The Ghost Club Founded 1862 Newsletter – Summer 2006 ISSUED TO MEMBERS ONLY Copyright: The Ghost Club. All rights reserved “Nasci, Laborare, Mori, Nasci” a member of the Ghost Club, a cultural his- torian and worked as Press Officer for the The Ghost National Trust for more than eight years, so had a real insight into the properties and their ghostly residents. Cover: VictorianC Cartel deu Posteb P4 The AGM saw Council Members give a brief account of their work during the last Chairman’s Letter . 2 year and the new roles of Newsletter Producer and Scientific Officer were for- A Victorian Classic . 4 mally endorsed by the membership. Photographing Ghosts . 5 Congratulations to Ian Johnson, who was elected as Science Officer, and to Sarah County Ghosts . .11 Darnell and Monica Tandy, who were for- mally elected as Newsletter Producer and Book Reviews. .12 Newsletter Editor respectively. The remaining Council were re-elected to serve Personal acounts . .20 another year. (Details of the Council Members, their positions and contact Ghosts in the News . 24 details can be found on the back page). I News from AGHOST. 28 would like to take this opportunity to thank the Council for all their hard work last year Meet the Council . 32 and am looking forward to serving another year with them all. Investigations . .35 The Council would like to thank every- body instrumental in organising and set- ting up investigations last year. In recog- nition of their hard work in 2005, the Council awarded the following Area CHAIRMAN’S LETTER Coordinators a year’s free membership: Derek Green Yves (Nobby) Clarke Carol Tolhurst Clarke n Saturday June 17th, members Steve Rose braved the heat and the crowds in Kellie Kirkman London who were attending the Thank you all very much, for your time OQueens Birthday celebrations, to attend the and effort. 2006 Annual General Meeting of The Hastings Ghost Club. This was followed by one of Before signing off, I thought I would tell the best talks I have ever attended. The you an update on a well documented speaker was Siân Evans and her talk enti- haunted street in Hastings. tled “Ghost Writing” gave us a glimpse of Since moving to the area some fifteen how she came about writing her new book years ago now, I have heard many varied “Ghosts – Mysterious Tales From The accounts of a ghostly sighting of two fig- National Trust”. (Published by National ures in George Street some years ago. Trust Books, ISBN: 1905400373). Siân is 2xxxThe Ghost Club Newsletter Summer 2006 The first apparition was that of a man one of the pubs, he stepped back into sporting a handlebar moustache and George Street and came face to face with whiskers, rushing eastwards about halfway the ghostly apparition of a "white-faced along the street. This ghostly figure wore a woman in widow’s weeds" who "wailed at dark leather apron and appeared suddenly him". His first instinct was to check that he in front in of a lady at around midnight one had zipped himself properly but on looking winter’s night - the poor lady was dis- up again the woman had vanished into thin traught. A gentleman saw the second fig- air. ure, a woman in widow’s weeds and she His audience nodded sympathetically was walking slowly westwards. She too with the exception of one woman, who was seen at midnight and "disappeared into after staring at him intently for a couple of thin air". minutes began laughing uncontrollably. George Street is a narrow pedestrianised When she finally recovered herself, she street in the Old Town of Hastings and is said with a grin that she too had witnessed allegedly rife with paranormal activity with an apparition in George Street some years practically every other building claiming to ago. have its own ghost. A rough area in its day, On returning very late one night from her it was the hub of activity for the local fish- amateur dramatic club to her flat above one ermen and smugglers alike. Many grim of the shops in George Street, a ghost of a tales of murder and poverty have been man with whiskers and a very large mous- passed down through the ages and even tache appeared suddenly about twenty feet now, with modern small shops moving into in front of her. Convinced this man was a the shells of aged buildings, the area can be ghost, due to his old style leather apron and eerie and unsettling at night. apparel and the fact he suddenly appeared Last Summer I was told of a very unex- from nowhere, the woman let out a scream pected turn of events. Earlier in the year and dived behind a large bin and crouched several of the local residential homes for cowering before recovering herself some the retired, were invited to an Arts Gallery minutes later. She was so affected by her preview event in the Old Town area. After experience that she flatly refused to contin- a very relaxed afternoon and over a few ue to her club unless there was somebody sherries, the guests got talking and began to available to take her home afterwards. share their stories of their lives in Hastings. You have guessed it - the woman on her Eventually, the subject of ghosts came up. way back from a dress rehearsal wore a A very elderly gentleman by the name of long dark Victorian style dress and veil, Joseph told of the night he came face to easily mistakable for widow’s weeds in the face with a ghost in George Street. After a dark. Far from "disappearing into thin air" long days work in his little cobblers shop in she had stayed cowering behind the bins one of the back streets, he would stop off for some time. Joseph, at that time, still every night for a quick half in George dressed in his cobblers apron and sporting Street before going home. On this particu- whiskers and a handle-bar moustache (of lar night, a half had turned into several and which he was very proud), had not with a weak bladder; he felt the urgent need "appeared from nowhere" but had just to relieve himself on the way home! After stepped into the street from a convenient doing so in an alleyway down the side of alley. Sadly it seems a comedy of errors The Ghost Club Newsletter Summer 2006xxx3 explains two of the better-known ghostly apparitions of recent times in Hastings! A VICTORIAN CLASSIC ON E-BAY! n April of 2006 an interesting item was sold on eBay. From an American sell- er, a Carte de Visite of a painting was Iauctioned along with a note and period transcription of a letter that accompanied it. Bidding was mediocre but in the final few seconds it suddenly shot up to over $400 - had it gone no higher than about $50 I would have attempted to acquire it myself. Thurstaton is a small village initially in Cheshire but taken into Merseyside in 1974. At the time of the haunting the vil- lage had about 100 inhabitants. It is also supposed to have a haunted smugglers' cave. On doing some internet research I Carte de Poste eventually managed to make contact with Aunt of Mr Hope. Mr Reg Turner, the current owner of Thurstaston Hall Thurstaston Hall. He had once seen a pho- Near Birkenhead tograph of the picture and knew about this 13th June 1882 particular story. He also told me the build- My dear Aunt Charlotte ing harboured other ghosts as well. We were much interested with the picture of Beneath the image is the handwritten our 'ghost'. I am bound to say we have inscription: 'Photo of a ghost seen by 23 never seen her, nor have any of our friends people at Thurstaston Hall Cheshire and for the simple reason that we never use the painted by W Easton RA in the Haunted room for sleeping purposes, but from time Room'. The Carte de Visite was printed by to time we have been much alarmed by the T Jones of 51 Broad Street, Ludlow. The violent ringing of the bell, rung so loudly transcribed letter that accompanied it and persistently that it could not be the reads as follows: work of rats. Copy of a letter to the Hon Mrs G Denman 4xxxThe Ghost Club Newsletter Summer 2006 Mr Easton stayed here about a year before PHOTOGRAPHING we came to the place. I never met him, I believe he is wrong in GHOSTS calling the lady a Clegg. The only female robably not since the latter half of Clegg who ever lived here is an old lady of the 19th century have so many 90 who is now in the flesh. alleged photographs of ghosts and The lady who haunted the arch room (so Pspirits been in circulation as in the first called because it is a vaulted room forming decade of the 21st century. Some recent part of the old private Chapel many cen- examples have been included in Ghost turies old) was one of the Whitmore family Club newsletters and many more examples who lived here for 600 years, or more. appear on TV programmes and on the Nothing more of her is known than that she internet – particularly so-called orbs. The was a Miss Whitmore and murdered her Society for Psychical Research sometimes child. The family died out entirely at the receives up to 20 such images a month early part of this century. There were 12 from members of the public.