This is to bring you the sad news that Montague Keen, who you will remember from your trip to Borley a few years ago, died on January 15. It was a dramtic end - we were at a meeting of the Royal Society of Arts, which had put on a debate on telepathy, with Rupert Sheldrake for, and a skeptical professor of something or other called Lewis Wolpert against. It was only the second time in 20 years, I was told, that an RSA meeting was sold out, in this case within three days of its announcement. Rupert was his usual organised and lucid self, and had the audience with him right from the start. At question time, Monty began to ask a fairly long, but very clearly structured question that amounted to a thorough dismemberment of such arguements as Wolpert had managed to produce. He suddenly stopped. There was a painful silence, and in a few minutes, it was all over. The ambulance came and we were asked to leave. What a way to go! That very day I had sent off the final proof of an article Monty and I had been working on for more than a year for the Journal of the SPR's January issue. This was what we both believed to be a very compelling case of communication from a discarnate person. - Guy Lyon Playfair

Extremely sad news and my utmost condolences to Veronica. - henry bailey
My condolences to his wife and family... - Kathy Rageur

Ambrose, Ernest. Melford Memories: recollections of 94 years. Long Melford Historical and Archaeological Society, 1972. ("My study of the organ continued under the expert tuition of Mr. Bernard Hurst (one of five brothers, all organists) until, at the age of 18, I was invited to become organist at the little church at Borley. I used to cycle over every Friday evening for choir practice and again on Sundays for services. If the roads were very bad or too deep in snow, I would walk taking short cuts across fields. I'd always arrange to arrive about half an hour before the service and would often stand on the hill looking down towards Melford. It was interesting to watch the people coming from Rodbridge making their way to the church over the stile, and diagonally across the field and then alongside the hedge. Most especially was it fascinating on dark nights when groups of worshippers carried lanterns and you would see these little lights bobbing along like fire flies as the people made their way to church. It was a very well attended church and we had an enthusiastic choir. In winter we had "evening service" at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I was always invited to stay to lunch at the rectory, and on arrival before morning service was given a glass of beer, which was very welcome after my efforts to get there. The Rev. Harry Bull was rector at that period and I got to know the family well. I began to hear about their ghost which the family spoke about in quite matter of fact terms. The rector's sisters seemed mostly concerned in this apparition and when I asked them about it they told me in quite casual terms what they had seen. They pointed out to me the path and lawn where they had seen the ghost walking, and when I asked what they felt about it, they said "Oh, we are quite used to it. It doesn't bother us at all." They also showed me a bedroom window where it appeared during the last week in July. That made me think it could be due in some way to the special position of the sun at that time. They were all very down to earth women, not given to exaggeration or emotionalism; nor were they inclined to search for the supernatural. But they were very convinced that they had seen an apparition on several occasions, and they just accepted this as a plain fact. They were very practical women, and if, as happened occasionally, I got a puncture in my bike, one of them would mend it for me and enjoy doing it. A young housemaid, who had only been at the rectory a short time and had heard no talk of ghosts, told me she came home one evening and in the semi-darkness saw a person dressed as a nun or nurse standing at the lower garden gate. She approached it and it vanished. She was so terrified she fainted. One summer's evening the Rev. Bull, who also was a pragmatic type of man, told me he was standing in the church talking to a friend (I had just left after the service) when they both distinctly heard knocking outside starting from the south side and continuing the whole way round the church. On investigation they found nothing. I was organist at Borley for 17 years and often left after choir practice on dark nights but I saw nothing at all. I am by no means psychic and if I encounter an unusual situation I always seek, and usually find, a natural explanation. Ghosts and house haunts were, however, often talked of and believed in when I was a boy. People believed explicitly in evil spirits and in apparitions and most certainly in the devil. Children were often threatened with the devil; "You marn't do that do the dev'l get ya." Spirits of good and evil were considered a natural part of everyday life; and heaven and hell were very real places in the minds of ordinary people.") courtesy of Andrew Clarke

Here is the photo i was telling you about [at Liston]. I wonder how many Eric Calcraft took on that summers evening back in 1945? The photo comes from a book called Strange but true by Jenny Randles and Peter Hough based on the London weekend television series of the same name. - Eddie Brazil

Paul, marvelous stuff. Well done. . . . . I think you have definitely put this one to bed. The only thing i think the die hard pro "TRAIN LIGHTS"brigade might use as a last gasp reason is one put to me by a sceptical friend of all the haunting. That the level crossing down at rodbridge corner where the railway line and road cross over the Stour would require cars to wait there for some minutes as a train passed. The headlights of the cars could have shorn up the hill to Borley. This i find ridiculous.I am not even sure if there was a level crossing at Rodbridge corner. However he will have it. I must show him your report. - Eddie Brazil

Please find attached my completed essay on the Borley lights. The discussion on the various explanations has been finished & there is a short summary. Paul Adams

there is man named Andrew Fellows who lives in York [england] who claims he removed several bricks from the rectory site around it s demolition and kept them for many years. According to my great uncle he would scare his children with stories of the rectory and produce the bricks saying they where haunted objects that would unleesh the spirits if they were bad,a story they would love to be told over and over.my great uncle believes he is still alive and living in yorkshire and that mr fellows always said he would hang on to them because they "could be worth something oneday"....i don t know what to believe. - owain gill
[Interesting story, and I would be interested to hear from the original source. However, it would be impossible to verify the origin of the bricks. Scores of people took bricks for a variety of purposes, including paving roads.]

i think it is really good that you can provide so much info about the manner. - carly lutz

I am totally obsessed with Borley Rectory , it is the most exciting place in the world..! i am a young man; age 21, and I live in Copenhagen, Denmark. i have been interested in hauntings in a couple of years now (About 10). I once lived in a haunted appartment in Cph, so I am totally sure that the spirits are here. My summer holyday this year will be spent at the location of Borley Rectory. I have to see the place for myself. I absolutly looove your site, thank you for it..! On can't help but wonder; why there issen't an entrance from the main house to the south-wing on the ground floor?! By the looks of the old maps; one have to exit the main-house to enter the wing?! It that a mistake on the map, or maby the lower south-wing where for the demestic or something?! Plese help me with this..! - Brian Svendborg

Paul Adams and I [visited Borley] this weekend to carry out research for part two of the lights experiment .As usual Borley was as quiet and peaceful as allways.just one person came through the village while we were there. It was a glorious sunny sunday with a hint of warmth in the air.crazy for this time of year in England.yet we will pay for it this coming week for snow is forecast for most of Britain.We are working on part two of the lights project and also getting ideas to do a map of all the phenomena which took place outside the rectory.we also tried to locate the extant of the rectory garden. it seems part of it still exists.but very overgrown and sad.The enclosed photo will give you an idea how it looks.Pauls young son snapped a photo of us in the churchyard at Borley.The Price and Glanville of the 21st century?perhaps.We then moved on to Liston and reshot some new photos of the burial site based on the new photo on the site. . . . .One last thing.whilst we were in Liston churchyard Paul commented to me how peaceful Liston was.I agreed.and added that it seems much more so than Borley.Borley, despite its quietness and silence has a tenseness which is with you where ever you go.one always feel that you should not stay long at Borley.The place wants you to move on.Very strange.
Here also is a new photo for the gallery. You may recognisee it from Sir Simons book, Haunted Realm. It is Minster Lovell in Oxfordshire. When Paul and i go to Borley we are going to try and pinpoint all the phenomena which took place outside the rectory. Cartwright, Henning, the phantom coach, ect to see if there is a pattern. - Eddie Brazil