BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY

Welcome to the third edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter. There is so much material in this issue I couldn't wait to share it with you. The date of each issue will fluctuate, but with your help, there should be an issue each month.

As I pointed out in an e-mail message, many of our associates are writers. It will be interesting to compare profiles and see how many other things we have in common. For example, both Stewart Evans and Monica Brown are involved with researching and writing about Jack The Ripper. I am sure each of them would like to hear from any of you who may have stumbled over an old JTR manuscript of some sort. Stewart and Andreas Trottmann enjoy hunting for "Nessie." As we get to know one another better, I am sure we will find many such similarities!

If you have an interest you would like to share with your fellow associates, hit the Send Message to All line on the "Welcome" page of the BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY.

Your feedback is essential to this venture, and I encourage everyone to make this a two way association. If you have a comment, send me an e-mail message.

This issue of the newsletter is dedicated to George and Iris Owen. These BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY associates were involved in the famous "Conjuring Up Philip" seances in the early 70s. Iris interviewed my mother about Borley on condition I not be told about the entire affair. My mother wanted to protect me from all the publicity and relentless fanatics. After my mother died, I located Iris and she accepted me with open arms and a loving spirit. As is typical of her background, she has given me a great deal, including support. George has also been very gracious to me. I treasure them both as part of my family.

Another new photo is only accessible to BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY members. It is a picture of my mother's rosary which I have added to Chapter 5 in "The Ghosts That Will Not Die."

Another example of generosity is from associate Stewart Evans. He has given me many Borley books over the years, and due to his kindness, I now have a copy of Far From Humdrum - a lawyers life by William Crocker. Inside these memoirs of a famous solicitor is one chapter on the settlement with Capt. Gregson after the rectory fire. He was also involved in the case of the Marie Celeste - a ghost ship supposedly abandoned in perfect order.

I've picked up several books from Chris Woodyard at Invisible Ink including one by Marc Gascoigne. The Ghost Investigator's Handbook has a chapter on Borley, and a picture of my original website - now defunct.

Another book I picked up from Chris is The Ghost Handbook by John and Anne Spencer. It recounts many incidents centering around the church, including the only known published photo of the "veiled bride." It also describes the only published account of a UFO abduction at Borley!

Chris also has a lot of books from Usborne Publishing. These are children's books with lots of pictures and colorful drawings. The best of the lot is Tales of Real Haunting. This is a terrific book, as it details the Borley Legend without any serious mistakes! Believe me, that is a very rare occurrence! Because of that, I recommend it highly for all ages.

Another Usborne book is a tiny affair with snippets from the others - Ghosts (Usborne Hotshots). It devotes a page and three drawings to the Legend, but really misses the boat when it declares the ruins can still be visited. Bah, humbug!

This shipment from Invisible Ink was made complete with a 1999 calendar of the Ghosts of England which is only available through Chris. September features an absolutely beautiful picture of the church and grounds taken by photographer John Mason. Wonderful!

From the library, I borrowed Alternative Realities. This is an encyclopedic volume covering "The paranormal, the mystic, and the transcendent in human experience." Under "Haunting" is a paragraph on Borley.

This month we will look at "An Assessment of Anomalies." Some of this material is bound to stir up debate, and I welcome your input!

Dear Vince;
"You were right. Borley is very hard to find! Coming out of Long Melford we tried to turn right only to find rag wrapped around the signpost and the road closed. We then went back to the Long Melford village green and tried to attack it vie Foxearth. Again the signposts were either missing or rag wrapped. It turned out that the little bridge had been washed out in the recent flooding. Nevertheless, we ignored the NO ENTRY signs and drove on, finally reaching Borley. Unfortunately we found the church locked and so had to make do with photographing the porch and the churchyard.
"I had one astonishing piece of luck. We had gone to stay on the Welsh border at Ludlow in part because I remembered that there were good antiquarian bookshops there. But they were not as I remembered. Disappointed, we walked back through the upper town and passed the little market held under the arches of the corn exchange. There I found a bookseller packing up his wares to take them home. The guy was about to pick up a book on historic ghosts that was of no interest to me and put it into its box, so I asked himwhether he everg had books on or by Price. Back at his house he had Price's Poltergeist Over England and his The End of Borley Rectory, as well as Paul Tabori's Harry Price. Had I been five minutes later, and had the other ghost book been put away a few seconds earlier, I would have missed all three!! Needless to say, I had and still have much reading to do!"
Ivar Noël Hume

Dear Vince;
"I have come to a rather peculiar conclusion about hoaxes: That hoaxes in general are useful as defining the limits of knowledge. Hoaxes are usually on the fringe of our fields of knowledge. Seen in that light they are often instructive, they sharpen the minds of investigators, scientists and laymen and lead to much probing into what is true and what is not. Apart from that, the humorous aspect of many hoaxes come as a bonus. But I have now read several books about hoaxes in general, some psychological studies, some humorous, some condemning, and however hard the authors try to ascertain general patterns in hoaxing, they always fail. There are always a hoax or two that doesn't fit in. I can only say that each hoax must be looked at in light of the time and circumstances when it happened. There are no common denominators concerning motive or purpose, except a will to deceive and a will to believe. There are innocent hoaxes and deadly hoaxes. Fake mediums belong to the more ugly category, fooling the bereaved into believing that they are in communication with their loved ones, and taking money for it, is indefensible in my view, still several exposed mediums have defended their activity by saying that they brought people much comfort. (Which is really the same thing as saying that truth does not matter. And there are cases when a "white lie" may have a more positive effect than the truth, so...)
"Anyway, hoaxes is a fascinating subject, where I have to look into the possible vs. the impossible, skepticism vs. gullibility, science vs. superstition, rationalism vs. wishful thinking and so on."
Regards
Tore Sorensen

Dear Vince;
"Do you know anything about psychic auras? While in England my sister-in-law gave me a print of a photograph taken of her in a forest glade on the island of Nevis ten or twelve years ago. Although the negative was correctly exposed for the greenery around her, she appears very over exposed and with a glow around her. The soft shadow of a tree further down the track is clear enough, but she has no shadow of her own other than that of her left leg against the right. I have shown it to our Colonial Williamsburg professional photographer who says that it looks like the product of an attempt in Photoshop to create a ghostly image. However, the picture was taken before such computer wizardry existed, and it has not be seen by anyone outside the family. I should add that neither my brother nor Penny (my sister-in-law) has any photographic expertise. There is no way, therefore, that the picture can be a fake. Another point: pictures taken by Penny of my brother on the same day,in approximately the same location, and with the same lighting conditions, hold no surprises. I have the only print and Penny can't find the negative--which is unfortunate, because this seems to be a genuine image of a human aura. My question, therefore, is whether there are other such pictures that can be proven beyond all doubt not to be fakes? [When you post the photo], you must make it clear that the end product has been through a scanner."
Ivar Noël Hume

Dear Vince;
"While examination of a negative can prove that a photo hasn't been manipulated, there's no way to prove that what's being photographed is a spirit, or in this case an aura. I've seen a number of photos showing auras taken years ago (and today) with so-called "aura cameras", which turn out to have special refracting lenses on them. The light going through the lenses create the aura. There are other ways to manipulate the lighting of an environment to create such an aura.
"So, without knowing the exact conditions (and camera) under which the photo was taken, fraud can't be ruled out.
"In addition, there's no way to prove that a genuinely psychic photo is of what it looks like, a spirit or aura, since the PK of the photographer (or subject) could theoretically affect the film.
"We always have to corroborate what's on the film with some other indicator, even if it's just witness testimony. But, ultimately, there's not a single photo that can, with 100% certainty, be considered a photo of the aura or a ghost.
Loyd Auerbach

Dear Vince;
"Your Borley site just keeps getting better and better. I wonder if you could help me with something? I e-mailed you a couple of months ago concerning my meeting with Lorraine and Ed Warren when they found an old coin in the church, and you posted it under 'other experiences at Borley'. I've since been in touch with them at the NESPR enquiring about the coin but, so far, there has been no reply.
"As I would love to find out more information on this, would it be possible to include the following paragraph at the end of the above mentioned story?
"If anyone knows of other psychics handling the coin or whatever became of it after this photograph, please drop me a line at ianjarvis@messages.co.uk
"Thanks in anticipation. By the way, perhaps you can also help me on something else? I remember a British television play broadcast during the late seventies that, whilst never mentioning or acknowledging Borley, was a fairly faithful dramatisation of the Foyster incumbency. It followed all the main events (summerhouse, nun's walk, wall writings etc) and, although it went a little over the top in parts with artistic license, the rectory, gardens and village were virtual copies of the originals and the pre-war period was captured beautifully. A scene that always sticks in my mind was a summer's day and a game of croquet with home-made lemonade on the rectory lawn. Marianne doesn't join in and is sitting bored in the summerhouse, when she is asked to retrieve a ball accidentally knocked into the shrubbery near her. Going into the bushes out of sight, she stoops to pick it up, sees a pair of feet in front of her and looks up into the staring white face of a dead nun. Brrrrrrrrrr!!!!
"When I say it went 'over the top' with artistic license, there was a steamy sex scene between the bored young wife and a dashing paranormal researcher. Despite the nun in the grounds, the viewer was led to believe that Marianne's sexual frustrations were causing the happenings until, towards the end, it became apparent that she was faking everything in an attempt to kill her poor old reverend husband with fright. Ultimately the plot goes wrong, she accidentally dies instead and the play ends with the paranormal researcher leaving and catching a glimpse of Marrianne herself gliding along the nun's walk.
"Have you ever come across this before?
"I'd love to know what it was called and if there was ever a chance of seeing it again. If it helps at all, I seem to think it was part of a series of plays on mysteries and the supernatural.
"Take care and best wishes."
Ian Jarvis

Dear Vince;
"Do you know if it would be possible to get inside Borley church to see parish records? Pat and I are both genealogists, and some of her ancestors came from Essex. Or are the locals unlikely to allow us a brief visit?"
Karen Stevens.

They would love to have you, especially since you aren't talking about ghosts! Be aware there was a fire in 1986 that may have destroyed what you are looking for.
Write to:
Col. and Mrs. Dorie
Wardens
Borley Church
Borley, Sudbury
Suffolk CO10 7AD

Dear Vince;
"We hope to visit Borley again over the coming Christmas period, as this would be the same time of year that we last ventured there. I will of course take the camera and send you the results (if any).
"Very best regards,
Robert & Kerry Duffy

Dear Vince;
"Many things have been said and written about Marianne. I will tell you what I know about the Shaw family.
"My [adopted] father Ian Shaw married Sarah Ross. The marriage ended in divorce. My father took me from my mother and went to live with Marianne's mother and her brother Geoffrey. It was wartime so my mother joined the WAAF.
"I can just about remember old man Shaw (Will). He died 1944. In his late years he was a diabetic, caused by a fall he had whilst working for British Portland Cement. He fell over 200 ft. from limestone quarry face. Until his accident he was a time keeper at the works.
My next memory was a lady arriving with a small baby. I was told by Geoffrey and his mother it was my aunt Marie and the baby was called Peter. This is the one and only time I met Marianne. It was September 1945 the term I commenced school. Could that baby have been you? [My birth name was Peter Richard, but I was born in October. Kate gave me up November 14. My mother and I visited the Shaws for about two weeks prior to our trip to America, but I do not know the exact time. It would have to have been between November 14, 1945 and late July, 1946.]
"I vaguely remembered my father being at home sporadically. I remember he went to Belfast each day by train. At some point he went to live in London. He lived for many years in rented rooms in Kilburne [?]. He lived with a Peggy [Margaret] Kearney. They had two children, John and Ian.
"March 1948 Annie Elizabeth, Marianne's mother died. I then stayed with Geoffrey until I left home in 1958.
"Geoffrey died 1973. By that time I was married and living in England.
I will write again and shall probably be able to tell you more about the Shaw family."
Yours sincerely,
Maureen [Brooks]
U.K.

Colin Wilson may be best known for his writings on the occult, but this prolific author has written much, much more. He doesn't have a web page, but you can see what one fan has to say about him. There is also a glowing essay dedicated to Wilson.

The founder and editor of the Fortean Times is Bob Rickard. He doesn't have his own home page, but some of his fans have put his picture on the web!

Associate Pat Cody has already built a successful reputation as a romance author. She is also part of a team of paranormal researches who have traveled extensively trying to capture anomalies on film. Their efforts will be published in 1999, and we will keep you posted as to when it should be at your local book store.

Stewart Evans has an extensive collection of Borleyania. He also has some rare collectibles from his Jack the Ripper investigations. His first book was The Lodger, and he is now writing a second book about Jack. Stewart is also interested in the Loch Ness Monster and the Titanic.

Add another writer to our list of associates! Heather Langley hosts several forums at the ThirdAge web site including: "Phenomena of the Third Kind" - good stories and a different topic each month, "Penny Pinching" - living on the cheap, "Home Based Business" - starting a business, networking, types of businesses, and "PC User Group." She has been a member of ThirdAge since their onset last July, and also hosts a live chat called "Fifty-Plus."

Ivor Noël Hume has several pages on the web including The Web of Time, a delightful look at Colonial Williamsburg. Some other related pages are The Virginia Adventure, and a book review of The Virginia Adventure. He also has a biography page for the Borley Ghost Society.

In addition to his interest in Borley, Associate Andreas Trottmann shares other interests with Society members. He has also spent nights in haunted houses with investigative gear, searches for "Nessie," and is a published author.

William G. Vicars, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized expert in American Sign Language, and conducts motivational seminars for his company, Lifeprint Institute.

Karen also continues her story in this issue of the trip she and Pat Cody took to England this summer.

"The haunted Guildhall is in the town of Totnes, Devonshire, England. It dates way back, 11th c. I think, to the time it belonged to the Church. The hauntings seem to date from later, however. Those who have glimpsed the ghost never describe it as a monk. May be an English Civil War-era ghost or even more modern.
"The Guildhall was used as a prison at times, and the cells have a very uncomfortable atmosphere although no one has reported ghosts there.
"One of my photos in the Guildhall is perfectly normal. The other, taken kitty-corner across the room (shows open door in background) has an odd white "mist" spreading from the right and obscuring some of the chairs. Have no idea what caused that. Room felt "active" to me. Supposedly a man's figure has been seen in this room and he's supposed to be an "unpleasant" ghost. Oliver Cromwell and some of his officers met with the officials of Totnes at some time in the 1650s. Don't know if the ghost has any relation to Cromwell. Building is on the site of a former monastery and some of the original stonework and walls are incorporated into the Guildhall.
"When looking at photos taken in reputedly haunted places, we look for anything unusual, like that mist, then try to explain it in normal terms. As you can see, the picture taken immediately before is perfectly normal, and there is nothing in the room which could have produced that "mist." A professional photographer friend of mind said it's not due to a camera malfunction. I'm not saying it's a ghost, just that at present I can't explain it."
Karen Stevens