Welcome to the thirtieth edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter. Today marks the 102 anniversary of the birth of my mother. She was looking forward to age 100, and would gladly have kept on going past that, if the fates had allowed. Every year while we were living in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, she had a birthday party on or around February 20. Privately, she chose that day to coincide with my father's birthday, but publically told others it was an easy day to remember. The local politicians would all gather at the Senior Citizen's Center on Denton Street to honor her. She would never mention her age, and would just smile broadly when asked. In later years, she talked the local politicians into giving public recognition to centenarians during city council meetings!

My sincere thanks to all those who have supported me and my mother against the outrageous publication by Louis Mayerling. Colin Wilson came to our support with an article in the January 3rd issue of the Daily Mail. Andrew Clarke sent a terrific appeal to Pen Press to have the book removed from the shelves. There is now one central page that links to all the Mayerling documents. I have added several bits Louis sent me in 1995-96, including clues to his identity as "Lee Lennox," etc. Comments from BGS associates and people around the world are also posted, and I have identified some statements as being only from "BGS associate numberxxx." If you don't mind attaching your name, or if you wish to add your comments to the list, please let me know.
If you know of some article or another that I have missed, please drop me a line. It seems a shame that even those articles that debunk Mayerling give him even MORE publicity!
My mother and I are not the only ones who have been taken advantage of by Mayerling. Harry Price can no longer defend himself, and I am concerned about the way Ivan Banks was misused.
If BGS associates agree this book should be pulled from the marketplace, please send your remarks directly to Pen Press -
Lynn Ashmann
Pen Press
39-41 North Road
Islington
London N7 9DP

Louis Mayerling is not the only thief of Ivan Banks material. I found a web site that "lifted" his text and pictures from another book he wrote titled Rails to Jaywick Sands.

The BGS newsletter makes fascinating reading . . . . I love the letter from John Welford [1974 visitor to the Harry Price Library] . . . . I always tried to make HPL readers as comfortable as possible. . . . I enclose [the Colin Wilson] article in the Daily Mail dealing with the Mayerling fantasy. . . . it is useful as a corrective to anyone thinking the book by Mayerling in any way throws doubt on the Borley Haunts. I have heard from many people on the "expose'," and they all say it is absolute and clearly demonstrable nonsense, but it has awakened a renewed interest in Borley. I enclose also a letter from Brian Everitt of a sighting which you did not know. I am very sorry to hear that Ivan Banks has died. He was a most interesting person to talk to and his knowledge of railways and railway history was quite extraordinary.
As ever,
Alan Wesencraft

I'd like to tell you what my uncle and I have been doing at Borley. We've been going there since 1983 and have been concentrating on the church where we do overnight sound recordings. In the early days we used to use tape recorders which to be honest were not up to much in terms of quality but we did get some interesting sounds. We used to put a fishing rod though a broken window at the back of the church (it was already broken, I hasten to add!) and tape a mike to it then connect to a tape recorder that we attached to the wire mesh on the windows - the mike was now suspended in the nave of the church. We then always left the area but kept watch in the graveyard. One of the best recordings we had was in1985 - August 16th. It was continuous movement, footsteps and what sounded like things being picked up and put down. It went on for about 25 minutes. This happened about 2 in the morning. One of the strangest sounds recorded was in1990 - it sounded like someone with a wooden leg waking inside the church. It was recorded about 4 in the morning and was so loud that playing it back the next day the speakers were close to distortion. We now use higher quality equipment- mini discs which are fantastic as they record over 2 hours on mono and have the bonus of letting you hear while you record so with speaker extension cable that we made we can sit 100ft from the church and monitor on speakers or headphones. The window is now sealed so we got round this by using a hi quality mike the size of a matchstick which we can tape to a thin metal wire and gently push though small gap in the edge of the chancel door. As this mike also fits though church keyholes, we can record and monitor any locked church in the country using this method. Unfortunately we have found in recent years that the sounds generated in Borley church have lessened and the last few times we been we never even got so much as a click. I know this sounds a bit silly but I can't help thinking that with all the crowds of people and the ghost hunters and the idiots and vandals turning up all the time that somehow the place is drained of energy and this has effected the place - and the haunting. I don't know how other people feel but I also get the feeling when I'm there that the place has a consciousness of its own - something I have never felt anywhere else. It's also got something about it that makes you feel sorry when you have to leave the place and it always draws you back. My uncle and I love the place and will continue recording at Borley church even though we live some 130 miles away! If we get any really good results well let you know.
Darren Jarvis

I was prompted to search for web info on Borley Rectory by a story in a 1976 Reader's Digest Association book entitled "Strange Stories and Amazing Facts". My grandfather gave me the book years ago, and I remember reading about 'England's most haunted house' as a kid. I didn't know if you had ever seen this book, or its story on the Rectory, but I figured I'd pass on the info just in case. One part of the story in the Reader's Digest book that I did find most interesting was in the closing paragraph, which was worded as follows: 'Other researchers into Borley Rectory have learned at seances that, in the 17th century, a young French nun, Maire Lairre, was induced to leave her convent at Le Havre to marry one of the Waldegraves of Borley, a landed family. They were told that she was strangled by her fiancee on May 17th, 1667, in a building standing on the rectory site. Her body, according to the spirit messages, was buried in the cellar.' Well, thanks for publishing the interesting web site. I don't surf the web a great deal, but when I do, it's always nice to find something that I was specifically looking for.
Regards,
Jon McDonald
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

When I was a young lad and had just got my driving license around 1980, me and my friends would go out looking for adventure as boys do. This on several occasions involved a ride to Borley rectory we would spend time sitting waiting for something to happen (which it never did). On this winters night we decided to get out of the car and walk towards the house opposite to the church which for some reason was not occupied and very dark with no curtains. There was 3 of us and while standing there one of my mates, said imagine someone standing at the window now trying to frighten us. As he said that my other mate threw a very small piece of gravel on the roof of this house (I must express he was not trying to cause damage or being malicious) to frighten us. As the gravel bounced down the roof there is a small attic window to the left which just for some unknown reason exploded outwards towards us (like to say don't touch) it frightened the life out of us and we made a sharp exit never to return. I thought I would let you have my experience of Borley - a very haunted area?
Terry Mayo

A couple of years ago, my friend and I visited Borley. At that time we drove up on a regular basis, as we were both very interested in the stigma attached to the place, and it was a quite a nice drive from Wickford, where we lived. Anyway, this particular time we drove through Borley, turned around, and came back parking the car outside the church, which was on our left. We sat chatting for about ten minutes, when suddenly, out of the rectory gate, two balls of light flashed across the road about 15 to 20 feet in front of us, and disappeared in the hedge opposite. They were about the size of footballs and bluish white in colour. It was quite unnerving, and as you can imagine, we didn't stick around much longer. I was wondering if you had heard of this phenomena at Borley, or anything else in the last couple of years. Please let me know, as I'm very interested.
Steve Elmes.

My name is Rachel and I have been interested in Borley Church for years. I remember Michael Bentine's documentary - it was shown in BBC 2 one Saturday afternoon. It was absolutely fascinating I was captivated from start to finish. I have had a lot of ghostly experiences personnel ones though. I am very interested in joining a ghost hunting society who offer these services where you go and investigate. Could you please let me know of any - I would be very, very grateful. I have e-mailed other people but have had no luck can you help PLEASE.!!!
Rachel Ellison

As a ghost hunter I do remember the BBC documentary on Borley. It's been shown twice - once in the 70s and again in the mid 80s. Both times it was shown its caused a revival of interest though it also brought crowds of the wrong people to the place who turn up after the pubs kicked out and caused disturbances and sometimes vandalism.
The construction worker who saw the nun was a man called Jeffery Groom-Hollingsworth. My uncle - who is also a keen ghost-hunter (and utterly obsessed with Borley!) - met Jeffery a few years ago and became quite friendly with him. He found him to be a very down to earth man and seemed not the sort of bloke to make stuff up. On his first visit to him, he allowed my uncle to interview him which was recorded on tape - which of course we still have. Unfortunately Mr Hollingsworth has since passed away.
Roy Potter was the other man who also saw the nun at the same time as Hollingsworth (though from a different angle). He was a skeptic who apparently threw a brick through the nun to make sure she was a ghost! He lost contact with Jeffery and his whereabouts is unknown.
After the sighting of the nun, they were joined by BBC sound technician Denny Densham who my uncle and I both met. We found him a very nice man and totally genuine. We kept in contact with him until his death several years ago. It was he who suggested recording in the church. It was after they got those amazing recordings that through Denny it was shown on BBC2 - something he told us he regretted, as it brought the wrong kind of people who messed it up for the ghost hunters and people genuinely interested in Borley.
Darren Jarvis

I have seen pictures in books of the found skull being given a Christian burial. But there is no mention as to the church that it was buried, could you supply this information please. I would think it would be Borley or near by Liston. I know I don't know you but I think you are a very sincere man.
Many regards,
Adelaide Liney
[An unmarked area at Liston Church.]

To the Person Concerned
My name is Nathan Paltridge. I am 15 years old. I live in Brisbane, Australia and I am very interested in the paranormal. When I first received the Internet at the age of 12 I was forever on the Internet looking up paranormal and charging a BIG bill for my parents to pay. Then I discovered http://www.borleyrectory.com well you can only imagine how much the Internet bill went up after that.(there was also the cost for printer ink as I was always printing out stories to read and re-read in bed.) And I have always wanted to visit the Borley rectory and I am now saving to go England. When I first read in the story about the Borley Tunnel and how it is now private property it saddened me as people cannot come and go freely to such a great place in the world. The main reason for this letter in to ask for permission to use some of the pictures and stories in my own Internet site I am making about the paranormal and I feel that the Borley rectory should have a big mention. Thank you for reading this e-mail
Sincerely
Nathan Paltridge

I live in NSW and have a Borley ancestor in my family tree. As there are not [a lot] of Borleys around the would you like to exchange details to see if there is a connection. My grandmother was named Margaret Borley she was born in NSW in 1885. Her father was born in Tasmania in 1855 The eldest son of Frederick Borley & Bridget Rooney. Frederick Borley was from Stowmarket in Suffolk.
Regards
Faye Sheridan

I've lived in a haunted house before and it scared me and my family very much. The house is in Selma Oregon and its called the Dryden house. At night in this house you could see the toilet handle move on its own and flush. Also, there were times at dinner you would see cupboards open and dishes thrown out and shattered on the floor. The kitchen sink would turn on then turn off. The shower would come on for ten to fifteen minutes at a time and shut off then when you entered the bathroom things would be thrown at you and the door would slam shut in your face. Time to time you can see some shadows walk in front of the tv and the cat would attack thin air. These are things I've seen living there and I will never go there again. I do hope that you will take this seriously.
Janaye Marie Withers

My brother read the book The Most Haunted House in England many years ago. We visited it when I was just about 12 years old I am now 41. I have never forgotten the visit the place was so cold and eerie, and for the first time in my life I was afraid to be in a church. I am sure that the site is haunted or that there is something there that is not what we call normal. Thank you for the most enjoyable web pages I shall visit the site To see if anything else is happening.
Gill Edbrooke

Fascinated by Borley for years, I made my first and very brief visit this week while on business in Sudbury. I felt conspicuous wandering around and didn't want to come over as an "odd ball". It really seems a very bleak place. I know the rectory no longer stands, but where did it stand? There were some houses opposite, i.e. across the road from the church and some houses on the same side of the church next to a large pond. Just curious to know after so long. What are your personal views on the stories?
Kindest regards:
David Allen

I am a 16 year old girl from the Essex area. I have always had a strong belief in ghosts and am sure I have witnessed them myself in my old house which was about 300 yrs old and my family also believed to be haunted. My school is well known for its tales of a nun called `the grey lady` she was said to have been a nun teaching at my school (a catholic school) during the late 19th century. The story (that has probably been varied during the years) is that when teaching once she got so annoyed with a girl that she pushed her out of the window of the large building that is still there today. Feeling so ashamed she then hung herself in the same building. I have always been drawn in to this building and once was staring up at one of the many windows and was sure I saw a figure looking down at me, It sounds like my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it was so clear and I was sure it was real. I thought it must have been a cleaner in the school so I waved to see and it suddenly vanished! Well, only I can believe that it happened I suppose!
A few years ago. . . I came across a piece on Borley Rectory and was so fascinated that the name of the place has stuck in my head for all these years. It's only today that I have actually thought of finding out more about it. I searched for "Borley Rectory" and was amazed at the amount of information I found! I was even more pleased at the fact that I have got hold of your e-mail address as you obviously know a lot about the place. It's great that you have written books as well! Is it possible to get these in any book shop? I am going to search for them straight away! I expect you must have been to the site? I've always wanted to go there but I'm not sure where it is and I doubt I could find anyone brave enough to take me there! I'm going to make it my ambition to see this place at some point. I will visit the website for Borley Rectory in the meantime and try to get hold of some of your books.
Thanks again.
Lydia Ecclestone

I have [sent my membership fee] - perhaps you can let me know when it arrives.
I have read Wood's book since I last e-mailed. I think that it is very exaggerated - he simply asserts what a bad fellow Lionel Foyster was. It is one interpretation, but there are many others. I was much more impressed by his stress on local myths and the Borley reputation; I have studied folk-lore in Shropshire and can see how a reputation could be fastened on this and enlarged. It would be interesting to see if there were local folk-lore stories before the main events at Borley. I do feel that, in the words of US investigative journalism, it is worthwhile to "follow the dollar". People do strange things when pushed by difficult financial circumstance, and the stress in Wood's book does provide some possible explanation for extraordinary events. Certainly the fact that Lionel Foyster hoped to profit from a book about the haunting is suggestive; as with many other "stories", these have an uncertain market value which relies heavily upon public expectation and reputation. I also think that the background to English middle class life before the 1939-45 war does provide some explanation for your mother's extraordinary behaviour (if it's true). There seems to have been a desperation to keep up appearances, and this factor could override all others. No doubt when the double life was being led, all was well while noone knew, but had this been discovered at the time, there would have been scandal. Lionel Foyster may well have chosen not to concern himself too much about what was really going on. I think that the contrast between the lives of middle class English people and those in the USA may be hard to appreciate if you have been brought up in the USA. I'll enlarge on this if you feel this would be helpful. Wood's book contains some very hurtful revelations about your Mother, but it is good to learn that, once out of the stifling atmosphere of middle class England, she became such a different person - perhaps the person she wanted to be all along. I look forward to hearing from you - and reading the "locked" bits!
Regards
Joseph Boughey

I would like to tell you about me and my mates' visit to the rectory. We went to the Borley Rectory on Halloween 2000 because we had seen your site on the Internet. We got very excited about going. When we got there, already quite a few people had shown up. We had a walk around the church a couple of times shining our torches everywhere and taking lots of pictures. While we were there we started to feel that it was a lot of rubbish about the ghosts, so we went home. When I got my pictures developed, I was shocked to see that one of them had some bright red eyes staring out. I know that there was no-one there because when I took the picture, no-one was around. The background behind the picture is that at that stage we had gotten bored so we were larking about a bit. My mate hid behind the yew bush and just poked his head out to try and look a bit scary! I got a bigger scare when I got the photo back!
Yours sincerely
Shaun Copple

I send you this e-mail after reading the recent article in the East Anglian Daily Times (dated Tuesday 2nd January 2001) and was interested to know that you had a website and e-mail address. Between the years of 1980 to 1983 I was a resident of Borley, I lived in the cottage almost opposite the site of the rectory, right on the road and next to the pond, known as Borley Place Cottage. When I first moved there, I was unaware of anything unusual about Borley until I was told about the famous `ghosts` by other residents! I must say in all honesty that during my time living in Borley, which I really found most pleasant, I was never once, even a tiny bit ever aware of any paranormal activity. I only knew that the place inspired a gentle peace and calm, and the views across to Long Melford church, unsurpassed! During my stay at Borley Place Cottage, my husband and myself were often disturbed by young ghost hunters at night playing loud music on their car stereos, and the occasional vandalism to the churchyard, i.e. knocking down headstones. There were occasional funny episodes such as the punk-rocker who used to cover himself with a white sheet and leap out at traffic outside the church on a Friday and Saturday night, and also the episode when one of the church ladies, on going to unlock the church doors one morning, was rather shocked to find a pair of mannequin legs hanging from the church porch, as if someone had been hung there. I will always remember my years at Borley with great affection, and truly, with no ghosts at all!
I believe we moved into the cottage a week or so before Christmas 1981, and must have left in approximately September 1983. We were never owners of the cottage, merely tenants, I believe the cottage was newly purchased by our landlords just before we moved in. I think just about all residents of Borley at the time we lived there were very much of the opinion `no ghosts here!` and that they just wanted to get on with their ordinary daily lives, I hope They are allowed to!
Many thanks,
Stephanie Gould.

I've been checking out your site after I read a short piece about the rectory in one of the UK's national newspapers ("Daily Mail") yesterday. It's an amazing site and you are a truly interesting person. I actually live in Essex fairly near to Borley (About 20 minutes by car) so I've visited the place several times, read a few books and know a fair bit of it's history. Amazingly a lot of local people still think that the rectory still stands and are no doubt hugely disappointed to visit Borley and find modern houses on it's site!! I wish I had a great story to tell you but one interesting anecdote is the non-appearance of Borley on local road signs in an effort to keep people away. You have to know where it is, it's almost impossible to find if you don't know your way around. Also nearly a decade ago I made my first visit to the site and church one night with an old girlfriend (Who knew the place, she lived nearby) and an interested friend. When we got there it was pitch black and very, very creepy but this was probably down to us being very up for it and "Vibed" by the whole adventure. Me and my friend got out to check out the church whilst my girlfriend stayed in the car. As we approached the church some very bright security lights suddenly switched on so we darted back to the car. We would never have done anything wrong but we didn't want to cause a scene so we thought we'd just leave. The strange thing is that the car just would not start, it just turned over and over and eventually fired but not until we were all very worked-up. The car was brand new and had never played-up before. Interesting......
Best wishes,
Paul

I'm a 16 year old girl and in my old house there was very weird and spooky goings on but the one I remember the most is when I was asleep in my bed. I smelt a cold sort of smell (I cant really describe it ) but then someone or something tapped me on the head and I woke up with a jolt. At first I thought I must of done it myself but then I knew I couldn't have because one hand was hugging my hot water bottle and the other in my mouth (as I was young then, but not too young). No one close had died recently but what I think is that I had recently moved away from my father and I heard somewhere that certain things happen like a poltergeist is more likely to happen around young women for sexual reasons but I don't really know, I just wanted to tell you /great website by the way.
4725

I'm afraid it seems shameful to me to think of the way Louis Mayerling appears to be behaving towards somebody who had taken him into their confidence. As you yourself say, you'd supplied him with a steady supply of your work and thoughts on the Borley legend and he appears to be trying to use it to discredit your Mother and you, not to mention hundreds of witnesses who would appear more reliable than he is. This may be completely unfair on the locals of the village, but I'd imagined a scenario that has Mr. Mayerling approaching the quite understandably exasperated residents to discuss writing a book which would pour scorn on the entire subject of the Borley hauntings from their outset. Hence his claim to have been there to have perpetrated these "pranks." If this were true, who's to say that far from persuading people not to visit the site they may feel more inclined than ever to do so in order to try to prove that some sort of paranormal forces are at work there? Something that I do find intriguing about his claims is this ( and I imagine this has been asked before, several times). If he was there in the 30s to have been involved in the hoax why has he left it over half a century to bring it to light? How many of the original witnesses are still with us to argue his claims? Witnesses you will recall that were from what was considered to be the more intelligent end of the scale: scientists, engineers, officers of the armed forces. We were not talking about a randomly selected group of village idiots. Why did Mr. Mayerling not see fit to challenge the testimony of these witnesses at the time? And why when it seems that the names and in most cases a brief outline of even the most infrequent visitor to the Rectory were supplied in some report or other does L.M.( to my knowledge) not receive a single mention? Strange Methinks for a man who was by this point pretty well part of the furniture.
RE: an E-mail from Tarif Khalidi and Alison Cross where-in they described the complete silence of Borley. You may recall my message of 020101 in which I wrote the very same thing. I found it to be something altogether different from a quiet tranquility, a sort of oppressive silence that almost makes one want to make a noise on purpose, just to prove that you haven't gone stone deaf. Furthermore, we found ourselves talking in whispers the whole time, although this was probably a by-product of our determination not to disturb anybody's peace. I just wonder whether any of our other friends and associates have experienced this or indeed has anybody found it to be a haven of birdsong? I have read a couple of reports that mention the singing of nightingales, but certainly there was none on the day we visited. Perhaps it was the wrong time of day/year? I wouldn't know!
The other matter that I'd like to mention briefly is the "misty Nun" photo (Dave Bamber's I think?) There has been mention of the nun having her head "propped" on her hand. It occurs to me a possible link to the sad and ill looking Nun spotted at the gate on consecutive days by the workman as he made his way by in the early morning and the abscess ridden jawbone allegedly belonging to the murdered Nun Marie Lairre? The extent of the infection was apparently enough to have caused the skull's owner extreme pain, so she may have been holding the side of her face in agony?
The Discovery Civilisation channel is currently screening a series of half hour programmes called "Ghosthunters," and although there have been no mentions of Borley on the two episodes I have seen so far I thought that you may still be interested?
All the best,
Pete Hodkinson
[Thank you. None of the videos mention Borley, and are repeatedly regularly.]

Like many others I have been reading the web site with great interest & I am e-mailing you not with any further matter for your research but a question. Would you know where I may be able to obtain a copy of the program made by the BBC during the seventies? I have been searching for this for many years. Any help is much appreciated.
Neil Corder
P.S Both my wife & I have visited Borley & we both found it quite a tranquil & quite place.

I hope you do not mind my liberty in sending you this message. I have never been to Borley and do not have any related stories to tell. I have however experienced some similar experiences to some of those written about by Price and recounted on your site. (I read one of his books a year or so ago).
First I should say that I am a sceptic. I am 26 years old, my degree is in the science behind sound and music, ie. music technology, and I am currently retraining to teach primary children. I like to think that my feet are firmly on the ground.
Some five years ago whilst studying for my degree I shared a house with friends in East London. During our year in this house, firstly I and later my friends experienced some unexplainable events, apparition, poltergeist and rooms filling with smoke. One event involved a lamp being thrown at me and the bulb exploding in front of my face. I was unharmed though some of the glass impaled the bathrobe hanging on the door behind me. This event felt very personal and for a time I felt in danger.
My first instrument is the harp and at the time I owned a number and still do. We all witnessed the harp playing on one occasion (including the cat) and on another a small celtic harp went 'missing' for some time during which we were all together and accounted for. The harp was later found in the laundry.
We were fortunate to have a number of interested lecturers at the university and good advise, both practical and psychological (by the end of the year I was questioning my sanity) was available.
Once we overcame the fear, as scientists we observed the events. Not surprisingly we were unable to draw conclusions or explain most of them rationally.
After these events I remain a sceptic trying to find an explanation for sometimes unexplainable occurrences. With all that has been written and told about Borley, it is possible we may never detach the truth from the stories. I do however believe that we will one day, soon I hope, be able to explain such things. As science and technology develops, paranormal will become normal. We have learnt so much over the last hundred years and continue to develop at such a pace, man on the moon, electricity etc.
I shall not visit Borley. I recall how I felt about the intrusions in my life and home whilst at university.
I'll end in congratulating you on your web site and his unbiased style. In a world where so much is tinted it is refreshing to find such a subject reported in such a way.
Regards
Mike Baldwin

I was just sent this review of the Mayerling book but without the credit as to which British paper it appeared in. "Hoaxer's confession lays the famed ghosts of Borley." Amelia Hill. Sunday, December 31, 2000.
Tom Ogden

We are iBazar.pt, the number one Portuguese auction site. We are sending you this email to request the permission to use a screenshot of your [web] site. This image would be used in a section of iBazar Magazine (an on-line Magazine) to share with our users some interesting sites. If you prefer and if you want, I suggest that you write an informative article presenting all the services that you offer to the Internet users. This article will go with the screenshot. Thanks for your comprehension and we would like this email to be answered with some urgency.
Best regards,
Tina Pereira
Product Manager
iBazar Portugal

I've read the latest on the Louis Mayerling book. In view of all that's been said I am left wondering WHY he wrote the book at all. What was he trying to achieve? I'm also wondering what more there is to say or do about the Borley saga. After all, all the people involved are now dead and the rectory itself is long gone. The residents of Borley have had quite enough of the whole thing for years, and even 'visitors' are clearly unwanted. All that seems left now is your own personal search regarding your mother. It is obvious that no-one will ever know what really happened, if anything, regarding the alleged ghostly phenomena. But let's face it, 'ghosts' don't exist except in imagination and superstition. There has never been a single case where such a 'thing' as a 'ghost' has been proven to exist. There have been unexplained happenings, however, which is not the same thing at all.
John Lane

First of all (although late) a happy new year to you and all BGS-members. Last December I visited London, especially "The Tower". In a shop there I found a booklet about ghosts. The booklet is called GHOSTS, HAUNTED HOUSES & SPOOKY STORIES - THE FACTS; THE FAKES & THE TOTALLY BIZARRE and on page 22 there are a few words written about Borley. The picture above doesn't show Borley church, it's the church of the most haunted village in Kent/England. I thought you might be interested in sending you a copy. I hope the copy is good enough for reading.
Best regards,
Birgit Brenner
[Remove the steeple and extend the tower, and this church in Pluckley looks a great deal like the one at Borley.]

Anna Claybourne slips up a few times in her effort to simplify the legend for juvenile audiences in The Usborne Book of Ghosts and Hauntings.

The very last sentence of Ghosts? by Gillian Doherty is a caption over a picture of the rectory.

Another one sentence mention is made by Leonard Ashley in The Complete Book of Ghosts and Hauntings. One might get the feeling Borley is out of fashion with many contemporary writers - perhaps they can't figure out in which column to place it - "bogus" or "possible." It would be interesting to hear from Hans Holzer why he has never mentioned Borley in his dozens of books.

Jamas Enright continues to come through, and this time I was delighted with his submission about The Folly Fellowship. It seems there is an organization that seeks to preserve follies, and it even has a web site! Obviously, your editor would be excited to join in order to preserve Pentlow Tower, one of his most favorite places on earth! Unfortunately, the yearly membership is £18, but what a delightful thought! The site doesn't mention Pentlow, but one can't help but wonder if this wonder isn't represented in one or more of the books mentioned in the bibliography. This particular reference is short, but negative, and may be one of the reasons the current owner has built a sturdy gate - to keep out the curious.

If you would like a profile page made especially for you, just tell me a little about yourself and attach a JPG photo to an e-mail.