around San Antonio de Bexar the Texans forced the Mexicans to surrender, whose General Martin Perfecto de Cos was allowed to parole his troops, meaning they were allowed to leave Texas with the proviso they do not fight again. It was mid December when Cos’ men fled to Mexico from San Antonio de Bexar, many Texans believed the war won and the volunteer army splintered, many men returning to farms, and families, some of the men from the other US States and Mexicans who fought for the Texans began to settle in new lands, to everyone in the region the fighting was over.

Everyone except Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna that is, he began to plan an invasion of Texas to suppress the revolution in a tide of bloodshed, he planned this even before the loss of Cos’ garrison. It iss also right to say that some Texans had decided to invade Mexico for Colonel Frank Johnston and Dr James grant had begun planning their own invasion by first attacking Matamoros, this plan was hotly disputed by Texan general Sam Houston, who was supposedly removed from his post because of his opposition to the planned invasion. The rest of the Texan Volunteer Army which had not gone home during the winter of 1835-36 had been split in two between the Alamo Mission in San Antonio de Bexar and the Presidio de Bahia in Goliad. After crossing the Rio Grande Santa Anna split his forces, this was a tactic favoured by Napoleon Bonaparte, for Santa Anna believed himself to be the ‘Napoleon of the West’. One part of the Mexican Army of Operations was led now by General Jose de Urrea, he moved towards Goliad, beat Johnston and Grant at San Patricio and Agua Dulce, the other part of the Army under the command of Santa Anna headed for San Antonio de Bexar, and infamy.

Three men who defended the Alamo have passed into legend, Lieutenant-Colonel William B Travis, Colonel James Bowie and Colonel David ‘Davey’ Crockett. Bowie arrived on the 19th January to begin dismantling the Alamo Mission and taking away the precious cannon, he soon found out that was impossible as there were no draught animals up to the job of carting away the artillery. Instead he wrote letters telling his superiors how vital the location was, and how he would defend it to the last. William B Travis arrived on 3rd February to reinforce the defence of the Alamo, he brought with him 30 men, the same amount which Bowie had brought with him yet still not nearly enough to defend the mission, not that they believed it needed defending. On the 8th February David Crockett arrived with more reinforcements, still more was needed. Men left to find more reinforcements and to find more provisions, the Mexican Army however was also having problems, they marched in snow sometimes three feet deep, they were short of food, dropping dead with disease and to top it all off Comanche raiders had killed many men under Santa Anna’s control. Still they marched on. When they reached the Medina River on the 21st February the Mexicans were only 25 miles from the Alamo, the defenders had no idea such a large force was so close at hand and a fiesta was organised in San Antonio de Bexar, with many of the garrison in attendance it was the perfect opportunity to catch the Texans unawares, the perfect Napoleon masterstroke.

Instead heavy rain stopped the Mexicans capturing a virtually empty Alamo, by the 23rd San Antonio had become a ghost town, its residents now knew the Mexicans were upon them and they fled on anything that would carry them away. Travis and Bowie had eventually come to an agreement that they would share command, neither man liked the other yet they put aside their differences as best they could to defend the Alamo. Travis was not convinced by the scouting reports of the closeness of the Mexicans, he ordered a man to stay in San Antonio de Bexar and ring the church bells when the Mexicans came in sight. Late on the 23rd February the bell rang loud, the Mexican Army was just a mile and a half away.

Santa Anna had 1’500 men under his command and as they marched into San Antonio de bexar he had raised the blood red flag, the colour of martyrdom for the Catholic Faith, a signal that no mercy was to be shown to the rebels inside the Alamo. Travis ordered the forts largest gun to fire in response to the flag, Bowie was outraged that he was not asked about the commencement of firing and so he sent an emissary to speak with the Mexicans. Travis was also upset that Bowie had sent an offer of surrender, and so he sent his own emissary, both met with Mexican Colonels Jose Bartes and Juan Almonte. Despite Bowie asking for good terms of surrender the Mexicans told them there would be no chance of surrender unless it was unconditional, which meant probable death to many in the fort.

After learning of this both Travis and Bowie agreed to the commencement of firing on the Mexican troops now opposing them. The next day Bowie collapsed from some illness, more than likely typhoid pneumonia, one of the many conditions which during this period fell under the guise of “Consumption”. Over the next few days both sides traded artillery fire, the Texan Artillery ably Captained by Almaron Dickinson, whose wife Susannah and children were still inside the fort on its fall, on two occasions Texan troops ventured out to burn some small shacks which provided cover for Mexican troops, during both times Texans from the fort provided covering fire for those burning the shacks, a handful of men on both sides became casualties. Upon taking sole command on the 24th Travis wrote a letter ‘To the people of Texas & All Americans in the World’ in which he wrote “I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honour & that of his country. VICTORY OR DEATH.’

The Mexican Army did not have enough men to fully surround the Alamo and messengers and reinforcements came and went with relative ease, it is thought Santa Anna wanted this so he could crush the whole Texan Army in one fell swoop, Colonel James Fannin set out from Goliad with 320 men and a few cannon to reinforce the Alamo, this force travelled less than a mile before Fannin ordered them to turn back, both he and his officers blamed one another for shirking their duties and causing the relief to be abandoned. On the night of 27th February men from Gonzales, tired of waiting for Fannin and under orders from a courier sent by Travis arrived at the Alamo to reinforce the garrison, they were few in number at around 28 men strong and as they neared the walls the Texans believed they were Mexicans and opened fire, the curses from a wounded man convinced the

Texans that they were shooting at their own men and so the Gonzales men were allowed inside.

On March 3rd a great cheer arose from the Mexican camps as around 1’000 men arrived as reinforcements, giving Santa Anna around 2’400 men under his direct control, more reinforcements arrived for the defenders that night as David Crockett and two other men were sent by Travis to find out where Fannin had got to (they still did not know he had turned back). Instead of finding Fannin the three men found a force of Texans numbering around 50 men. Crockett led most of these back into the fort, though some fled when Mexican troops began firing on them.

Santa Anna now began to plan an assault, although he could have waited for the 7th March as this was when it was hoped two large guns, 12 pounders, would arrive, with these he could batter the Alamo into submission. Instead he ignored all advice from more seasoned members of his staff, it is thought he became even more impatient to assault when a relative of James Bowie, his cousin-in-law Juana Navarro Alsbury, pleaded with him to allow the defenders to surrender. The next day he ordered his men to assault the fort, where inside the men had been given an ultimatum, not by the Mexican’s but by Travis himself. He had everyone arranged in the courtyard of the mission, he told them that the Mexicans were going to assault (they could see ladders being built) and so he drew a line in the sand and asked for any man willing to defend the Alamo to the last to cross the line and stand with him. All except one person did. (this is disputed by some historians)

During the siege the Mexicans had bombarded the fort nightly, at 10pm on the 5th March the guns fell silent and many inside the fort caught their first uninterrupted sleep in days. There were to be three separate assaults, with Santa Anna commanding 400 men as reserves in San Antonio de Bexar, Colonel Duque commanded 400 men and they made the most direct assault, Duque died early on and Colonel Castrillon took over, Colonel Romero also had 400 men but fewer ladders, Colonel Morales had 125 men and just two ladders. Mexican troops wore essentially French Napoleonic uniforms, consisting of Shako, Coat, Jacket, Breeches and leggings, coloured of course Blue, for the Napoleon of the West was always wishing to copy the great man himself. Mexican Cavalry (also wearing copied French dress) patrolled around the Alamo to not only stop any Texan’s fleeing but also any nervous new Mexican recruits who had been forced to join the army.

The Texans had sentinels positioned outside the Alamo, men on their own in small pits with a wall of small stakes to fire behind, the three sentinels had fallen asleep like many, if not all of the defenders, they were bayoneted in their sleep before they could fire to signal an attack, and so the Mexican’s were able to advance rapidly over ground which should have been strewn with their bodies had the Texans been awake, in fact the Mexican’s were the ones who awoke the defenders when assaulting troops began shouting “Viva Santa Anna!” Travis rushed to his post, seeing masses of enemy bayonets glistening in the moonlight, he is reported as shouting to his fellow defenders “Come on Boys, the Mexicans are upon us and we’ll give them Hell” he also called out in Spanish to the Mexican men defending the Alamo “No Rendirse, muchachos!” (No surrender boys!).

The first shots were fired, and the first men died in the assault. Texan Cannon had no canister to fire at the enemy, Canister being large musket balls packed in a tin can or a cloth bag, when fired from cannon the can disintegrates or the bag tears apart and the musket balls act like a shotgun blast. Instead of Canister the defenders hacked up old horseshoes, cutlery, anything metal they could find including door hinges and bed springs. One blast of cannon’s improvised canister killed “Half a company of Chasseurs from Toluca” according to their commanding officer, Jose Enrique de la Pena. As if being torn apart by bed springs was bad enough many Mexican troops were simply men pressed into service, attacking in a column only the front ranks could fire safely, however many in the rear ranks fired blindly forwards, killing and wounding many of their own men in the process. The assaulting blue-coated Mexicans crashed into the walls, ladders being held aloft passed overhead to the wall, the Texan’s having to lean over the wall now to shoot at the enemy beneath, as Travis fired his shotgun at the mass of enemy below he was hit between the eye’s and died immediately, he was one of the first to die in defence of the Alamo.

With Bowie in his death bed and Travis dead the command now fell to the third in line, the little known John Hubbard Forsyth, although he had been a Captain in a Kentuckian Cavalry unit he was born in Avon, New York and was 38 years old, he was also the third highest ranking officer and now took command, however at all parts the Mexican numbers overwhelmed the defenders, the Texan’s did not spike their guns as they fled backwards and the Mexicans turned the artillery on their previous users, Texan’s defending fortified buildings had walls blown open by their own guns, then Mexican infantry rushed in to finish the job with cold steel. In the Sacristy many women and children sought refuge, some men fled there, the last of the Texan positions to fall was an artillery unit inside the Chapel itself, behind them the doors were being hammered by axes of Mexican troops, the commander of the gun, Captain Dickinson, ordered the gun to be turned around, a blast of improvised canister killed the Mexicans on the other side of the door, more Mexicans broke in and the gunners now grabbed muskets, before being bayoneted to death around their gun. One of the men to fall alongside Dickinson was Francisco Esparza, his brother was a junior officer wearing a blue coat attacking the fort.

Also finding his life end at the tip of a bayonet was Jim Bowie, it is thought he had been given two handguns to fire on anyone who came into his room, however it is not known and some say he shot himself, whilst others believe he died fighting. Other men died in less honourable ways, possibly the last defender to die was Jacob Walker, he had fled to the Sacristy where the women and children were, hiding behind Susannah Dickinson (wife of the gun commander) he was found, dragged away a metre or so and bayoneted in front of the rest of the women and children. Around seven men of the garrison are believed to have survived the assault by surrendering. Santa Anna was outraged and ordered the surviving soldiers to be executed, it is believed by some that David Crockett was amongst those survivors to be executed.

As the dawns light crept over the battlefield it was clear that losses had been horrific, the Mexican dead were buried, the Texan dead were burned and their ashes are supposedly held in a coffin in San Fernando Cathedral, however it is more than likely they are buried elsewhere, Juan Seguin, who had left the Alamo to get more reinforcements, returned and claimed he had gathered the ashes together and buried them in a peach orchard, which has never been found. Only one of the defenders was allowed a proper burial, Gregorio Esparza was a member of the last gun battery to fall inside the Chapel, his brother wore a Mexican uniform that night, Francisco Esparza being an Officer in the Mexican Army. It is believed by many that Henry Warnell escaped the battle, he died of wounds a little later though, one man, Brigido Guerrero had defected from the Mexican Army and joined the defenders, when he saw the cause lost he locked himself in a room and claimed he was a prisoner of the Texans. By 6:30am the Battle of the Alamo was over, Mexican troops had suffered badly, around 50 to 75% of the number of assaulting troops had died, perhaps as many as 600 Mexicans, with the defenders numbers unknown for sure, anywhere from 150 to 300. Enraged Mexicans began bayoneting dead men, firing into dead bodies, calls by Mexican officers, even Santa Anna himself, could not stop the blood letting, it took fifteen minutes for the men to calm down, by then a few Mexicans had killed one another in the carnage and confusion.

It was a miracle anyone had survived, in fact it was a matter of inches that the women and children survived in the Sacristy, Texan defender Robert Evans was tasked with destroying the gunpowder stores in the event of the fall of the Alamo, his body was found dead with a lit torch in his hand inches away from a gunpowder trail leading the store room, if the gunpowder had exploded then hundreds more, including the women and children, would have died. As it was the women were now widows, and the children had lost their fathers. One civilian had been shot when Mexicans saw movement beneath a blanket and opened fire, they thought it was a Texan hiding, instead it was a child.

After the Alamo had fallen Santa Anna grouped his forces and pressed on, as news of the Alamo (and Johnston and Grants defeats) reached their ears many Texans became refugees, fleeing the barbarity of the Mexican Army. Sam Houston now reinstated as the head of all Texan forces commanded what remained of the Texan Army, they too fled with thousands of refugee’s and even the Texan Government, Houston ordered Fannin to leave Goliad, Fannin instead fought the Battle of Refugio where he lost, he then began his retreat to find Houston’s Army and link up with him, on his way his forces fought the Battle of Coleto, a disaster for Finnan as he and around 300 of his men were captured. The Mexican’s executed the prisoners, including Fannin, when news reached the rest of Texas it caused a bigger shock than the Alamo.

Almost every man, woman and child in Texas was fleeing with Houston, Santa Anna was hot on his heels with his blood thirsty army, something needed to be done, the Mexican’s had again split their forces in their pursuit, this was what Houston had been waiting to hear, he stopped his Army from running, and turned back to confront Santa Anna. The resulting Battle has gone down in legend. The Battle of San Jacinto lasted 18 minutes, the Texan’s, enraged by the massacre at Goliad and stirred by the calls from Sam Houston charged into the oncoming Mexican Army. 18 Minutes later and the Mexican Army was utterly destroyed, Sam Houston rousing his men with calls of “Remember the Alamo! Remember the Goliad!”

Santa Anna was captured, dressed in an ill fitting Sergeants coat he had tried to flee (again disputed), in return for his life Mexico would never rule in Texas, it wasn’t long before Texas became part of the United States of America, a state born in bloodshed, yet honoured because of the men who defended the Spanish mission in San Antonio de Bexar, where everyone remembers the Alamo.

I plan on writing a list of defenders and survivors of the Alamo, as well as a seperate post on the many ghostly stories associated with this enigmatic, and humbling location.

Thank you for your time.

CJ Linton.

Littledean big on ghosts!

Littledean is small village in the Forest of Dean, its size however does not convey its heritage status, nor its interest to the paranormal community. Littledean Hall started life as a Saxon Hall-House where the local lord of Dena (where the word Dean comes from) held sway, this however is not the earliest location in the area for in the village itself the remains of a Roman Temple have been found, more than likely built on top of a previous Celtic Temple, a building progression often favoured by the Romans was to simply upgrade whatever Celtic shrine was in place, most of the time they kept the same god though, keeping the locals happy and content. Littledean Hall was not named so until 1612, before this a substantial Norman Hall had been built, the Pyrke family, who owned it in the early 17th century, redesigned it into the beautiful Jacobean structure it is today.

Beautiful it is, yet it is also in decay, all because of bats. Greater Horseshoe Bats to be precise, sadly a rare sight in Britain therefore the house now has an exclusion zone around it. The Pyrke family also gave us a few of the many ghost stories associated with such a historic building. From the 16th Century tales of ghosts have been heard coming from Littledean, the oldest being the ghost of Richard Pyrke who has been seen tending to his garden. During the Englich Civil War it is said that Parliamentarians stormed the Hall and a fierce fight ensued between them, and the Royalists. The Kings men lost Colonel Congreve and Captain Wigmore, this would have had a serious effect on the defence of the house and it is not known for certain what followed next, if the garrison surrendered then it is without doubt they would have been either put against a wall and shot by their Parliamentarian captors, or to save ammunition they would have been forced to lie down to have their heads staved in with the butt end of a musket. What is known that many people have been able to see blood marks in the Dining Hall (which would have been the older Great Hall) where the fierce skirmish took place.

As if dying in war wasn’t bad enough there is also a tale of two Brothers of the Pyrke family killing one another. Late one evening they sat at the dining table, both excited to tell the other of a woman they had recently met and fallen in love with, yes you guessed it, it was the same woman. Again history is sketchy at best, it could be they pulled swords and stabbed each other, though other stories tell of them pulling pistols and shooting one another, what is known is that in the whole house the sounds of battle have been heard, whether it is the sad tale of the two brothers, or the sounds of the Civil war skirmish, no one knows.

In 1744 Charles Pykre also died at the hands of a man he saw as his brother, as a young man Charles’ father had bought a pair of black slaves to be brought up as companions for his son and daughter. Later in life Charles bedded his own slaves sister and the woman had a mixed-coloured child, the distraught man servant throttled Charles to death in revenge. It is the coloured slave whose ghost has been seen on occasions at various points inside the house. Another apparition is that of a monk who has been seen in the Dining Room, where, legend again has it that there is a secret tunnel going from Littledean Hall to nearby Flaxley Abbey, of course it isn’t a monk, it’s a priest, Monks lived in monasteries in very secluded lives of prayer and writing, priests on the other hand would have been out giving mass to Catholic houses, safe in their tunnels travelling to and from holy places and where their congregations sat.

Apart from the dining room perhaps the other most haunted part of the building is the Blue Room, people lying in bed have heard the sounds of swords clashing from inside the room, perhaps the ethereal brothers in their mortal duel to the death, or perhaps it’s the Civil War Skirmish once more making its mark.

Littledean Hall can rightly hold claim to being a hidden gem of a building, like many places in Gloucester it is a place which looks like it should be haunted, and it doesn’t disappoint.

CJ Linton.

Leith Hall’s Haunted History

Situated in the rugged, yet beautiful countryside surrounding Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is the enigmatic Leith Hall. It has stood against natural elements for roughly three and a half centuries and has seen many people walk its corridors, today it is home to only a handful of people, dedicated to keeping the past alive, yet these people share their home with hundreds of visitors at a time, most coming to spend time in the lavishly decorated rooms, to stroll its wonderful gardens, to be amazed by the Militaria on display on the top floor, some people come to see another side of the grey building set against its green background. Some people come armed with all manner of devices. Devices designed to try and find out just who else is walking the corridors of Leith Hall, for the magnificent tower house is quickly gaining a reputation as being one of the most haunted sites in the Highlands, if not the entire country.

Leith Hall was built as a home and local court around the year 1650, though extensions, renovations and re-developments have been going on sporadically every so often since then. It is thought to have been built right on top of an older fortification known as Peill Castle. From its first foundation stone up until 1945 the house remained in the possession of the Leith family, with the last of the Leith-Hay’s dying in 1963, still residing at the Hall. The Laird of the land was responsible for governing the people who worked on his land, although the Highland way of life continued for centuries west of the Great Glen to the east by the 17th century much of Aberdeenshire was becoming more like the south of Scotland. This led to the building of Leith Hall, not as a defensive building but as a true home and office for the Laird. Should a man be sentenced to death, either in the Hall itself or more likely on a court erected in the grounds outside then he would be hung from the nearest convenient “Hanging Tree”. At Leith Hall the “Duel” tree is still standing, and although one of the branches appears to have rope marks on it this may in fact be caused by owls using the same branch over and over as a perch from which to watch the surrounding ground for a moonlight snack or two, it is common for Owls to do this, though it doesn’t mean it is not the same branch from which justice was meted out to the criminals of the surrounding area. Leith Hall’s surrounding grounds have been designed and re-designed just as much as the house has, and they are also just as haunted. Bagpipes have been heard braying on the midnight winds while drums have been heard in the gardens too, this occurrence may be explained by the fact that the Laird was also responsible for the Military activities on his land, men fought for the Laird as he was responsible for their lives, the Laird in turn fought for his King or Queen and had to keep a semi-professional force of armed men to be at the said King or Queens disposal.

One ghost dressed in Military attire has also been seen walking the grounds, both inside and out. He has been identified as Charles Arthur O’Neill Leith-Hay, he was the last male Leith-Hay to pass away and did so in tragic circumstances on Saturday 16th September 1939, just weeks after Hitler’s jackbooted Nazi hordes had invaded Poland, and Britain had declared war on Germany. Charles was a member of the Royal Artillery, born in Edinburgh on 18th May 1918 to parents Charles Edward Norman Leith-Hay and Henrietta Valdivia O’Neill. They also had two other children in their lifetime, Louisa (b1909) and Bridget Anne (b1911), both sadly died in infancy, each holding onto their mortal coils for just twelve days. It is thought Charles Arthur was given his name in honour of his uncle on his mother’s side who had fought and died at Ypres during the Great War, Captain Arthur Edward Bruce O’Neill was in the 2nd Life Guards and also a member of Parliament, he in fact was the first M.P to be killed in the war in November 1914.

This military tradition stemmed from long before his uncle, and the family was well connected to the aristocracy of the period. Charles Arthur was educated at Eton College and went on to the Royal Military Academy in Greenwich, before selecting the Royal Artillery and training at Larkhill, Wiltshire. He joined the 91st Battery, 12 Field Regiment at Dunbar close to Edinburgh in early September, the battery however was already planning to move to Northumberland for further training in the Otterburn area, site of a ferocious Battle in 1388 between the Scots and the English, it was in 1939, and still is, home to artillery training. On the morning of 16th September Charles visited the nearby town of Bellingham, whether on military or personal business no one is sure, but on his return journey his large trench-coat became trapped in the spokes and gears of his motorcycle, this sent Charles spinning through the air to hit a stone wall headfirst with enough force to knock him unconscious, William Beattie, a local postman, witnessed the incident, he was travelling back to Bellingham on his bicycle when he passed Charles at Sandysyke Junction travelling at moderate speed and on the correct side of the road, seconds later William heard a grating sound and turned to see Charles being flung through the air. He returned to the scene and administered what first aid he could before leaving to phone for the local doctor to come and help. Doctor Rochester of Bellingham arrived and around midday a Police Sergeant arrived to take notes, he examined the bicycle and found it to be in good running order, good brakes, yet a broken headlamp, upon examining the mackintosh trench-coat he found a chunk had been torn from it and came to the conclusion that this is what had caused the injuries. Charles was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle and admitted at 3:35pm, Charles never regained consciousness and died of his injuries at 4:05pm. This came as a double blow for his redoubtable mother Henrietta for earlier in 1939 her husband, and Charles’ father, had died, now leaving the poor lady alone to live and eventually die at Leith Hall.

Whilst staying at Leith Hall in 1968 novelist Elizabeth Byrd found inspiration for her own ghost story when she saw the spirit of what is believed to be the Fourth Laird, John Leith. She described the ghost as wearing a white shirt, green trousers and holding a large dagger in his hand, known as a Dirk. He also had a large bandage about his head which partially covered his eyes he was also in some pain for he was moaning as if wounded. This frightened Elizabeth somewhat and she shouted at the figure to “go away!”, at this point the figure stopped rambling towards her and hesitated, she shouted again in a more forceful voice “GO AWAY NOW!” and the spectre turned towards a window and vanished. The reason it is believed to be John Leith’s ghost comes from his head wound, as well as the Dirk which was a traditional weapon in the 18th Century. John Leith was killed as the result of a duel fought not in Leith, but in Archibald Campbell’s Tavern, in Aberdeen. On 21st December 1763 John Leith and Abernathy of Mayen became embroiled in a dispute about the standard of grain grown by Leith’s tenant farmers, this argument was fuelled by plenty of alcohol and it is not known for certain what happened next, did the pair fight an honourable duel or did Abernathy pull his gun without warning? We will never know, but what is known for sure is that John Leith was hit in the head by a pistol ball and taken to a nearby house on Castlegate in Aberdeen where he passed away, on Christmas day, 1763. John Leith’s widow, Harriot Leith, tried to have Abernathy convicted of the crime but Abernathy fled to foreign climes, he did return and was charged with murder, however no witnesses came forward to say if it was murder or a duel and so Abernathy remained a free man, though he did have to pay a £150 to Harriot Leith, scant recompense for the man she loved.

As well as the events described above Elizabeth Byrd and her husband witnessed a vast array of strange phenomena. They had rented 14 rooms at Leith Hall shortly after their wedding and soon the ghosts of Leith Hall had all come to say hello in some strange way, a lady dressed in Victorian clothing was seen in the Leith Bedroom, footsteps on the third floor heard and could not be distinguished between a child’s or a small dogs scampering footfalls, various forms of Poltergeist activity occurred throughout the house with doors banging shut, pots and lamps moved around or even sent crashing to the floor. Above all the master bedroom, and the bed within it in particular, seemed to have a life of its own, many people, including Elizabeth Byrd, her actress friend Isabel Beggs, her husband, Graham Stewart, himself a film director, another friend Mary Poulton and her husband Barrie Gaunt all had the sensation of being watched by something terrible as they passed by the bed.

All of these strange tales Elizabeth wrote about in her book A Strange and Seeing Time which raises a question in itself, did Elizabeth really witness all of these strange events, or for the purposes of selling her work did she fabricate some legends about the Hall? Personally I have seen some very strange events at the Hall whilst on an Investigation with Paranormal Tours in October 2007, doors closing on their own and lights hovering around a certain bed. One thing is for sure. Leith Hall IS haunted and I for one would not like to live there. However, I know someone who does.

Abigail Quinn lives and works at Leith Hall, although a Sassenach for most of her life she has lived in the North of Scotland for many years and even at one time lived in a flat in Aberdeen which was haunted. Yet it is at Leith Hall where Abigail has seen the majority of her ghostly experiences, in her own words “I have been told that a little girl likes to spend time with me and around my things, my brushes, make up, perfume, etc. I have felt her with me quite a lot, among others. One evening I was going to bed with a hot drink and a book and the light was off on the staircase. As I got to the top, I saw the little girl standing at my bedroom door. She was solid but appeared to be less colourful than real life. She was not smiling and I immediately thought of The Shining, which freaked me out. I always feel safe and comfortable in my bedroom and felt I had to get to it, so I shamefully ran through her and slammed the door behind me. I immediately felt terribly guilty and continue to apologise, but she hasn't shown herself again. When my pillow was tugged the other day, I thought it was someone playing and immediately thought of her… “

On other occasions Abigail has witnessed phenomena such as seeing a large ball of light appear from the corner of a room, this occurred on Halloween a few years ago, right in the middle of a story about the ghost of John Leith! Abigail also recounts two other strange occurrences at Leith Hall “I Was working late one night in the office in the house alone (it was dark) when suddenly the temperature dropped so suddenly that I could see my breath. I then heard whistling from outside the door (inside the house) but initially dismissed it until I heard it again and it was joined with loud distinct footsteps on wooden floorboards in the same location. I felt trapped there for about half an hour while I plucked up the courage to rush through the whole house back to my apartment! As well as this I have frequently seen a lovely looking young man running in the grounds. He wears an army uniform and was initially quite normal looking until I realised the khaki of the uniform was different to nowadays, and most distinctly, his puttees were tightly bound up to his knees, something I believe, that isn't done today. Basically, he looked like a World War I soldier. He disappears into thin air. I still see him and at night he is a pearlescent shimmer that goes past one of my windows but not the other. “ So, could a World War One soldier haunt Leith Hall too? It is more than acceptable to assume so, during the Great War (as it was known then, World War One was coined much later) up to 500 wounded soldiers at a time used Leith Hall as a convalescent hospital where they would come after surgeries including amputations, however the more romantic part of my soul wishes to believe it is the ghost of Captain Arthur Edward Bruce O’Neill, the brother of the last living Leith-Hay to reside at the Hall. It is undoubted that he would have visited Leith Hall to see his sister, the brother and sister were so close that Henrietta named her son after him, which of course has been covered previously.

It would seem that the ghosts of Leith Hall not only like to make contact with Abigail, for many times Abigail’s friend Karmen Waldron has come to visit. Both are old University friends and share their love of the paranormal and regularly take part on ghost hunts and investigations, yet it was in more bizarre circumstances which Karmen witnessed her own piece of Leith Hall’s paranormal history. In her own words Karmen recounts her ghostly tale “I had worked all day, got stuck on the motorway on the way up to Birmingham and then my plane was delayed, so by the time I got to Leith I had been up for about 30 hours. As soon as I got there I went upstairs to run a bath but with in minutes the fire alarm went off so Abigail and I evacuated and waited outside for the firemen. They came and did there bit, during which time I did not re-enter the house, I was stood outside talking to a couple of the firemen (well, it would have been a shame not to!!). Once they had left Abigail went to check the lights were off upstairs and asked if I would check the lights were out along the tea room corridor. The corridor lights were on, and all the other lights were off, but as I entered the tea room the biggest rush of energy hit me and I saw a man sat in the middle of the room in a white open collared shirt and green striped waist coat (a la Upstairs Downstairs). He had dark hair and a tash and was just sort of sat, looking at me.

Now, intrepid investigator that I am, I stood and looked at him for about 10 seconds and then ran back down the corridor to find Abigail so some one else could see what I had seen, and because I was bricking it!! By the time she got to the tea room he had gone, but she described the same energy rush hitting her that I did.

I have spent the last year or so trying to convince myself that I did actually see a 'ghost' but I can't get round the facts that I was probably hallucinating because:

1. I was very tired

2. I was really, really, stressed with work and having flooded family staying with me plus the added

inconvenience of problematic travelling. (during the time of the 2007 floods)

3. I was apprehensive about staying at Leith because it was one of my first visits up there.

However, what I can't explain is that the apparition I saw was smoking a cigarette. When I explained to Abigail what I had seen she turned the light on and showed me that the man was positioned directly underneath the smoke detector in the tea room, and that was the detector which had been triggered by the fire alarm. This does make it more interesting, but I reserve my position as to whether I saw something, or my time as come for the funny farm!”.

It is most certain that this area of Leith Hall would have been the servants dining area, even in the early 1900’s anywhere from 30 to 100 people lived and / or worked at Leith Hall, perhaps this butler was simply having a quick break from his duties and was shocked to see a guest come into the room, something which most definitely would never have been allowed to happen in Leith Hall’s Edwardian hay-day.

And so in the heart of the North of Scotland still stands a truly haunted house, replete with an abundance of ghostly apparitions of former owners, residents and staff. Yet anybody visiting Leith Hall today could never hear about its fast growing reputation, they could be oblivious to the tales of the darkness, they could wander its halls and rooms taking in the breathtaking pieces of artwork, the magnificent architecture, or the fantastic gardens outside. All the while beside them, looking over their shoulder is the spirit of a long lost soldier from the Great War, or sitting next to them having a cup of coffee is a Butler having a smoke break, or even passing them on the staircase is the ghost of John Leith, forever in torment, for reasons we will never know. 

If you wish to visit yourself then opening times are as follows:

Opening times for house and tearoom:

Easter weekend 2009 - Friday to Monday 12 to 5pm (last entry at 4.15)

Weekends from Easter to 31 May, then Thurs to Mon through June.

Open 7 days a week in July and August,

Thurs to Mon through to end of Sept when house closes for season.

So if you ever find yourself in the North of Scotland and have nothing to do in between Inverness and Aberdeen, then take a slight detour for Huntly, and nearby is Leith Hall, ready and willing to turn your visit into yet another ghost story.

Thank you for your time.

CJ Linton.

PS Sadly Leith Hall is to be renovated into apartments in the near future, which means that the opportunity to take in its splendid scenery and grand décor is at a premium. As far as I know Phil Whyman’s Dead Haunted Nights events company is to be the last paranormal investigation to ever be held at Leith Hall. Please see my links section for Phil’s website.

Dilston Castle and the rebellious Radcliffe’s.

Northumberland; that picturesque county bordering Scotland, scene of countless battles and raids, home to many fine castles, meandering rivers, bleak moor’s, craggy plateau’s and deep dark wood’s. In a county so rich in heritage it is not strange to find many stories, myths and legends attached to so many places. Dilston Castle is no exception; its ruins stand now, weathered and rotten, open to the elements, its use as a fortification now redundant, nearby Dilston Hall being its more beautiful, and much younger sister. And yet still it stands, its history echoing from its own walls, thick, sturdy and resilient. Work is being conducted to find the remains of the rest of the castle, work done by the North Pennines Heritage Trust and the Friends of Historic Dilston shall forever keep the location alive, allowing people to view it whenever they are open, it may not have its original majesty, but a site with so much history deserves to be viewed for all the right reasons, its history untainted by lies, myths and falsehoods, despite the best attempts at creating its own myths in years gone by.

The site known as Historic Dilston encapsulates not just the ruined Castle, but also the Recusant Catholic Chapel and Dilston Hall. These two locations are also rich in their historical value, but to understand these places the history of the whole must be covered, and sadly knowledge of it is scarce. What stands today is the remains of a Tower House, known as a Pele Tower although in truth it has been altered to such an extent that little remains of its original shape. Tower houses were commonplace in the border country, a place built to protect not only the Castellans family but also his cattle, the ground floor would be kept as a barn area, yet still able to withstand an attack, the only way into the first floor would be via a wooden staircase attached to the outside of the building, this is evident still on the castle ruins, its first floor doorway still remains. The wooden staircase, if under attack, would be destroyed or even burned to stop any would be attackers getting into the first floor, the first floor itself would have housed household family, troops and servants, as well as a kitchen and perhaps a hall where everyone ate and many would also sleep. The top floor would probably have constituted the lords solar room where he slept and also the rooms belonging to his wife and children, any visiting nobles would in fact have shared a bed with the lord, or at least have shared the solar room with him. Sir William Claxton built Dilston Castle in the mid 1400’s, perhaps as early as 1421. It is believed to have been built directly on top of a much earlier fortification, possibly of 11th-12th century Norman origin and perhaps belonging to the medieval lords of Dyvelston and Tynedale, Dyvelston being the name of a medieval village which is now only evident via archaeological work done in fields nearby and also where the current name of Dilston comes from, both of course gaining their name from the Devilswater, a small river which skirts the site and is a tributary of the River Tyne.

It is certain that building materials were taken from the nearby Hadrian’s Wall; in fact a Roman gravestone (belonging to a woman) is interned in the walls of the Chapel. Dilston Castle grew in size from its building in the 15th Century; the Radcliffe family became part of the story when Edward Radcliffe married Anne Cartington, the heiress of Dilston. His grandfather, Sir Nicholas Radcliffe, had married Elizabeth, heiress of Sir John de Derwentwater and this explains how, in time, the Radcliffe’s became Earls of Derwentwater. The Radcliffe’s however did not take possession of the Dilston estate until 1521, in the time of Edward and Anne’s son, Sir Cuthbert Radcliffe. Rebellion came easy to the Radcliffe’s, who by now had begun to alter Dilston Castle by adding a manor house and servant wings, changing it to a more modern format, yet still keeping its defensive integrity. By 1616 Cuthbert’s grandson, Sir Francis Radcliffe was in overall control of the Castle, it is thought he was part of the Gunpowder Plot in which a group of Roman-Catholic nobles (of which Francis was for sure) planned to assassinate King James I of England, VI of Scotland and the protestant houses of Parliament, of course everyone knows the plan was rumbled when Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellar beneath parliament with more than a few barrels of gunpowder, Sir Francis Radcliffe was imprisoned and questioned however Guy Fawkes did not give his name and was brutally executed for his treason, it is thought that Sir Francis used the funds for this abortive assassination in his own building works at Dilston, firstly the post-reformation Roman Catholic recusant Chapel and a small Bridge now spanning the Devilswater, known as the Lords Bridge. Sir Francis became the first Baronet of the Radcliffe’s, a title he passed on to his own son Edward who became second Baronet; he also passed on to him his unyielding faith in the Roman Catholic Church, and his rebellious streak. In 1642 King Charles went to war with his Parliament as both sides attempted to control the country, Sir Edward fought for the Royalist cause to its ultimate end, Sir Edward spent much of his time at another of his estates, he had bought the Langley estate (and Castle) from the Earl of Annandale in 1631, as well as numerous other properties including the Alston Lead Mines, giving him some substantial economic power in the north. This was all for naught when it came to war however as after the Civil War he was forced to sell, let or give to the commonwealth most of his estates and properties, including the aforementioned Langley Castle.

Possibly the most fortunate, if not ambitious Radcliffe was Sir Edwards son, another Sir Francis Radcliffe, he was fortunate in that his son Edward was married to an illegitimate daughter of King Charles II, Lady Mary Tudor, again showing the Roman Catholic reputation of the family by marrying a lady with such a name, a name probably still hated in much of England at the time. Her mother had been the actress Moll Davis and so she was no true Princess, however his elevated status did allow him to become ennobled as the 1st Earl of Derwentwater. His son Sir Edward became the 2nd Earl of Derwentwater, who with his wife had a son, is now known to history as the “Thundering Earl”, his name is synonymous with the Jacobite cause in Northumbria.

James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater was a man devoted to his faith and the Stuart cause; his ancestors had even been the Stuart Kings, albeit via the illegitimate side of a Royal child, this would have filled his head with stories of glory and betrayal as a child. He was born in an age where Parliament took away his Catholic Stuart King, his families crown as he may have seen it, or been taught it. James II had been replaced with a Protestant Dutchman, William of Orange and his wife Mary, daughter of James II, and distant relative of the 3rd Earl. James Radcliffe spent little time at Dilston, instead he grew up in France, it wasn’t until 1710 that the 3rd Earl came to live in England; he immediately set about changing Dilston Castle, creating elegant gardens, destroying buildings and re-landscaping the entire plateau on which the location stands. Just a few years later the ex-King James needed help as he planned to re-take his crown. James 3rd Earl Derwentwater had by now married Anna Maria (again a very Catholic name), daughter of Sir John Webb, Baronet of Odstock in Wiltshire and in the autumn of 1714 he and his new wife came to Dilston, content to be in each others company. Also in 1714 the British Queen Anne had died without an heir to take the throne, many now believed it to be the right time for the Stuarts to return, Parliament however had other ideas and brought in George I Elector of Hanover as King of Great Britain. Many were upset and government forces were active throughout 1714 to round up any Jacobite sympathisers in lower England and Wales, the Jacobites gained their name from the Latin Jacobus which means James (Jacobin is French for James and is also seen as the reason). Scottish Jacobites flocked to the standard of the Earl of Mar at Braemar in late August to early September 1715, where around 16’000 Scots gathered to go to war to bring back their Stuart Catholic King from exile, men from 26 Highland Clans joined forces with lowland Regiments; in total some 20 Scottish nobles joined the cause. In Northumbria the numbers may have been much less, but to James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater it mattered little. John Erskine, the Earl of Mar gathered all of these men together in the guise of a “Great Hunting Match”; orders for the campaign to come were sent out to English Tory leaders in the North, one of which was named Thomas Forster.

Thomas Forster was a cousin of James Radcliffe, a Tory politician who wanted the Stuarts to return to power. He was however not a very good soldier or leader of one and it showed in the almost farcical events which constitute what is now known as the “Preston Fight”. After abortive attempts at attacking Newcastle the Northumbrian Jacobites gained much needed reinforcements from the Earl of Mar, the 300 cavalrymen of Forster's faction were joined first by a group of Scottish borderers under the command of Viscount Kenmure. Radcliffe only took around 30 men with him from his estate, men of his religion yet again not real soldiers. After Kenmure’s forces had arrived word had come of more reinforcements in the form of a Regiment of Scots under the command of Mackintosh of Borlum, these were much better troops, exercised in war and eager to fight. Yet it seems they were not eager to fight in England, for before they crossed the border there was a near mutiny of them, many simply sitting down and not wanting to leave their beloved Scotland, it was with some force that Borlum managed to get them moving, perhaps it may have been better if they had stayed put.

In Early November this combined force managed to get to Preston in Lancashire, ahead of them stood a larger force of Government soldiers under the command of General Charles Wills. Borlum had sent troops ahead of Preston to hold the Ribble Bridge between Preston and their goal of Manchester, when they found out Wills’ forces were not far away orders were given to yield the bridge to the enemy, Preston was to be defended, here Forster shows his lack of military knowledge for the Ribble bridge was a much better defensive position to hold off a superior enemy army. On the 12th November Government forces came upon the smaller Jacobite force barricaded into certain streets within Preston, Wills ordered an immediate assault, he had at his disposal around 2’500 men, as opposed to the 1’700 men of the Jacobites. The assault was a disaster; the Scots defending the part of town being attacked managed to cause sufficient casualties on their enemy attackers that the Government troops fell back in disarray. Over the night of the 12th to 13th many Jacobites fled town, those who stayed fought a desperate sniper battle with Government soldiers, both sides set fire to houses to stop the enemy gaining control of them, this also allowed both sides to be illuminated, something the Scots took full advantage of, killing many more Government troops. Any hope of victory however was lost on the 13th of November when more Government troops arrived to sow up the holes which the Jacobites had been using to escape; now there was no hope of winning, and no chance to get away. Thomas Forster agreed to the talk to the Government forces about the surrender of the Jacobite force, this angered many of the Scotsmen who had come south against their better judgement, the Scots paraded through the town, threatening anyone who would surrender, it was all to naught however as after another night of sniping the Jacobite leader Forster agreed to unconditional surrender.

1,468 Jacobites were taken prisoner, 463 of them English. George Seton, 5th Earl of Winton, William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale and James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater were among those captured and sentenced to be executed for treason under an act of attainder. Winton and Nithsdale escaped from the Tower of London.James Radcliffe was not so lucky, he was executed in February 1716 on Tower Hill. His family continued to use the title Earl of Derwentwater and it may have been because of this that the estates of the Earls were confiscated by an Act of Attainder in 1748, two years after Bonnie Prince Charlies lost campaign to get the Stuarts on the British throne, a campaign which ended in the horror of Culloden. The estates were granted to the Royal Greenwich Hospital, by now the Castle had seen its last resident, however the magnificent Dilston Hall, begun in 1709 for the Earl, had not been finished yet many features of it allowed it be classed among the very finest of Northumbrian Manor Houses, its interior was furnished with the best French furniture, it included rooms for servants and guests alike and had more living quarters on its third floor. It is said there were also fountains and a forecourt paved in black veined limestone with the entrance being marble laced. All this was lost after the ’45 Rising of Bonnie Prince Charlie as the Government wanted to eradicate all traces of the Earl of Derwentwater, they tore down much of the buildings, leaving what remains today, testement to the strength of the Northumbrian spirit, and the rebellious pride of the estates owners.

Some curious tales surround Historic Dilston, one is certain to be pure fantasy, the others are more open to the realms of possibility. First the blatant lie. The following story appeared in the Monthly Chronicle in 1888 and centres around the plight of Queen Margaret of Anjou and her escape from Britain after her husbands Lancastrian forces had taken a beating in what was little more than a large skirmish close to Dilston Castle. It is seen as a very important battle however because a number of prominent Lancastrians were captured or killed, including the Earl of Somerset and Lord Tailbois “with moche mony on hym”. Queen Margeret after the fight took refuge in some woods nearby, where she was beset by robbers who “treated her with utmost indignity”, she escaped her tormentors with her son, the Prince, and fled into the darker parts of the forest where she was followed by another scoundrel out for money. Instead of fighting the man or giving in to him she pushed forward her child saying to the man “Here my friend, I commit to your care the safety of your Kings son.” The man was taken aback but instead of stealing yet more valuables, or indeed taking them to the nearest Yorkist commander, he agreed to help them hide and escape. A cave close to the Devils Water is said to be still called the Queens Cave, its roof supported by a pillar of rude masonary. According to tradtion the pillar forms part of a wall which was used to divide the cave into apartments. There was said to have been a survey of the cave in 1822 giving its length at thirty-one feet and fourteen feet in breadth, whilst its height is “scarcely enough to allow a person to stand upright” (though people were smaller in the 15th Century). The Queen was said to have made her way to the coast and then to Sluys in Flanders, she returned later with her son, now grown older, to cause more trouble to the Yorkist cause.

Sadly most of this is wrong, or at least didn’t occure in 1464 after the Battle of Hexham for Queen Margaret was already abroad at the time of the battle. So if this story is wrong, then what about other stories which have been recollected from the Northumberland Courier? Perhaps Dilston’s best known Ghost story comes directly from this source too, but like any reported phenomena it should be approached with both caution and intrigue, no investigation has ever answered the question “do ghosts exist” and they probably never will, so to dismiss one story because of historical fact is apt, to dismiss another because of an opinion is simply wrong. To this end Otherworld North East Paranormal Research and Investigationg group are running investigations at Historic Dilston throughout 2009 and probably beyond. Their aim is to study and record the paranormal phenomena associated with such an historic site. The main story which I refered to earlier concerns the “Thundering Earl” (taken from Tony Liddell, a prominent member of OWNE) is said to have been seen riding with his troop of horse down a pathway and across the Lords bridge, this tale however comes driectly from the Northumbrian Monthly Chronicle in the same year as the Queen Margaret story, so can it be trusted? Of course that’s an unanswerable question, not so much a question that does not have an answer, but one which should have no answer because as I said all reported phenomena should be looked at in detail. Other paranormal phenomena associated with the site take on the form of objects being moved within some glass cases inside the Recusant Church. Pieces found in the fields nearby or in the grounds have been interned in the Church as a small museum of relics, on one occasion two people were talking when they heard a large crashing noise and went to find that part of an old perfume bottle had been moved 6-10 inches, there were other pieces within the same compartment on the cabinet and yet they had stayed still, all that had moved was the perfume bottle shard. Seen walking hand in hand across the Lords bridge is a gentleman and lady, possibly the Thundering Earl and his wife though of course could be anybody as no one has seen them long enough to ask their names. Also on the Lords Bridge someone camping close by saw “someone or something” glide across the bridge at a very fast speed, despite the fact that security gates were on the bridge, from the angle where the man was camping to where the bridge is I believe he could have seen an owl glide across the bridge and mistook it for a grey shape, though of course it will be part of OWNE’s investigation. Lastly the carpark is situated in a copse of tall tree’s, which when it is dark can take on a sinister edge, as anyone who’s been inside a forest at night will know. One person, described to me as a resolute skeptic, was walking through the carpark area one evening when she felt someone grab her shoulder, she imediately ran for the Hall nearby and despite still being skeptical she does not know what happened that night.

Perhaps the strangest story associated with the site is that of a squatter in the mid to late 19th century. This squatter claimed to be called Amelia Matilda Mary Tudor Radcliffe, she had come from Austria to claim her birthright, or so she said. In 1868 she was removed from the castle, where she had been living in the ruins beneath a tarpaulin. During her stay she had almost run a sword through the local bailiff who was collecting rents on “her lands”, she may have done it had her sword not broken in two, she had loaned money from people to settle the situation legally, however she wasn’t actually the heir at all and when her supporters grew restless Amelia had to sell some of the “family” heirlooms, she believed them to be worth £200’000. She received just £200 from the sale of many items, she continued to fight for what she believed was hers, but eventually she lost her will to go on, in 1880 she died a poor woman. Later evidence points to her real identity, or at least who she may have been.

She certainly was no heir to the estate, Cadwallader J. Bates who, as a local historian and the purchaser of Langley, had a two-fold interest in solving the mystery. Writing about Amelia in 1895, he observed:

“It has been surmised that she was a lady's maid from Dover, of the name of Burke, who had lived with a family at Schwerin, and had had her imagination fired by reading a novel, written about 40 years previously, in which Viscount Radcliffe, the son of Lord Derwentwater, instead of dying in 1731, settled in Germany after a mock-funeral.”

I am content to leave the final verdict to Pip in Great Expectations: “All other swindlers upon Earth are nothing to the self-swindlers”.

And so there is Historic Dilston, a place of mystery for sure, romance probably, intrigue and ruin. But above all a place of Rebellion, both of spirit and soul. Be sure you visit the place next time your in the North East, it’s a charming way of spending a few hours, bring a picnic and enjoy it next to the Devilswater after a gentle stroll down to the river from Dilston Castle. Make sure you check out the Chapel too and see if you notice anything moving. Thank you for your time.

CJ Linton.

I live in the south of County Durham, just a stones throw from North Yorkshire in fact. More specifically I live in Newton Aycliffe, a new town developed in the 50's and 60's, making use of the massive Industrial Estate which was used extensively throughout the Second World War as Munitions Works, Aycliffe was chosen mainly because of the number of days in which there is cloud cover and fog. Something which hasn't changed since WW2. Local legends abound however... within Newton Aycliffe itself there are many ghost stories, I had an advert in the local newspaper a while ago for people to tell me their ghost stories and it blew me away how many people contacted me. The A-167 is said to be haunted by the ghost of a lady in a white dress, I have only found one fairly unreliable online source for this story, but two separate people contacted me saying they had seen her standing close to the "Gretna" public house/restaurant.

The railway line from Bishop Auckland to Darlington (and eventually Saltburn) runs close to Greenfield School (close to my house too), this is part of the line which runs from Stephenson’s work yards at Shildon to Darlington, in the very early days of steam travel men on horseback would ride ahead of the trains making sure no cattle had wandered onto the track or indeed any people, these men would often ring a bell as a way of warning. About midway between Greenfield School and Newton Aycliffe train station the ghost of one of these bell-men is said to haunt the tracks where he fell from his horse and hit his head on the tracks (ironically scared by the train). This is local legend and no such event has been recorded, however people have contacted me and said they have heard a horse whinnying and clopping on the stones, all the while a bell is ringing.

Because of the risk of offending or upsetting any local people I can only say the next haunted location is one of Aycliffe’s many Old People’s Homes. My grandmother worked there for around ten years, my mother for around ten and even one of my sisters for around five years. At least once a month I would hear about a new sighting or paranormal occurrence, the building is made up of two floors, the ground floor has recreation and social rooms, cleaning and laundry, and of course the dining room. The first floor is made up of the residents own rooms with a smaller social room at the end of a long corridor, the majority of the phenomena is associated with this small social room. Witnesses told of standing at one end of the corridor and seeing an old man standing in the doorway at the other end which led to the social room, thinking one of the residents was out of bed they go to the room and find it empty, with the only egress routes being a fire escape (still locked up) or the corridor itself. On one occasion two women at the same time saw a white misty form moving in the room, they of course departed quickly and didn’t go back onto that floor for a while. Some other staff members who contacted me told of seeing or knowing of some of the furniture in this room moving around on its own, on one occasion a plant pot slid off a windowsill and broke on the floor, when the staff member went to get some cleaning equipment she came back to find that the soil from the plant pot had been shaped into a crescent moon shape. As well as this room at least one of the residential rooms is also haunted, my own sister was locked inside the room when she was in fact the only person on the first floor during a residents day trip out, whilst she was cleaning the residents bed the door slammed shut behind her and she could not turn the handle, as though someone was holding it from the outside (of course there are plenty of other explanations, panic being one of them). The vast majority of Newton Aycliffe was built on old farming land, some of these old farms remain but some houses built on nothing more than dark soil have acquired a ghostly reputation. A local taxi driver told me of the haunting’s within his house; a man dressed in riding boots, dark cape and red shirt has been seen by him and his wife on more than one occasion. His house in, Mellanby Crescent, however does not stand on any older property, so who or why this spirit is there is as big a mystery as the question of s there a ghost there at all. I have heard of many similar ghost stories, one of which comes from a good friend of mine, not prone to strange tales. One day upon leaving the bathroom and heading for his bedroom he saw someone pass by him, height wise it was the same as his little brother and that is who he thought it was, however as he entered his room he saw his brother sitting on his bed playing on his games console, his parents at the time were out shopping. His own theory is that it was the ghost of the old lady who lived there previously, he has since moved out but his parents still live there in Havelock Close.

Slightly further away is Bishopton Castle Hill, lying just outside the village of Bishopton. The Castle Hill is a very well preserved Motte and Bailey Earthwork, originally made of wood the castle and its palisade defences have long since gone, leaving only the earthwork remains. It was built in the early 12th Century when Bishop Ranulf gave the land to Roger Conyers, soon however the Bishop of Durham was usurped by a man called William Comyn, many local barons paid Comyn homage as the new Bishop, Conyers however did not and awaited the rightful bishop to come north and take the Bishopric back. Eventually Comyn was defeated and the Conyers family prospered due to their support of the true Bishop. Bishopton however was not their main seat of power and so the Castle was left to be stripped of its wood. But it is here that the legend of Bishopton was created. It is said that anyone who spends a night on the hill will be chased off by a group of Fairies, certain legends differ with regards why these fairies are here, some claim they moved in when everyone else moved out and didn’t like people taking down their home, some say that they have always been there and they fought alongside Conyer’s during the troubles of the early 12th Century. The only residents of the hill today are the cattle which graze (and sadly slowly destroy) the hill, around 150 years ago the hill stood at 60ft, today it is less than 40ft. But wil the fairies remain after the cows have flattened the features of the field?

Locally there is a much more remarkable fairy story, that of the Middridge Fairies, a story I heard whilst at primary school! The village of Middridge lies between Shildon and Newton Aycliffe, it is a charming village which still has its annual fair, it also has a strange hole in the earth lying to the north of the village, no one knows what it was dug for but it is certainly man made (I think so anyway). Legend has it that if you run around it backwards saying the lords prayer an evil fairy, or even the devil himself, will come out of the hole and chase you until you are home, if it catches you, then your dead. Supposedly in the early 1900’s a group of farm boys dared one another to do this and something did indeed come out of the ground and chase them to their farm, as they ran into a bran they slammed the door shut behind them then heard a mighty crash as though a thunder bolt had hit the barn. Upon opening the door they found a trident impaled in the door, as they pulled it out it vanished but left the scorched trident mark in the door. It is said the door found its way to the local public house (Bay Horse) which put it on show but it too vanished one day, never seen again. 

Shildon of course is the birthplace of the passenger railway, Robert Stephenson learned his engineering skills from his father George, both father and son changed the world and they started it all in a workshop in Shildon. His house and workshop are now a museum, close by too there is a brand new multi-million pound museum named the Locomotion, all are linked by a section of the Bishop Auckland to Darlington rail line. In this large area people have reported hearing the sounds of steam engines, men chatting, the smell of smoke and just as intriguing the sound of horses and a bell (similar to the haunted line near Newton Aycliffe). Even within the confines of the new museum these sounds have been heard by staff and visitor alike.

Darlington is an old town, steeped in its merchant history it also has deep roots with the Quaker community which developed the town before more commercial minds took over. It also has a few haunted hotspots, probably the best being the Darlington Civic Theatre, haunted by one of its previous owners, and his dog! I have been fortunate enough to spend a night in the theatre as part of a Paranormal Companies investigation and I did see and hear some strange phenomena which I cannot explain, the first was whilst sitting in the middle stalls, behind us was a door leading to the bar area which we could see partly through. Whilst sitting in the seats we heard what I can only describe as the door being kicked, we all jumped up and had a very good look around both the area we were in and the bar and found no one, we heard no one run away and we would have heard someone run down the bar stairs, or seen them run into the bar area. Later on the whole group were on the stage, a number of us who were looking the same way saw a flash of light from the opposite side of the middle stalls, as though someone had been up there and had turned on a light then turned it off very quickly, again no one was there, we never saw any doors open for people to leave the area nor heard anyone running away. Other ghosts which supposedly haunt the place are a fly man (they would work the ropes which moved scenery about etc, usually they were old sailors used to rigging) and an old night watchman, though descriptions of this ghost might be influenced by a large photograph of a similar looking gentleman close to the toilets.

Other haunted places in Darlington are the old Darlington and Simpson Rolling Mills, in the 1920’s a man was killed in a terrible accident and his ghost has returned on a couple of occasions. On one such occasion the workforce downed tools until the management did something about it, what they did however is unknown. The Kings Head Hotel is a very popular place for visitors, sadly damaged in a recent fire it has always had its strange tales associated with it. Mainly on the fourth floor the tales centre around shadows being seen flitting from room to room, one Paranormal Company claimed to have seen the ghost of a young girl dressed in Victorian clothing, replete with bonnet and bow tied under her chin. Another haunted Railway Museum is at Darlington, sadly the place is now rather defunct since most of its treasures have been taken to the Locomotion at Shildon. Its ghosts however remain. One ghost is that of a Victorian lady who stands waiting on the old platform, whilst a security guard and his guard dog were scared one night by a spectral security guard and guard dog, there are also the smells and sounds associated with a busy steam engine yard which have been experienced by people in the past. Trains still stop at one of the platforms, but very few people get on board, those that do often smell a rather sweeter more perfume like smell as they get onto the train, as they turn to se where the smell comes from they see the ghost of the Victorian lady still standing, waiting on her own.

Originally built by the “Handsome Hansard” family in the mid 12th century Walworth Castle just outside Darlington has a very good haunted pedigree. Probably the most prolific room is the Jenison suite, where many guests and maids have had someone, or something, tug at their clothes or hair. There have also been the sound of footsteps falling on a stone staircase, which has been removed; the only sightings however take the form of a spectral “Grey Lady” who has been seen in various places. Her identity is open to speculation, but until she provides her biometric identity card her name will be unknown.

As well as Darlington close by there is also Bishop Auckland. Its history is abundant, and if you included the close by remains of Binchester Roman Fort (named Vinovia) the history stretches back to the first century. Its ghosts however remain elusive (though I will be putting an advert in the local paper over there) and only a couple have been found. None other than King Charles I is said to haunt the Bishops Palace, a location he spent a short time in during the Bishops Wars of 1639-40. Why he haunts this place is unknown, however the woodland park belonging to the Bishop’s Palace is a very nice place to spend a day so perhaps he found some peace and quiet here, something he would not have got in many other places. The second ghost story is a fairly modern one, in fact it only came to light in 2009. The Four Clocks Community centre sounds like a very modern place, it is in fact inside an old church. Built in 1914 the Wesley Church saw many good days come and go, it has its own clock tower with of course four separate clocks, hence the name. In a local newspaper article Centre co-ordinator Pamela Hope said: “Our CCTV camera captured what looked like a very hazy figure in the back passageway and also what looked like a circle of light moving across the floor and through the wall.

“One member of staff said she saw a woman in a hat which fits with it being an old church.

“During winter I had all the lights on and was sat at my desk when a shadow crept across my computer screen. At first I though it was somebody coming up behind me but when I turned around there was nobody there. There was also one night where a few of us had stayed late and we heard footsteps coming from the room upstairs. I was scared that there might be someone locked in who would be a bit angry but again there was nothing.”

Employee Helen White said there had been several cases of doors shutting themselves and being locked on the inside.

She said: “This church went through some dramatic changes when the centre was created and you can’t help but wonder whether the building work disrupted the spirits. Several people have said they have sensed spirits although they all say they are benign so at least we don’t have to worry about having a violent ghost.”

And so there are just some of the amazing local legends close to me in South Durham, I could have gone further afield and included Durham, Ferryhill, Spennymoor, or even Northallerton and Richmond… often its not finding a point to start, but a point to stop.

Thank you for your time.

CJ Linton.