Taking a break from the house for now. I'd like to tell a story my Mum told me recently about myself when I was a wee lad in Liverpool.
When I was about four or five, my Mum and Dad took me on a trip to Delamere Forest. We were driving along, when I suddenly pointed to a road that came off the road we were travelling on. I announced to my parents that I used to live up there.
Now, when I was a kid, I had an imaginary friend called Paul Kerr. I used to pretend to be him and my parents assumed that when I pointed, I was being 'him' again. Humouring me, they asked me what it was like.
I described a small village around a central green. There was a playing area with swings, a slide and a roundabout. There was a church and a village pub.
Surprised by the amount of detail I had described, my Dad turned the car around and we turned up the road I had pointed to. We drove for about ten minutes or so before we entered a small village. There was a green, a playing area with swings, a slide and a roundabout. There was a church and a pub, exactly as I had described it.
We stopped and got out to explore and my parents noticed that I was behaving as though I genuinely lived there. I knew what was down the little lanes and other places around the village.
Eventually we carried on with our journey, but my parents had never forgotten what had happened that day, even though I had.
When they told me, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. Especially when they said that we had never been there before. Thnking about it now, it makes me wonder if Paul Kerr actually existed once. I intend to find out and will post any findings here, so stay tuned!
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Sunday, 13 May 2007
5. Footsteps in the hall.
Now, I'm sure that people are probably wondering if I'm making all this up. The answer - whilst I am still king of the skeptics about the paranormal, I am open minded enough to acknowledge the fact that there are some things that are unexplained - is no.
Everything I have written is true. It actually happened. Whether or not they were hallucinations or because of tiredness or whatever, I don't know. I have just written them down as they happened. The fact that other members of my family have had strange experiences in the house, tend to indicate that I haven't just imagined the whole thing.
Given the circumstances, we believe the house to be haunted by the spirits of both the old lady and her son.
About a year or so after we moved in, I was in the living room watching the telly. My wife was upstairs putting the baby to bed - the boys were already asleep - and the house was pretty quiet. Our neighbours had gone out for the evening and even our recently rescued dog Barney, had settled down for the evening.
Now, Barney was a Yorkie cross, and would bark if anyone walked up the path. In fact, he tended to bark at the shadows - he was a noisy wee thing.
But that night he was sleeping soundly in his bed.
My wife had been upstairs for about half an hour when I heard a noise from outside the living room door. Barney was still asleep, so I assumed it was my wife. The noise came again, so I got up and opened the door to see what it was.
There was no one there.
I shut the door and sat down again, looking at Barney who looked quizzically back at me. Then he began to growl at the door. The low throaty sort of growl that dogs do when they're alarmed.
I then heard footsteps from the hall. Walking up and down on the tiled floor.
I got up again to check but again, there was no one there.
This happened perhaps three or four times. Each time I got up to check and each time there was no one there.
Barney eventually settled and went back to sleep and the noises stopped.
I told my wife what had happened and she said that she too had heard footsteps from the hall when she had been in the kitchen a couple of nights previously. She had also seen a figure walk past the window - something, when you consider we live in the middle of the countryside with only two neighbours, that doesn't usually happen.
The following evening we were both in the living room when we heard the footsteps. Thinking it was one of the boys out of bed, my wife shouted at him to go back upstairs. When the footsteps persisted, she got up to see what was wrong. There was no one there. She then went into the kitchen and, coming out, asked me if I had been outside recently. I said that I had been out to my shed earlier and that I had locked the kitchen door when I had come in. She replied that it was odd then, that the door was wide open.
This has happened a few times since then. Each time it begins with footsteps, then the back - and on one occasion, the front - door was left wide open.
Everything I have written is true. It actually happened. Whether or not they were hallucinations or because of tiredness or whatever, I don't know. I have just written them down as they happened. The fact that other members of my family have had strange experiences in the house, tend to indicate that I haven't just imagined the whole thing.
Given the circumstances, we believe the house to be haunted by the spirits of both the old lady and her son.
About a year or so after we moved in, I was in the living room watching the telly. My wife was upstairs putting the baby to bed - the boys were already asleep - and the house was pretty quiet. Our neighbours had gone out for the evening and even our recently rescued dog Barney, had settled down for the evening.
Now, Barney was a Yorkie cross, and would bark if anyone walked up the path. In fact, he tended to bark at the shadows - he was a noisy wee thing.
But that night he was sleeping soundly in his bed.
My wife had been upstairs for about half an hour when I heard a noise from outside the living room door. Barney was still asleep, so I assumed it was my wife. The noise came again, so I got up and opened the door to see what it was.
There was no one there.
I shut the door and sat down again, looking at Barney who looked quizzically back at me. Then he began to growl at the door. The low throaty sort of growl that dogs do when they're alarmed.
I then heard footsteps from the hall. Walking up and down on the tiled floor.
I got up again to check but again, there was no one there.
This happened perhaps three or four times. Each time I got up to check and each time there was no one there.
Barney eventually settled and went back to sleep and the noises stopped.
I told my wife what had happened and she said that she too had heard footsteps from the hall when she had been in the kitchen a couple of nights previously. She had also seen a figure walk past the window - something, when you consider we live in the middle of the countryside with only two neighbours, that doesn't usually happen.
The following evening we were both in the living room when we heard the footsteps. Thinking it was one of the boys out of bed, my wife shouted at him to go back upstairs. When the footsteps persisted, she got up to see what was wrong. There was no one there. She then went into the kitchen and, coming out, asked me if I had been outside recently. I said that I had been out to my shed earlier and that I had locked the kitchen door when I had come in. She replied that it was odd then, that the door was wide open.
This has happened a few times since then. Each time it begins with footsteps, then the back - and on one occasion, the front - door was left wide open.
Friday, 11 May 2007
4. Little Boy follow up.
So, the other week I decided to tackle the holly tree in the back garden. It was really overgrown and was pushing on my shed so I thought "that's it - it has to come down".
My next door neighbour came round and offered to help, so we put together my new electric chainsaw and he lopped off great hunks of tree, until it no longer pushed on my shed.
Then he offered to chop down the plum tree at the bottom of the garden - something I had been meaning to do for a loooonnnngggg time!
In return, I decided to have a barbecue to thank him for his help, so My wife and I went out and got in the supplies and we had a very nice afternoon eating and drinking.
The afternoon turned into evening and I decided to ask about the old couple again and got a very surprising piece of news. Again, I didn't mention what I had seen, but I asked if the old couple had had any children.
Yes, my neighbours replied, they recalled that the old lady had told them she had a son.
But he had died in childhood.
Still, I've got a lovely pile of logs for the fire, come winter.
My next door neighbour came round and offered to help, so we put together my new electric chainsaw and he lopped off great hunks of tree, until it no longer pushed on my shed.
Then he offered to chop down the plum tree at the bottom of the garden - something I had been meaning to do for a loooonnnngggg time!
In return, I decided to have a barbecue to thank him for his help, so My wife and I went out and got in the supplies and we had a very nice afternoon eating and drinking.
The afternoon turned into evening and I decided to ask about the old couple again and got a very surprising piece of news. Again, I didn't mention what I had seen, but I asked if the old couple had had any children.
Yes, my neighbours replied, they recalled that the old lady had told them she had a son.
But he had died in childhood.
Still, I've got a lovely pile of logs for the fire, come winter.
3. The Little Boy.
In the September before we moved in, my wife had a baby. It was a little girl and she is beautiful. She's now nearly five, and is extremely 'old headed'. In fact people have commented that she's "been here before".
Not long after we moved - she would have been around three/four months old by then - we noticed that she liked to lie back on the sofa and 'watch' the ceiling.
I studied this odd behavior as she wasn't the kind of baby that liked to just sit there doing nothing. She liked to be involved with things and was very vocal in letting us know. But on these occasions she would stare quietly at the ceiling with a smile and 'watch' something - her eyes would dart around as though there was something flitting about between the lights .
The house has three bedrooms and, as she was the only girl, she had her own room - the boys shared.
We put her in the small room. We decorated it in bright colours with a mural and had shelves around the picture rail with all her soft toys on it. My parents bought her a big pine bed and it was lovely.
When she was old enough, we put her in it. She never slept through the night.
She had always been a great sleeper whilst she was in the cot in our room. She slept right through 'till about 8am every morning.
But when we put her in the small room, she would wake every night at around 3am without fail.
One night she was sitting up in bed staring through the open door of her room, at the corner outside our room. She was terrified.
So, it ended up that she remained in our room, in our bed until she was three. Then we tried again. I built her a cabin type bed on raised stilts and she loved it. But there were still occasions when she would wake staring at the corner outside our room.
Now on one occasion, while she was in the small room the first time around, I woke at around 3am with the oddest feeling that I was being watched.
I got up and went to check on my daughter, but she was sleeping soundly. I went to the bathroom and then back to bed. I fidgetted a bit, trying to get comfortable and ending up lying on my side facing the bedroom door.
Now, I'm not sure how to describe this properly, but I saw the figure of a little boy. At first I thought it was my youngest lad until I twigged what he was wearing. He was dressed in an old fashioned school uniform, with shorts, blazer and cap. A bit like the pictures of kids you might see in a film about the evacuations during the War. The strangest thing was, it was as if he was part way through the door - half in, half out on the landing. He was non - corporeal, almost solid but not quite, just standing in the door. Then he vanished.
Last year, we swapped bedrooms with our little girl because she has so much stuff, the small room was almost full.
It was an odd experience being in there. Sometimes it was lovely and warm. Other times ice would form on the windows - and that was when the radiator under the window was on full and red hot.
I saw the boy a couple more times after we had swapped. He was standing in the corner outside our old bedroom. He would stand there for a short while, then fade away.
This evening, I tried out my new dowsing rods in that spot and they went crazy, crossing over each other and spinning around. Then I tried them in the small room. The same thing happened. I then used my pendulum in the small room and asked it if this was the little boy's room. The answer was yes.
We have now turned the small room into an office and have moved our bedroom into what used to be the dining room.
Not long after we moved - she would have been around three/four months old by then - we noticed that she liked to lie back on the sofa and 'watch' the ceiling.
I studied this odd behavior as she wasn't the kind of baby that liked to just sit there doing nothing. She liked to be involved with things and was very vocal in letting us know. But on these occasions she would stare quietly at the ceiling with a smile and 'watch' something - her eyes would dart around as though there was something flitting about between the lights .
The house has three bedrooms and, as she was the only girl, she had her own room - the boys shared.
We put her in the small room. We decorated it in bright colours with a mural and had shelves around the picture rail with all her soft toys on it. My parents bought her a big pine bed and it was lovely.
When she was old enough, we put her in it. She never slept through the night.
She had always been a great sleeper whilst she was in the cot in our room. She slept right through 'till about 8am every morning.
But when we put her in the small room, she would wake every night at around 3am without fail.
One night she was sitting up in bed staring through the open door of her room, at the corner outside our room. She was terrified.
So, it ended up that she remained in our room, in our bed until she was three. Then we tried again. I built her a cabin type bed on raised stilts and she loved it. But there were still occasions when she would wake staring at the corner outside our room.
Now on one occasion, while she was in the small room the first time around, I woke at around 3am with the oddest feeling that I was being watched.
I got up and went to check on my daughter, but she was sleeping soundly. I went to the bathroom and then back to bed. I fidgetted a bit, trying to get comfortable and ending up lying on my side facing the bedroom door.
Now, I'm not sure how to describe this properly, but I saw the figure of a little boy. At first I thought it was my youngest lad until I twigged what he was wearing. He was dressed in an old fashioned school uniform, with shorts, blazer and cap. A bit like the pictures of kids you might see in a film about the evacuations during the War. The strangest thing was, it was as if he was part way through the door - half in, half out on the landing. He was non - corporeal, almost solid but not quite, just standing in the door. Then he vanished.
Last year, we swapped bedrooms with our little girl because she has so much stuff, the small room was almost full.
It was an odd experience being in there. Sometimes it was lovely and warm. Other times ice would form on the windows - and that was when the radiator under the window was on full and red hot.
I saw the boy a couple more times after we had swapped. He was standing in the corner outside our old bedroom. He would stand there for a short while, then fade away.
This evening, I tried out my new dowsing rods in that spot and they went crazy, crossing over each other and spinning around. Then I tried them in the small room. The same thing happened. I then used my pendulum in the small room and asked it if this was the little boy's room. The answer was yes.
We have now turned the small room into an office and have moved our bedroom into what used to be the dining room.
2. The Smell of Freesias
So, we moved in.
One night not long after I was sitting in the living room at around 11pm.
My wife was in the kitchen and the kids were in bed. I had my arm along the back of the sofa and suddenly I felt a sharp scratch on my forearm. I rolled up my sleeve and in front of my eyes, three scratches appeared on my arm from nowhere. At the same moment I got a waft of a sweet smelling perfume from the doorway. It lingered in the air for several minutes, then dissipated.
I told my wife and showed her the scratches and we have both smelt the same perfume since on many occasions. It was the smell of Freesias, something I recognised immediately as they are my Mum's favourite flowers and she often has them around the house at home in Liverpool.
So, we did a little research into previous tenants of the house. Apparently the house had lain empty for almost a year before we moved in and quite a few people had looked at the place, but none had taken it.
Some had told our next door neighbours that they had considered taking it, but were put off by an uneasy feeling they had when they entered.
We hadn't at this point mentioned to our neighbours what had happened, but we were interested to hear that the previous tenant had often mentioned to them that odd things had happened to her.
We found out that the original tenant had been an elderly couple that had lived here since the house was built back in the fifties. They had kept a very tidy garden and had grown lots of flowers.
We corroborated this with my wife's uncle who actually knew the old couple and had visited the house many times when he was younger. He confirmed that there was a well kept garden with lots of flowers and that the old lady's favourite - and the ones she kept bunches of in the house - were Freesias!
One night not long after I was sitting in the living room at around 11pm.
My wife was in the kitchen and the kids were in bed. I had my arm along the back of the sofa and suddenly I felt a sharp scratch on my forearm. I rolled up my sleeve and in front of my eyes, three scratches appeared on my arm from nowhere. At the same moment I got a waft of a sweet smelling perfume from the doorway. It lingered in the air for several minutes, then dissipated.
I told my wife and showed her the scratches and we have both smelt the same perfume since on many occasions. It was the smell of Freesias, something I recognised immediately as they are my Mum's favourite flowers and she often has them around the house at home in Liverpool.
So, we did a little research into previous tenants of the house. Apparently the house had lain empty for almost a year before we moved in and quite a few people had looked at the place, but none had taken it.
Some had told our next door neighbours that they had considered taking it, but were put off by an uneasy feeling they had when they entered.
We hadn't at this point mentioned to our neighbours what had happened, but we were interested to hear that the previous tenant had often mentioned to them that odd things had happened to her.
We found out that the original tenant had been an elderly couple that had lived here since the house was built back in the fifties. They had kept a very tidy garden and had grown lots of flowers.
We corroborated this with my wife's uncle who actually knew the old couple and had visited the house many times when he was younger. He confirmed that there was a well kept garden with lots of flowers and that the old lady's favourite - and the ones she kept bunches of in the house - were Freesias!
1. My spooky house.
As a non believer in the paranormal, I've always tried to rationalise ghost stories and sightings and try to explain them away as the product of an over active imagination.
As far as the so called "Celebrity Mediums" are concerned, I have doubts about the veracity of their claims to be able to channel the spirits of the dead and am firmly of the opinion that most of them are just out for a quick buck and have no real psychic powers. I used to work for several TV companies and have worked on a programme where the 'psychic' gave messages to the audience. The fact that the microphones over the audience were switched on well in advance of the recording of the show and that you could clearly hear people discussing loved ones who had passed over and their hopes of contacting him/her and the researcher sitting in a corner making notes made me think that it wasn't as real as they like to make out.
That's not to say that I don't believe that there are some people out there who really do have psychic gifts and the stories I am about to relate have made me reconsider my skepticism, but I thought I should make my feelings on the whole subject known before I go on.
So, you're probably wondering when I'm going to get to the point.
It's now.
We moved into our house about four and a half years ago. We got the keys from the council and were overjoyed when we saw the house for the first time. It is a semi, set back from the road with a huge back garden. The best thing though is the location.
We are about five miles from the centre of Wrexham, at the far end of Cefn Road. In the middle of the countryside with only two neighbours.
So, having decided to decorate the place before we moved in, my wife and I spent most days there.
One evening, having returned alone to get on with painting the hall, I was busy. It was December and by eight o'clock it was pitch dark outside. I was upstairs painting the walls and about to pack in and go home when I heard a woman's voice calling my name. Thinking it was my wife, I shouted that I would be down in a minute. The voice came again and I got up and went to the top of the stairs to see who was shouting me. There was no one there. I went downstairs and looked around. The house was empty. Thinking it a bit weird, I phoned my wife who was still at our old house! She hadn't been out that night. The following day, we were both at our new house painting the kitchen, when I mentioned what had happened the night before. She went pale and said with relief that she was glad I said that. I asked why and she told me how the day before my experience, while she was upstairs painting the bedroom, she had heard a woman's voice calling her name and she had thought it was her mum come to visit and that I had let her in. When she had gone to check she found no one there. This was the beginning of a very odd four and a half years!
As far as the so called "Celebrity Mediums" are concerned, I have doubts about the veracity of their claims to be able to channel the spirits of the dead and am firmly of the opinion that most of them are just out for a quick buck and have no real psychic powers. I used to work for several TV companies and have worked on a programme where the 'psychic' gave messages to the audience. The fact that the microphones over the audience were switched on well in advance of the recording of the show and that you could clearly hear people discussing loved ones who had passed over and their hopes of contacting him/her and the researcher sitting in a corner making notes made me think that it wasn't as real as they like to make out.
That's not to say that I don't believe that there are some people out there who really do have psychic gifts and the stories I am about to relate have made me reconsider my skepticism, but I thought I should make my feelings on the whole subject known before I go on.
So, you're probably wondering when I'm going to get to the point.
It's now.
We moved into our house about four and a half years ago. We got the keys from the council and were overjoyed when we saw the house for the first time. It is a semi, set back from the road with a huge back garden. The best thing though is the location.
We are about five miles from the centre of Wrexham, at the far end of Cefn Road. In the middle of the countryside with only two neighbours.
So, having decided to decorate the place before we moved in, my wife and I spent most days there.
One evening, having returned alone to get on with painting the hall, I was busy. It was December and by eight o'clock it was pitch dark outside. I was upstairs painting the walls and about to pack in and go home when I heard a woman's voice calling my name. Thinking it was my wife, I shouted that I would be down in a minute. The voice came again and I got up and went to the top of the stairs to see who was shouting me. There was no one there. I went downstairs and looked around. The house was empty. Thinking it a bit weird, I phoned my wife who was still at our old house! She hadn't been out that night. The following day, we were both at our new house painting the kitchen, when I mentioned what had happened the night before. She went pale and said with relief that she was glad I said that. I asked why and she told me how the day before my experience, while she was upstairs painting the bedroom, she had heard a woman's voice calling her name and she had thought it was her mum come to visit and that I had let her in. When she had gone to check she found no one there. This was the beginning of a very odd four and a half years!
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