Welcome to the thirty-third edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter.

Guy Lyon Playfair has supplied a fitting epitah, written by Banks himself in a letter dated April 11, 1986. Webster's dictionary defines epitah as "a brief statement commemorating or epitomizing a deceased person." Among other things, Banks discusses his distrust of Trevor Hall, and his restrained support for Harry Price.

This remembrance will not be complete until we add either a photograph or the printed obituary - or both.

When I was in Borley last summer I had the feeling that Borley Church dilapidates more and more. As I visited Borley several times I can say that the church never was in such a bad state as it looked last summer. I noticed this particularly when I watched my holiday video which includes 30 minutes about Borley Church and grounds. So I'm worried about the bad condition and I wonder whether there is a kind of collecting point where someone can give a contribution for restoring old buildings. It hurts to see this wonderful church going to ruin.
Birgit Brenner

I like the chat idea. Lots of chat programs are shareware or freeware. I was surprised that I still had a copy of Pirch - easy to install & lets you hear .wav files etc. I imagine that there's a more recent version but mine seems to work fine. Let me know when you plan to be hosting the channel. Make sure that you are set up as the moderator to "kick" off uninvited or rude guests (good control).
Let me know if I can help. My chat knowledge is a little rusty but I'm sure I can find the right people to ask (if I don't know).
Cheers,
Jeff Marschmeyer

Thanks for letting me know about the chat. I was out performing on a ship (as usual). Maybe next time...
Tom Ogden

This is a subject that I can maybe give you advice on. IRC is very popular as I'm sure you are aware of and it is very easy to set up a channel. I won't go into any details but suffice to say that you should go to : - www.irchelp.org for any information you need.
Hope this helps.
Shaun Lefley

I'm teaching parapsychology at Weber State University this semester. . . . would you be willing to speak for one class period about your research on Borley Rectory. . . . I've greatly enjoyed your presentations in the past and hope you'll be able to do so this semester.
Thanks,
Rick Atkinson
[Thank you for the invitation. See you Wednesday, April 18.]

could you help me with my project on borley rectory? i've been intrested in borely rectory since i was 4 years old i used to put on plays about it and now i'm ready to write a whole book on it coz i'm so intrested
WHITEK

My name is Sara Garner and I am doing my final exam in British Literature on Borley Rectory. I'm building a replica of the house and . . . . I was wondering if you could e-mail [the floor plans] so I can use them as references. I would really appreciate it. When I finish my essay, I will send it to you. I'll also send you pictures of my replica if you would like. Thank you for responding.
Sara Garner

RE: PHOTO TAKEN OF FLOATING BRICK AT BARLEY RECTORY APRIL 5TH 1944 BY HARRY PRICE. dear sir this may sound strange, but the photo you are refereeing to taken then needs to Bo looked at in closer detail. i may be crazy but i saw the photo in a time life book; if you look closer at the photo you will or you may notice that in the door of the rectory there appears to be a person, she appears to be wearing a nuns habit, though you can not make out the details of the face you can indeed see the form and what appears to be a nun standing in the door way of Barley. I am not a teen nor is this a joke. I noticed the form in the door way at a glance and looked closer at it. I thought that this might interest you; I hope that you will let me know if you decide to view the photo again. so that i will know that i am either seeing things or not seeing things. my appreciation for your time. thank you again.
Mrs. V. A. Placker
[Thank you for your interest. Many people have seen different images in several of the photos.]

I have a few questions if you don't mind me asking. Do you know how many Spirits and stuff like that are really in Borley Rectory? Because some things been telling me there are 9 spirit types and stuff like that. There are 3 poltergeists, 2 earthbounds and 4 spirits that haunt this place. You know when you showed the picture of your mother did she at all when the time she lived there every accidentally hit her right side of her face? You know when you took that picture of Borley Rectory before the fire, I just want to make sure the in the west side of the house there is a face and if you cannot see it then I must be a psychic because I'm only been having all these weird things happening. And I better warn you if your letting the public in the house stop it because one day one of the poltergeist will NEARLY almost kill somebody! Well good luck on your work and I hope you know that this is a 11 year old speaking here! Please tell me the answers to the questions that I asked. THANK YOU!
barry vincent
[Thank you very much. I have counted approximately 20 candidates for the alleged ghosts. My mother did not accidentally hit her right side of her face? Many people have said they see people in the window(s). With the parents, 14 children, servants and visitors, it is entirely possible. The house was destroyed in 1939.]

I thought you may be interested in a incident related to me this week by my grandmother. I live in the town of Ipswich, approx. 30 miles from Borley. In about 1993 I was fourteen and very interested in the paranormal and, particularly, in the 'nearby' Borley Rectory. After a shopping trip to Sudbury with my grandparents and twelve year old sister I persuaded them to visit nearby Borley in the hope, I admit of seeing a ghost. We parked in a verge by a field just outside of Borley and my grandmother, sister and I walked around the church. My grandfather (now deceased) was annoyed and extremely sceptical about the whole thing so he stayed in the parked car. After walking around the church we walked around a field that ran behind the houses of Borley. We then returned to the car, having seen nothing and returned home. I did not realise my grandfather had experienced anything paranormal until this week when my grandmother and I got onto the subject of ghosts. She said that on returning home my grandmother had commented that she thought we had gone to the wrong place. My grandfather replied that no, we definitely hadn't. He then related that as we walked around the field he had heard the sound of horses approaching very quickly. He had looked around but seen nothing. The noise had got closer and closer until the unseen horses had thundered past the car window. My grandfather, a world war two veteran, was terrified by the experience but had not mentioned it to us for fear of scaring my easily frightened sister. I realise that the sound of coach and horses is one of the phenomena associated with Borley. My grandfather, who did not have any interest in the paranormal and did not even want to be there knew nothing of the Borley hauntings. I hope you find this story interesting and I would be interested to know if anyone else in recent years has either heard or seen the phantom coach o horses.
Yours Faithfully,
Miss Rebecca Markwell

What a busy man. You're life really is full of fun exciting stuff!! Did you ever think you'd become such a renowned expert on the subject of parapsychology? Too cool!
Shannon
[Actually, when I was growing up, I wanted to turn myself over to some laboratory and see if they couldn't hone my skills so I could move things and read minds and such. This was long before I even knew there were such places for real! It was only a fleeting dream, however. There is a bit of coincidence here, since the Rhine Institute (for the study of parasychology) is part of Duke University - the place Eileen Garrett was willing to send me for my education!]

When I was about 10 years old I found The Haunting of Borley Rectory in the Clacton on Sea library. I read and re-read it dozens of times and the story fascinated me. I read The End of Borley Rectory some time later which reinforced my fascination with the story. Although I lived close to Borley at that time, in Clacton, I never did visit Borley as I was too young to go alone. My parents subsequently emigrated to Canada when I was 15 (in 1957) but the fascination with the story of Borley has stayed with me all these years. I have read over the years some more about Borley and the supposed exposure of Harry Price as a fraud. (?) My cousin and her husband paid a visit to the ruins several years ago, on a hot summer day. They said that as they approached the site, a cold wind blew up which chilled them and filled them with a sense of foreboding. They rushed back to their car and drove quickly away. Auto-suggestion? Perhaps! Although I have lived in Canada since 1957, I do visit the UK from time to time and hope to again next November. I will try to make a visit at long last to Borley (after all these years) if I am in that part of England. I'm glad to see the legend has not been forgotten.
Barbara Provis
Toronto, Ontario.
my other email address

I have enjoyed having all the Borley newsletters and read them with great interest. I am still amazed that there is such a continuing interest in Borley. I wonder what your mother would have made of it all?
Iris Owen

I have wrote to you before but I am eager to know more. This week as you know is the Easter break and me and my brother are planning on going to Borley. I am writing to you to find out can you still see the Nuns walk, can you still hear and see the horse and [chariot] and are things still going on in Borley. Did the fire in some way make the ghost flee. Have their been any reports written to you recently about the goings on at Borley. I would be grateful if you could write back.
I have wrote to you before but I am eager to know more. In the Easter break me and my brother are planning on going to Borley, we have read many books on Borley [ Harry Price] but we want to see it for our selves. We are both amateurs on ghost investigations but keen on knowing what's out there. What information and advice have you got for us . Such as equipment to catch the ghosts in action. . . . what equipment should we bring down to the Rectory to prove things are still going on. . . . are the ghost still there, has anybody wrote to you with information of any apparitions of the nun. Just one more thing, why is their less siting of the ghost now the house is burnt down it seems to me the ghosts have been affected by the fire.
Vanessa Rowell
[There are a few things you might want to consider before visiting Borley. The first item of importance is the fact the rectory no longer exists. It was destroyed by fire in 1939, and torn down in 1944. Next, over the years the reports of alleged "sightings" has decreased steadily. Perhaps the ghosts - if there were any - have moved on. The nun and the carriage have not been seen for decades. No one has written to me of anything new. Lastly, the nun's walk and all other remains of the rectory are no longer visible and are on private property. The residents are most anxious to NOT be disturbed. You might want to read about their reactions to visitors.]

I am really pleased that Peter Underwood was able to prove that Louis Mayerling was a fraud. It is truly amazing what does come out of the woodwork. He was out to try to make a few pennies at others expense.
Maureen Shaw

I first became interested in Borley Rectory after a personal and notable experience in my life . I first heard of this as the most haunted house in England, in an adult publication called Mayfair, which ran an extremely detailed, and informed article on Borley back in the early 80s. I have had several genuine encounters since and. . . . I can tell you the truth.
JERRY BOWLER

Thanks for the latest Newsletter etc. I'm glad to see you're continuing to do a sterling job. . . . I saw the following in the Metro `paper on 29 March and thought it might interest you:
"Draughts may be responsible for spine-chilling sensations in Hampton Court's famous Haunted Gallery, a parapsychologist said yesterday. The gallery is said to be haunted by the ghost of Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine Howard, who was dragged through it to her execution in 1540. Dr Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, led a study in which more than 400 members of the public were taken to visit the gallery in May last year. At least half reported spooky experiences, mostly involving sudden drops in temperature and sensations of `a presence'. But Dr Wiseman said yesterday: `The Haunted Gallery has a lot of concealed doors, which cause a lot of thermal patterns in the air. You do, literally, walk into a column of cold air sometimes. It's possible that people are misattributing normal phenomena.' "
Wonder what he would have made of "our" Cold Spot?!
Richard Lee-Van den Daele

Thanks for the article, "Peter Underwood debunks the Borley debunker!" Louis Mayerling was definitely mistaken at best, and he wasn't the only debunker at Borley. I notice that so many of these people who claim to have set up hoaxes and seen all sorts at Borley, never actually lived on the premises or in the village. The village of Borley is very quiet and mysterious as you well know. It has been the scene of so many authenticated stories of hauntings in recent years, especially at the church. However because of the likes of Mayerling, the present people of Borley village have been bombarded with thrill-seekers and vandals of all types, stalking the place and making general nuisances of themselves. Marianne Foyster and the other incumbents of Borley Rectory were not to blame for these idiots or for the so-called faked phenomena. I believe that those who lived there actually witnessed these events first hand. As a practising medium myself, I could recognise psychic abilities in Marianne's stories and none of it very pleasant for her. Unfortunately, psychic foci as Marianne was, often attract entities and get blamed for making things up. It is no fun being like this and to have to put up with Mayerling, Price, etc.
Anyway, thanks for the info. Very interesting.
Patricia Langley

Me and my brother who are both keen ghost hunters have not visited the rectory yet. We don't know how to get up there, and whether it is worth it. If we go up there, we will have no accommodation. Would it be possible to camp in the field? We are thinking of going in the Easter holidays. Could you get back to me as soon as possible. thanx.
Joe
[Thank you for your interest. The rectory no longer exists -- private homes have been built on the former site. It would appear that over time, the ghosts have also left. There are no accommodations for visitors, and the police are called rapidly to attend to those who come without an invitation. Please see my comments to visitors.

Loyd Auerbach was on LARRY KING LIVE April 3 on CNN. The topic was "Haunted Houses." After the show, he wrote, "It felt odd being in a room with nothing but a TV camera and a monitor. Otherwise, I think it went well. Would have liked to break in with more comments/retorts, but they must have turned off our mikes except when Larry was directly addressing us. I think there were just too many guests to keep the mikes live throughout. Randi was especially tame. . . . even somewhat fair. Shermer was generally good, but to be honest, his comments regarding a connection between "pretending and basing our lives on wishful thinking" and "the road to more dangerous beliefs" is a bit scary to me. And it's also contradictory somewhat to his later comment that "ghost story-telling" is "just good fun." By the way, I think that there's no way a haunted house would even qualify for "testing" in Randi's world. No way to test it empirically, unless we can get the cooperation of the ghost. And just what's a ghost want with one million dollars? They have no incentive to cooperate."

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