With sincere appreciation to Bill Vicars for his tireless efforts to salvage the Borley Rectory web site. If not for his skills and unwavering dedication, the site would not have returned. Our sincere gratitude is also extended to Gary Cooke for his generous contribution to abate the unexpected expenses.

It is odd how low traffic is bad news and high traffic is bad news. I'll talk to chums in the industry and see if anyone has any ideas to make this thing at least self-sustaining. (with a nice surplus for Borley Church). I expect you've tried all the obvious things. Pentlow Church has now been repaired and is looking lovely. All is quiet around here, the leaves just beginning to come on the trees. A wonderful hot spring we've had too. We had a pre-production special offer on the 'Final analysis' Borley book put in the parish magazine last month, but I have not seen any copies of the book yet. There have been some very interesting local history books published in the past few months but I've seen nothing that is relevant to Borley Rectory.
Andrew Clarke

Sorry to hear, I will see what I can do, I am registered with PayPal. All this internet stuff starts out Free, Cheap, etc but when they get you lassoed in they start going up. . . . I hope you get a huge response for funds, Too bad you can't find an artifact to auction off, Like a brick. I have a brick from the two old theaters that were torn down here in the downtown area.
Kathy Rageur

I will forward $100 today. I really hope that other associates will do what ever they can to help.
Best regards
Gary Cooke

The financial situation at borleyrectory.com concerns me and I've been trying to figure out what I can do to help, as PayPal doesn't take my particular type of U.K. debit card. Any ideas?
BGS associate
[As an option to contributing to the BGS using PayPal, I have set up a phoney purchase of one of my books at eBay. I entered three denominations, but if you wish a fourth, just let me know. Again, thank you VERY much for your concern!]

Analysis of new photo by Scott Cunningham.

While in the neighborhood, Eddie took a picture at Liston Church where the bones found by Harry Price were buried in May of 1945.

Scott Cunningham took a look at the Iris Owen notes and concluded, "The bottom line is that Borley Rectory evidently had two bricked up windows that were associated with possible poltergeist activity."

Yesterday in the Daily Mail there was this story say that scientists have proved that ghost do not exist. They had investigated Hampton Court and had come up with positive proof that ghost do not exist. Now today they do exist.
Maureen Shaw
[CNN coverage - "Two of Britain's most famous 'ghosts' are apparently just the effects of drafts or poor lighting, British psychologists said Wednesday. Hundreds of volunteers were asked to describe their experiences at Hampton Court Palace in southwest London -- where Catherine, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII is said to wander -- and the South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh, reportedly home to a cheeky boy specter known as Mr. Boots." BBC version - "A team of ghost-busting psychologists, led by Dr Richard Wiseman of Hertfordshire University, installed thermal cameras and air movement detectors in the gallery. About 400 palace visitors were then quizzed on whether they could feel a 'presence' in the gallery. More than half reported sudden drops in temperature and some said they sensed a ghostly presence. Several people claimed to have seen Elizabethan figures. But Dr Wiseman's team said the experiences could be simply explained by the gallery's numerous concealed doors. These elderly exits are far from draught-proof and the combination of air currents which they let in cause sudden changes in the room's temperature." Aussie coverage - "GHOSTS and supernatural phenomena do not exist but neither are they all in the mind, a study claiming to be the largest scientific investigation of the paranormal has found.The spine-chilling reputation of supposedly haunted houses is often richly deserved but owes more to draughts and lighting than to restless souls and spirits, research into two of Britain's most haunted sites found. A team led by the University of Hertfordshire's Richard Wiseman examined paranormal experiences at Hampton Court Palace in southwest London and the South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh. . . . Cold draughts, poor or variable lighting, claustrophobia and magnetic fields can all promote a sense of unease some people interpret as a supernatural presence. As these environmental factors affect the same spots again and again, they quickly acquire a reputation for being haunted. The results of the study are to be published in the British Journal of Psychology, and 'this is the first time that someone's made the case that these things are environmentally driven and has come up with evidence for it,' Dr Wiseman said. . . .The findings, Dr Wiseman said, showed that ghosts and things that went bump in the night were best explained as the brain's interpretation of real phenomena and by our own conditioning through Hollywood films and ghost stories."]

Here's a short article that recently appeared in one of our newspapers. It was covered by BBC news too, so there may be something further about it on the BBC's website (but, again, I haven't had time to look for myself). "Ghostbusters may finally have unravelled the mystery of haunted houses - they are caused by nothing more spooky than a magnetic surge. The natural phenomenon can have a subtle effect on the brain, causing people to believe they have seen or sensed a ghostly presence, a new study suggests. Researchers questioned more than 460 visitors to notoriously eerie attractions such as Hampton Court in Surrey and the South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh. About 45 per cent reported having a ghostly experience during their visit - and they matched the areas of the buildings where there were strong variations in the magnetic field. Researcher Dr. Richard Wiseman, of Hertfordshire University, said: These findings strongly suggest that hauntings do not represent ghostly activity but rather people responding unwittingly to factors in their surroundings."
I largely agree with many of the comments made in the last newsletter by "Name on file", regarding the emphasis placed on what not to do when visiting Borley but, at the same time, I also comprehend Vincent O'Neil's position and point-of-view. I guess the whole secneario is a bit like union negotiations for a pay rise, i.e. a demand for an unrealistic rise of X% is submitted in the full knowledge that the employers will not agree to it. A very low offer of Z% is made and the unions, then, reject that. Eventually, both the unions and the employers agree on a figure, Y%, that's somewhere in between the outrageously high and pitifully low. Of course, this figure is what the unions were after in the first place but had they submitted a request for that amount the result would have been much lower - after the X, Z, Y process. The point is that Vincent knows full well that not everyone who visitis Borley is going to take notice of his pleas for respecting the place and its inhabitants, etc. but if visitors take notice of half of them, then that's an achievement in itself!
Mike Austin's tale (in Newsletter #58) of workmen returning bricks, etc. to Borley Rectory - having, originally, taken them as souvenirs - is interesting but quite contrary to experience of a friend of mine. He has a small slab of red brick (measuring about 4"x4"x1") which (he says) he took from Borley Rectory many years ago - before it was completely demolished (if my memory serves me correctly, he says that, at the time, there was not much more than the outline of the rectory remaining, together with some other debris strewn over the site). He uses it as a door stop and, to the best of my knowledge, has never felt that it has brought him bad luck.
Stephen D. Smith

Just read the information from Iris Owen. Good stuff, Especially about the other bricked up window. I got lost on the Skull thing, So is the skull still buried? You know forensics can take the skull and create a recognizable face from it to see who it might have been. I wonder if anyone has thought of that??? Or is it lost completely now??? It is odd that you never got any indication of who the picture of the child was. I enjoy my Borley screensaver slide show. . . .
Kathy Rageur
[No trace of the Smith skull has been found.]

As impressed as ever with the site and its technical features!
Richard Lee-Van den Daele

I have been browsing through your website and reading those amazing tales of the Borley Rectory. And please apologize my poor English. My name is Hildur Andresdottir (female), I´m 40 years old, and I live in Iceland. In Iceland it is very common to belive in ghosts but here most people take them for granted. I personally know quite a few people who claim they see ghosts all the time. I myself have occasionally seen people who dissappear when you try to focus on them, always in the same places. This has never frightened me, but as a child and young woman, this made me very curious and I read everything I could possibly find about ghosts and life after death, starting at the age of ten or eleven. But as I understand it, the English (and probably Americans as well) have a little different approach to the subject. It seems you are more declined to link it with horror and mystery. (I just watched Stephen King´s Rose Garden the other day). And now to the real reason I´m writing to you.For the time being I am working on a submission to the Internet Raytracing Competition (www.irtc.org). This month´s topic is "Mystery" and it was during my surf on thw web, looking for inspiration that I found your website. I want to work on something related to ghosts being maybe the greatest mystery of all times, and I am wondering if it is O.K. for mention the Borley as a source of inspiration. It means in other words, we always submit a text along with the renderings to explain tecniques and to clarify our subject and I would be grateful if I could mention Borley as "The most haunted house in England" along with a short version of the story behind it. I would be grateful if you could reply soon as I´m under time restrictions for the submission. If you want to learn more about this competition and my submissions so far, try http://www.irtc.org/stills/2003-02-28/view.html and look for: hi wheel.jpg, and http://www.irtc.org/stills/2003-04-30/view.html and look for: old new.jpg Thanks,
Hildur Andresdottir
[Thank you for contacting me about your interest. You may find my short history of Borley helpful. Please note copyright laws by noting author. It would also be appropriate to include a link to this web page, and to my web site. Best of luck with your entry, and please let me see the finished result, as I should like to add it to my Bibliography.]

I read the essay by Andrew Clarke about "home life, with the Bulls." It was great. If History class had been anything like that I might have enjoyed it. The part about the Baize door was interesting, in that as big as the house looked it didn't look large enough to have supported separate closed off areas like that for Family / Servants, and I liked the comment that the servants liked to be hidden and separate not because they felt "lower" but so they could do their work undisturbed. Good point, and I would never had seen it that way.
Kathy Rageur

The refurbishment of the Harry Price Library is going on well, but will not be finished until next year. Ted Babb's book [Borley Rectory: the final analysis] should be out soon now. . . . .
As ever,
Alan Wesencraft

Have been rifling through some of my bits and pieces recently and thought I'd send you some odds and ends as attachments. You probably already have them, but I couldn't see these particular pictures on the site (well done on the renewed presentation, by the way, very impressive!). I obtained these pictures following vissits made to the HPL in the 1980s. The letter is one from the same period from Geoffrey Croom-Hollingsworth. I presume he is dead by now, but don't know for certain.
With every good wish,
Richard Lee-Van den Daele
[This unique photo is probably from 1937, when Sidney Glanville was taking pictures for what would become The Locked Book. It was probably not included in either Glanville's book or in the Harry Price books because of the angle. It points out how difficult it was to get a good view of the front of the rectory - the trees on the left were just too close. This explains why the view of the verrandah from the lawn has become the most famous view, even though it does not accurately display the size and true architecture of the building. This photo has not been reproduced previously anywhere else.]

the info and old picture of 20a worple road seems most hard to come by. however there are still a few avenues to go down yet so we may still be lucky. in the meantime i thought i would send this "alternative" picture of borley church. the stereotypical haunted church. . . . . i am going to borley on 24 may. i hope to get some alternative shots of the area including liston. if you would like me to shoot any specific photos feel free to ask and ill do my best to get them. all the best.
eddie brazil

Many thanks for the e-mail you sent me today from Peter Underwood concerning my projected biography of Sidney Glanville. I have to admit I was quite taken aback & have written to him this evening c/o The Savage Club in London to introduce myself & to thank him for expressing his interest in the project. Any information that he can provide will be gratefully received. Your website is a constant source of valuable information, especially the reproduction of the Locked Book which I have been studying in some detail at present. I will of course keep you informed as to progress with the above.
With best wishes,
Paul Adams

Thanks, as always, for the new Newsletter. As a professional magician, I was fascinated to read the letter from Mike Austin, editor of "The Magic Circular." Keep up the great work!
Cheers,
Tom Ogden

Nick Rowland is recovering from gall bladder surgery.

Bob Savage was admitted to hospital suddenly with a stomach complaint and is temporarily out of action. He is feeling much better and will be discharged soon.

We had employee appreciation day today and I got my 30 year pin . . .The bosses bought Pizza and salad and Cake for lunch . . .
Kathy Rageur

Thanks for your support! [My dog] Jubal did raise $300.00 for MS research, and he did last for the entire walk, though he was a hot doggie towards the end of it. He was much petted and admired, which is good for him. He loves everybody, and doesn't have an agressive bone in his body, but his obvious German Shepherd/Rottweiler lineage tends to make people wary of him. By the end of the walk, however, most people were stopping to pet him and say what a beautiful dog he is. Jubal did have the Borley Ghost Society on his tabard/banner, along with several other organizations.
Linda Cody

John Maxwell Foyster died at 9 p.m.(Adelaide time) on Saturday 5 April. Bruce Gillespie subsequently wrote:
John Foyster: 13 April 1941-5 April 2003. John entered fandom in 1958, joined the Melbourne SF Club in 1959, and in the early 1960s was one of the few Australians publishing fanzines that were sent overseas. Titles included Satura, Gryphon and The Wild Colonial Boy. . . . In 1970 Foyster appointed a team to bid to hold a world SF convention in Australia; this quickly became the Aussiecon I bid for 1975, which we won in Toronto in 1973. Meanwhile, Foyster was publishing such fanzines as exploding madonna/Journal of Omphalistic Epistemology (which won a Ditmar Award in 1970), Norstrilian News and Chunder!. . . . Nigel Rowe reminded me of John's lifelong interest in fan history, culminating in his organising the FanHistoricon stream at Aussiecon III. - Bruce Gillespie
If anyone is planning a “Best of John Foyster” collection. Could they please contact Gillespie at 59 Keele St, Collingwood, Vic 3066, or gandc@mira.net