BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY
| 29 September 1999 |
BGS Newsletter |
Issue 13 |
Welcome to the thirteenth edition of the Borley
Ghost Society Newsletter.
September 22 marked the fifth anniversary of my life-changing discovery of Borley. My sincere and deep-felt thanks to all those who have helped me in so many ways since then. How time flies!
The cable to my domain server was cut September 10 at 10:00 PM. It was caused "by some damage caused to a fiber cable whilst Telco engineers were attempting to perform a repair on another unrelated problem. We are told this damaged approximately 4,000 fibers." On top of that, my domain server scheduled somedown time for other changes. Various patches and cures have finally resulted in a fix - let's hope it is permananent. Thank you for your patience, but both sites should be up and running now. Make sure you clear your cache so the old information is purged.
What is happening at Guy Woods?
On August 25, one of our BORLEYGHOST SOCIETY associates visited the birth place of Marianne in Romiley, Chesire. A few photos were taken, which show a different angle than the one taken by Peter Underwood some years back. (Viewing these pictures naturally makes me homesick.) Our associate was not met with the warmest of greetings. "I called in at the Parish church. In the grave yard the is a tombstone with the name Shaw. I asked if they were any relation to the Shaws that once lived at Guy Wood Cottages.I was told that it was a very common name and the cottages no longer existed. I was asked if I was a reporter. Well I can assure that Guy Wood Cottages are still standing and one is up for sale."
The reaction to this innocent question makes me wonder what ELSE is going on? Is some film company or another poking about? Is someone writing an article about Marianne? Or both? While I have received several notices of PROJECTED films, I've not received any confirmations that actual filming is underway. There have also been suggestions of printed articles, but I've received no confirmation of these either. As we get closer and closer to July 28, 2000 I fully expect the publicty to reach a crescendo. Is this just the tip of the iceberg? What is going on?
If you have any clues, please let me know!
Harry's Roller
Hi Vince,
"Absentmindedly flicking through next week's copy of The Radio Times (a
British TV Listing Guide) - I came across a programme that traces the owners of old vehicles and gives a potted resume of their periods of ownership.
"The programme next week traces the history of a 1931 Rolls Royce "first
owned by psychic researcher Harry Price" it read! I shall tune in and let you know if it is interesting."
. . . . . . .
"The Harry Price Rolls Royce programme was interesting and they stated that Price used the Rolls on his visits to Borley. They had a crack at a little reconstruction - old Rolls, swirling pea-souper fog, gloomy red brick walls. Nice to think, though, that the old car has been completely restored. I think it was originally black (1931 model) but seems now to be cream or white - presumably chosen as it is now in much demand as a wedding car! Now there's an idea.......he could avertise his wares on your website!!"
Best wishes,
Richard Lee-Van den Daele
[The programme was called "Several Careful Owners," and this was the final episode. My sincere thanks to Maureen Brooks for taking the effort to make a tape, collect all the TV lisitings she could, and then mail the lot to me! I am most appreciative! I would be fascinated by this even if it weren't for the Borley connection, as one of my goals in 1964 was to "Own a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III." I believe it was $25,000 at the time!]
Book Reviews
James Turner supplies an example of why I created www.ghostbooks.com in the first place. I sent away for two books by this former Cottage resident, not knowing if either contained any reference to Borley. The books were expensive paperbacks that I simply had to gamble on and purchase blindly. As it turned out, I batted .500 as one book has a nice introduction with lots on Borley. The second book doesn't mention it at all. Both are fiction anthologies and include stories by Paul Tabori, among others. The Unlikely Ghosts has a dozen ghost stories with no mention of Borley. The Fourth Ghost Book not only has a story by Turner, but several pages about Borley. I kept the second book, and put the first book up for sale. I consider myself a winner on this one! (Thank to Jamas Enright for his help with these titles.)
It is often difficult - and expensive - to obtain every reference to Borley. For example, a copy of Harry Price's Search For The Truth cost me almost $50. It was worthwhile, of course, and I never complain about such things, especially when one source leads to another. This time, Price filled me in on what Sir Ernest Jelf said about the Borley investigation - that it was "legally proved." I love these little footnotes! Now, I shall have to get a copy of Jelf's article! And on and on it goes!
It cost $7 to get a paperback copy of Ripley's Believe it or not! Ghosts, Witches, and ESP. It has the original drawing Peter Underwood sent me some time back.
Carl Becker mentions Borley in one sentence of Paranormal Experience and Survival of Death. He confuses Harry Price with Professor H.H. Price, but gets the general idea right.
If any associate has an opportunity to pick up "Alas, Poor Ghost: Traditions of Belief in Story and Discourse" by Gillian Bennett, please let me know if she talks about Borley. It is published by Utah State University Press. It is listed under: "Folklore; Great Britain; Occultism; Ghosts; Women;
Sociology; Social Science; Folklore & Mythology - Folklore;
Supernatural; Women's Studies." There are a couple of coincidences with this book: I graduated from Utah State University, and once lived in Brownsville, Minnesota. The author lives on Brownsville Road in Stockport.
Associate Activities
Hi, Vince;
"Just thought I'd mention that I have an article in the October issue of True West Magazine. Each October they devote the entire issue to tales of haunted places in the West. I wrote about the very haunted Sheridan Inn in Sheridan, Wyo., which was a "home away from home" for the great showman Buffalo Bill Cody. Anyone who's interested in Wyoming ghosts should watch their newstand for a copy of this magazine.
[This is an impressive, full-length article, with three photos by Karen. Congratulations!]
"I had an article in FATE Magazine last December, titled "My WOOF of Survival," a pun on their column titled "My Proof of Survival." Corney pun, but they did it, I didn't! It included photos I had taken after my dog Gryphon died. A misty form in the shape of a dog shows up in two photos next to my new dog, Pepper. The actions of my dogs, Bear and Pepper, indicated that they also saw the ghost of Gryphon. I had no idea anything odd would show up on the photos but I did notice the strange behavior of my new dog."
Karen D. Stevens
Dear Vince;
"I am in the process of forming a company called Paranormal Surveys and Investigations. A few years ago I worked at a place here in our central coast called the San Gregorio General store. The site as a general store goes back to the 1890's. The orignal wood structure burned down in 1922, and this one replaced it, During my two years as barkeep and merchandise clerk, I heard many "Store" stories. The owner has agreed to let Dina Olsen, my partner and I use this site for beta testing our proecedures and
equipment. We were orignally scheduled to try and do the stake out
during the first weeks in October however the weather is now playing an
important part.
"The reason for all this interest in the unusal weather is to try and
coincide it with the investigation. We are trying to "catch" the
naturally high occuring Electro Magnetic Fields that occur with thunder
and lightning storms. The theory is that if there is a high occurence of
the EMF due to natural causes (i.e. unsettled weather) can we correlate
that to paranormal phenomenea? Would we get more usual anomalies in the
photos during the bad weather than when there is less EMF in the
atmosphere? I think delibrately scheduling an investigation during an
unusal weather patttern in an area has merit.
"I will be in the San Mateo County Courthouse researching
the "genealogy" of the site. I have set a goal of having
Paranormal Surveys and Investigations up and running by December
1999."
Kathy Rehm
[Kathy and her group have received the following from Associate Loyd Auerbach - "We are into a major investigation on the USS Hornet aircraft carrier (docked at Alameda Point, Alameda and now a museum). It's very haunted! Wanna help?"]
Roemary Ellen Guiley will be searching throughout England for ghosts and such in October for her second edition of The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. Her itinerary includes taking in a meeting of the Society for Psychical Research, meeting up with medium Eddie Burks and several researchers--among them Tom Perrott, Andrew Green and Colin Wilson--and doing some research in Wiltshire and Cornwall. There will also be a Cambridge ghost walk hosted by Alan Murdie, chairman of the Ghost Club, and a night vigil of a haunted house in the London area. I have asked her for a report once she returns.
Hi Vince,
"Pat Cody, Karen Stevens , and I are meeting in Texas September 23 - 28th to attend Dave Oester's Ghost Hunters Conference in San Antonio.
Sue Ellen Welfonder
Hi Vince,
"I sure thought of you this past weekend. I was at a IANDS conference. We had one guy who took photographs with special lighting that showed dark shadows when there were hauntings. He photographed the tower where the wives of Henry VIII were killed. The box the people stood on still shows up in his photograph though it is gone and a plack is in its place. You would love to have worked with him, I'm sure."
Elna M. Bjorge
Letters to the editor
Dear Vince;
"The Discovery Channel had a piece on Borley last night [September 26] in "Mysterious Britain" - nothing of note other than some footgae taken in the vicinity of the church and inside it and the audio recording of Croom-Hollingsworth's efforts. Sean, my brother and I, had hoped it was heralding a rebroadcasting of the BBC "Ghost Hunters" film of lights flickering around the altar - but that was not shown."
Richard Lee-Van den Daele"
[It may not be much, but for me EVERYTHING is important!
I log every mention of the place in my bibliography, and try to gather every film, every scrap of paper.........I'm betting more and more things like this will be popping up near Haloween AND as we get closer to July 28, 2000.]
Borley Ghost Society associate profiles
Look to Denise Jones for a unique story of haunting, plus an offer for you to join The Foundation for Life - Living In Fear Ends. As she explains on her web site - "This foundation was formed to help others in dire need, as we were in 1992. At that time there weren't any organizations we could turn to. After our ordeal was resolved, I formed the Foundation to prevent others from having to go through years of fear, and aloneness as our family did."
If you would like me to make a profile page for you, just tell
me a little about yourself and attach a photo to an e-mail.
Essay time
From time to time my thoughts get written down in various essays. The latest deals with whether or not there is basketball in the next life! Let me know what you think, and feel welcome to write your own article. This could also be a good sounding-board for a rough draft before you submit it for print publication.
Special discounts
A revamp of the first page of the www.ghostbooks.com web site will hopefully provide a cleaner, more efficient view.
Please note the latest
additions now have their own page, and you will need to visit it often for the newest updates. This page changes rapidly - almost daily!
As a member of the BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY, you are entitled
to a 10 percent discount on all titles from www.ghostbooks.com
Feedback
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I'd love to hear from you.
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