A Touch of the Weird, The Weird Walk of Warwick

The county town of Warwickshire, conveniently called Warwick, is famous for its castle, its university and its proximity to Stratford-upon-Avon. But this market town, when all the shops are shut and the busy roads quieten has a darker, sinister side to its quaint history of learning and philanthropy.

And this is the side of Warwick that I wanted to explore.

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In the light evening drizzle I trekked up the High Street to our meeting place at the Lord Leycester Hospital and finding shelter in the wooden porchway I set up the Chattergeist Touch in word mode to see if anything wanted to communicate.

Enter Warrane Worthington, our guide for the evening. Dressed in black trilby hat, cravat and frock coat our enigmatic leader was soon taking names and checking tickets to ensure all his guests were present and correct before introducing himself and his tour The Weird Walk of Warwick.

Directing us to the junction with Brook Street the Touch lit up with the words Savaging, Clang. Clang like metal on metal? The sound of sword on shield? The sound of movement within a suit of armour?

The Lord Leycester Hospital, a medieval timber framed building set up in 1571 as a charity to support ex-servicemen (and continues to do so today) was plagued with sightings of a decapitated knight dressed in armour from the 1300s wandering it’s corridors. The sightings continued until the 18th century, when during restoration work in the adjoining Chapel of St James workmen found within a bricked up void the headless body of a man, besuited in 14th century armour.

After the corpse was provided with the dignity of a Christian burial the sightings ceased. So had the spirit returned for one final acknowledgement through my little black puck?

Turning 180° our attention was directed to a plaque on the wall of 52 Brook Street that read Bear & Baculus House. The Bear and Baculus or in 1812 The Bear and Bacchus was the pub that 14 year old Hannah Miller was taken to by a local doctor, Mr Blenkinsop, but left in the care of the local undertaker.

The first day of any job is full of nervous excitement and it was likely that young Hannah felt the same way on 5th March. She had been employed by Thomas George, the local butcher, as his servant, to assist with his business. George had a lodger by the name of Reverend William Brookes. Known locally as the ‘Mad Pastor’ or ‘Mad Brookes’ it is unclear whether or not he was an ordained minister or had simply taken the title for himself.

Brookes was a common sight in Warwick, often inebriate and wearing just a shirt with his tackle out like a Georgian Winnie The Pooh. Clearly deserving of his nicknames.

Before the end of her first shift Hannah encountered the lodger on the stairs. Two shots from a gun echoed into the street, one bullet to her back, the other to her neck however medical intervention could not save her and the Reverend faced the charge of Murder at the Assizes. Found unfit to plead Brookes was declared insane and detained indefinitely.

But reports of a girl, dressed in white with bloodstains on her dress are reported by those travelling through West Gate at night. For me no such apparition appeared, but one word appeared in red on the black face of the Touch, Mum, perhaps the last cry of a murdered child seeking comfort.

The spell of sadness cast by Warrane’s retelling of the tragedy of young Hannah was broken with a health and safety announcement - Roads are dangerous and we would have to cross some on our tour, so cross carefully.

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Crossing over the High Street, and past ground zero for the Great Fire of Warwick, where on the 5th September 1694 a stray spark from the blacksmith’s forge set light to the thatched roof of the house next door destroying 157 buildings (with no fatalities), we headed down Castle Lane.

Walking alongside Warrane at the head of the group I was treated to what he called ‘the front of the queue story’ which involved Anne Diamond, the beloved television personality, and her house hunting in the town.

Anne, finding the perfect home was dismayed to find that the elderly occupant, who was being pressured to downsize and move to a flat by her children, had changed her mind and had withdrawn the property from the market. 6 months later the estate agent contacted Anne to tell her that her dream home had been put back up for sale and invited her to have another look around. Anne and her mother attended a viewing, but the house felt off. The old lady now appeared unfriendly in the shell of what once was her home. Personal effects were gone with the only piece of furniture remaining was a wood wardrobe in the living room.

After Anne had left the property, the estate agent contacted her in the hope of a sale. Anne told them that she was no longer interested, the owner was not as friendly as she once was and the house no longer felt like a home for her and her children. Confused the estate agent told Anne that the occupant had died and that Anne had the only set of keys for the house.

Anne returned to the property, the ‘wardrobe’ that had remained had vanished leaving Anne to believe it was in fact a coffin. Anne did not buy this house as she could not get the thought of the elderly occupant remaining within the fabric of the building out of her head and continued her search.

Our search had led us to the Town Gate, one of the many entrances to Warwick Castle. Here the Touch responded Snatched, Captors, Shout in response to the great Warwick Castle heist of the 6th November 1605.

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If your knowledge of British history does not extend to years, you will be familiar with the events of the 5th of November. If not I will give you a few moments to remember, remember.

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

The Catholic plot to remove a protestant monarch was discovered and the man with lantern, Guy Fawkes, was discovered and arrested. This act of terror was not the brainchild of Fawkes, he was merely the explosives expert, and his co-conspirators had soon fled by horse from London arriving in Warwick. Warwick Castle at the time was undergoing renovations and held weapons and horses. Weapons that could be used to fight and fast horses, or chargers, so that they could flee.

Failing to secure Catholic sympathies within the walled town, it was the latter option this desperate band opted for. Their heist triggering alarms, alerting the authorities to their location and leading to the eventual standoff at Holbeche House in Staffordshire.

Were memories of those involved trapped within these walls, repeating that fateful day over and over, finding a method of interaction with the living through the black puck? We will never know. But we do know the fate of the plotters, perfectly described by our guide. Hanged – Drawn – Quartered.

From national history to something more local our tour continued to the once-home of local benefactor Thomas Oken. The journey to the Tea Rooms that are adorned by a large plaque celebrating this local hero, had taken us along Castle Street, which is where my K2 died.

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Oken is believed to have never left his house, with his spectral figure being sighted around the building. During one of these sightings, Oken is reported to have stumbled on a step at the bottom of the stairs, which was later discovered to have been modified to align to more recent health and safety requirements.

The Touch provided me with House, July as Warrane was telling us about the siege that befell this building after Oken’s death. As you can see from the plaque, Oken died on 29th July 1573 within this house. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I will leave it to you to decide.

The Coach Gate on Castle Hill was our next stop, the rumbling or the traffic (and incoherent shouts of the locals from their cars) preventing any sounds of bell covered horses emitting from beyond the veil as they carried the condemned Piers Gaveston on his final humiliating ride.

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To Mill Street where in the shadow of the castle’s Ceasar’s tower we learned the story of Molly Bloxham, who having the monopoly of sales of milk and butter was accused of short-changing her customers due to a small ladle. Molly is said to haunt the tower – the believed site of her death – as both woman and black dog.

Warrane’s breath was visible as he recounted the tragic tale of this aspiring entrepreneur, the only visible breath within the group on this fairly warm evening. As I noticed the vapour, Coldest appeared in red on the black screen of the Touch, followed by what could have been Molly’s excuse Especially, Household, Measure.

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We returned to the Coach Gate, thankful that no one had seen Molly in her canine form (as this is a harbinger of bad luck). The castle story moved on to Fulke Greville, the owner of Warwick Castle between 1604 and his death in 1628. Fulke, although dying in Holborn after being stabbed by his servant Ralph Haywood, is said to remain in his favourite place – his bedroom within Watergate Tower.

Our group, crossing several roads (being ever mindful that cars will run you over), followed Jury Street and Church Street before arriving at the foot of St Mary’s Church Tower. Rebuilt after the Great Fire (with assistance from Christopher Wren) the tower stands as the highest point of Warwick and stone throw away from our next stop, The Old Shire Hall or County Court on Northgate Street.

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This hall held the Crown Court and Assizes of Warwickshire, detaining prisoners with all the care and considerations that befit murders, rapist and horse thieves. A cell door on the corner of Barrack Street a reminder of the conditions that criminals would suffer.

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Here tales of ghost witnesses being called (and failing to answer their summons) were recounted as well as the story of Anne Haytree, who let the intrusive thoughts win and killed her mistress. Haytree found guilty was sentenced to appear at our penultimate stop further along Barrack Street – the site of execution.

The Touch burst into life again, Shortness, Hung illuminated the screen followed by Laughs and Cackled recalling the braying mobs, hungry for the physical destruction of those that had sinned against the community – and then the name Jon.

The correlation between Jon and the bricked up archway on Barrack Street was resolved with the second to last story from Warrane.

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On 17th November 1800 the life of Mary Palmer was ended by her husband, John, his sister, Hannah and their mother Sarah. Sarah Palmer had attempted to kill her daughter-in-law several times by poisoning but being unsuccessful they finally convinced Mary to go with them to harvest turnips. Attacked and pinned down by Hannah, Mary’s throat was cut by her husband. She was bundled into a winnowing sheet and thrown into the River Avon, with the murderer’s intention that she be carried far away by the swollen river.

John told the story that his wife had run off with another man but had recovered her clothes which he sold. Mary was found the following day caught in the weir at Welford. John, Hannah and Sarah soon found themselves under arrest and detained at Warwick Gaol.

Sarah left this mortal coil before trial, but John and Hannah were found guilty and sentenced to hang. Hang they did on April Fools Day 1801, Hannah’s body was given to a surgeon in Stratford-Upon-Avon for dissection, whilst John was gibbeted near Binton Bridge, his life-drained eyes in full view of the weir that undid his crime.

The walk reached its conclusion in Market Place. The last tale of Weird Warwick coming from 1870 and the conspiracy theories of one William Haywood, who was convinced that the pain he felt at the end of the day, finding himself in the middle of town dazed and confused and being stared at by local women was down to a witch’s curse rather than the fact he was an alcoholic labourer.

The paranoia was levelled at Anne Tennant, who Haywood assaulted in the belief that drawing a witch’s blood would end the curse. Anne succumbed to her injury and Haywood was imprisoned for her murder. Haywood met the same verdict as the Mad Parson and died in confinement of consumption rather than at the end of the hangman’s rope.

The final words from the Chattergeist Touch – Slashed, Ridiculed being a fitting summary to the tragic tale.

The Weird Walk of Warwick was a captivating experience. Warrane is an excellent storyteller, bringing the streets and buildings around him to life. He is engaging, fascinating and clearly has a passion for the town he calls home and the dark history that lurks behind the façade. There is so much more to the walk and the stories that were told, but the correlation between the snippets that I have taken for this blog post and the results from the Chattergeist are compelling.

To find out more and book you space on The Weird Walk of Warwick visit their website www.darkwarwick.co.uk this is 90 minutes that you will not regret being a part of.

If you are interested in the Chattergeist Touch then all the information and 10% off your order is available by clicking here. (This is an affiliate link. Sales through this link will generate a commission.) 

Most Haun-Tent, Most Haunted Live, Orchard West, Dartford

I found myself in the ‘state-of-the-art’ temporary structure that has become home to live theatrical entertainment in Dartford since the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete or RAAC in the traditional (and historic) Orchard Theatre. Now this is a paranormal blog not an architectural one but on the site of an old hotel then CO-OP is something that I can only describe as a tent. A tent that would hold a large circus, which brings us on nicely to what I had paid to see this fine April evening – Most Haunted Live.

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Arriving before the house opened I found myself people watching. Members of the Most Haunted faithful, the curious and the dragged-along all queuing at the bar for the usual front of house offerings and usual front of house prices. What did not have a queue (or any noticeable interest) was a merchandise stand with our host for the evenings signed, authorial offerings, which in a way was a little sad.

Bored of people watching I became a little lost in thought as the marquee began to fill with ticket holders. Most Haunted, probably one of the most divisive programmes in paranormal television, could still draw a crowd. Was it that people could see past the allegations of fakery, trickery and staging or was it like slowing down past the scene of an accident to gawk at the mangled remains of metal and bone?

Most Haunted if you are unaware was a UK cable TV programme that aired between 2002 and 2019 and produced over 300 episodes. Described by OfCom (the British communications regulatory body) as show “where techniques are used which means the audience is not in full possession of the facts” its is therefore purely for entertainment purposes, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal and should not be taken seriously.

The line up for the programme sounds like the set up for a joke a presenter, a historian, a parapsychologist and a medium (until Series 16) walk into a haunted building and… the presenter screams (a lot), the historian provides context to discoveries, the parapsychologist debunks and the medium picks up on the invisible and usually becomes possessed.

For many this was the springboard they needed to form an interest in things that go bump in the night but for others, including one of their own presenters, it was an opportunity to look at the claims under the microscope.

Knowing that the format for tonight’s show was watching clips of Most Haunted with commentary from those present at the time I was certain that they would not want to relive the episode that was shot in Bodmin Jail. The former prison in Cornwall became the final resting place of many a criminal, and a place where a renowned spiritualist medium’s career mounted the gallows.

Derek Acorah, is probably the most famous of Most Haunted’s mediums. His Scouse accent and spirit guide, Sam, becoming synonymous with the format. However his claims had begun to be noticed by cast and crew as overly specific, known to the location, but associated to the wrong artifact. Bodmin was the first location that the show’s parapsychologist Dr Ciaran O’Keefe set his bait. Feeding Acorah with a nasty South African jailer who went by the name of Kreed Kafer, an anagram of Derek Faker, Kafer promptly materialised. The next location, a little further down the road, Prideaux Place Derek found the fictional spirit of renowned highwayman Rik Eddles (Derek Lies). A third strike was found at the other end of the UK, Craigievar Castle, Aberdeen, where fabricated accounts of the spirit of Richard the Lionheart appearing through a wardrobe and a woman accused

of magic were recounted with the enthusiasm of C.S. Lewis even though the castle was built 500 years after Richard had died.

The death knell rang for Derek’s time on the show within the derelict remains of Barnes Convalescent Home, Manchester. The show claimed to be presenting from the site of Cheadles’s Victorian asylum and these were the agonised, tormented spirits that possessed the medium – however no one was tormented nor agonised and the premises had never been used as an asylum.

The revelation of Derek the Faker was a harsh blow to Most Haunted’s reputation, but being the open minded paranormal investigator I am, I noted the warning for haze and flashing lights on the wall and found my seat.

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A rapturous applause greeted the Scream Queen herself, Yvette Fielding, as she took to the stage and introduced the Most Haunted crew, her husband and producer Karl Beattie, investigator Stuart Torevell and their resident sceptic Glen Hunt.

No sooner had the gents got themselves comfortable on the bar stool-esq tall chairs, the first clip was introduced, stage lights dimmed and the troupe exited stage left whilst the audience watched a large screen of Yvette screaming after something paranormal ‘occurred’, the team traipsing back to their seats and talking about their experience.

This format was repeated several times with different locations, with the ‘discoveries’ building in magnitude from knocks, bangs and whistles to furniture being thrown. It appears that Karl had taken note of previous critiques of his misogynistic language and instead resorted to playground humour, innuendo and questioning the size of Stuart’s man-hood.

What stood out from the cheap laughs was when they spoke about their investigative techniques. They came across very passionate about paranormal investigation. That although they enjoy a laugh and a prank with each other, when the camera rolls it is time to be serious. After one clip Karl and Stuart were explaining their rationale in using some of the more robust and confrontational techniques that later episodes became known for. The challenging, demanding, shouting and swearing types of communication, interspersed with Stuart’s regular resignations and statements that he will never come back (obviously the pay is good?). But for the patter and justification it simply boiled down to being antagonistic gets results.

With the final clip of the first act discussed, the house lights came up for an audience Q&A session. Sitting on my hands as I promised Mrs J I would be good (but being an antagonist gets results?) I heard the generic and non-memorable questions posed to these ‘greats’ of the paranormal world, and the equally mundane answers that the level of questioning required.

Question time up, the audience was reminded that Yvette enjoyed a large white wine and soon the auditorium was a-buzz from the private conversations of the congregation.

Nothing contentious had been raised by the first curtain fall, but as we settled back to the now familiar to-ing and fro-ing of the cast from stage to wings, the screen showed 30 East Drive.

Home of the Black Monk of Pontefract, this domestic haunting falls into the catalogue alongside the Enfield Poltergeist and the Borley Rectory as Britain’s most famous modern hauntings. But the simple council house in East Drive is home to the second most controversial Most Haunted story after Acorah-gate.

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Arriving on our TV screens on the 18th and 25th October 2015 the two part Halloween Special A Nightmare on East Drive saw the first return to the Live! Format since 2010. The appearance of the title card on the big on-stage screen bought a tense atmosphere to the audience around me.

The footage shown and explanation after concerned the team experiences with marbles being thrown, gravity defying ping-pong balls, and the identical burn-like injuries sustained by Karl and Stuart in an effort to demonstrate the scary-side of paranormal investigations.

Aside from knives not being secured and moving around the house, seemingly unaided it is the footage that captured from a static camera at the bottom of the stairs that raised eyebrows of the sceptical community.

Live feed was directed to Yvette at the time a loud crash and Karl’s shouts were heard. A review of the static camera was then played which sees Karl seemingly pulled backwards up the stairs before being lost from shot. Footage shown after the phenomenon shows red marks around Karl’s neck which ties into his account that he felt he was being pulled upwards and backwards by the neck.

The camera never lies, accordingly to the adage, and what was spotted by one viewer was a white cable seemingly tied around Karl’s waist. The perfect mechanism to perform a stunt as had been witnessed.

The resulting backlash and claims of the format being staged caused Karl and Stuart to produce an explanation video to demonstrate that black, and even purple, cable appears white under the infra-red cameras. Admitting that there was cable tucked into Karl’s beltloop, but this was a trick of the trade used by all camera operators to ensure smooth shot capture and prevented the cable from pulling is snagged or stood on. What this video didn’t explain was why the cable was there in the first place - as Karl did not have a camera in his hands at the time.

The danger explained, Yvette issued a general call for volunteers to take part in the final element of the show; either a spirit board session or a night vision investigation of the toilets. A show of hands and the 8 participants were picked, as much as it would have been nice to have taken part I wasn’t going to wave mine or anyone else’s pants in the air for the privilege.

The new ‘team members’ were led to the stage and provided their name, whether they believed in ghosts and a story or two before divided into 2 groups (2 men and 2 women per group). The first group was assembled with Yvette and Glen around a large spirit board used in the show, the rest were led to the ‘state of the art’ bogs by Karl and Stuart. (Its worth noting in other productions the participants investigate a dressing room – but you have to use what you have got).

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I can imagine that these investigations hold a little more gravitas in a traditional theatre. Stories of spectres that tread the boards are not uncommon for the buildings that witness the gamut of human emotion in a single evening, but a tent surrounded by shipping containers didn’t quite set the scene.

There are theories that the dead remain on the land that they once knew, but these stonetape replayings are not reported to be intelligent or interactive – which was what these experiments were really looking for.

But what did we discover?

The group on the night vision camera encountered tapping in response to questions, however the limitations of the camera angles and position of the microphone raised questions of the validity of the source. As OfCom previously stated Most Haunted is for entertainment purposes and the entertainment provided by the clear star guest team member was acknowledged by the audience on his return to the stage with cheers and applause.

The spirit board made me feel uncomfortable, not because I have anything against their use (in fact I loves them) but because of one particular sitter. Excited would be an understatement, clearly all her hopes and dreams had become a reality sitting on the stage with her heroes, but the desire for something personal, something meaningful just for her burnt as bright.

Any activity on the board was for her, a letter was highlighted it was her illiterate father; another it was an aunt. The laughter from the audience around me appeared to be at her rather than with her and reminded me of all the poor practice in this community’s history. The charlatan medium with their cold reading (or worse hot reading), the preying on the grieving, the false hope séances that legislation was written to prevent all came to mind – but also how susceptible the human mind can be.

The only thing I noticed, and it was a very small thing was the movement of the on stage camera that provided an over view of the board. It dipped very slightly before returning to its original position. The cable had been taped so did not appear to be a snag or the result of being stepped on, and there would have been no means of correcting a gravity induced movement of the fixing without physically touching the mount itself. So maybe out of all my doubts of the venue, the performers and the final séance there was something residing in this space.

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So as the Most Haunted team took their bows and the audience went off into the night what were my views of this experience?

It was entertaining and a good evening out. The team were light-hearted and, although smutty, really engaged with the audience. The play on the well-known tropes of the show; the screaming, the running, the fear were quite repetitive but the passion for the paranormal really shone through in all of the team, and it was enjoyable to revisit some of the key moments of the shows history in their own words.

There is a danger in all paranormal productions that without viewers there is no show. Viewers are no longer satisfied with noises, claims of being touched or videos of ‘orbs’. They want to see danger. They want blood. They want to see an investigator dragged up the stairs by the neck. This is where the money is, and this is generally not the reality of paranormal investigations – as no one wants to watch 3 hours of someone standing in the dark with nothing happening.

Love, hate or feel indifference to Most Haunted one thing we can thank Yvette, Karl et al for is adding to the debate. Fact or Fake I have my views and I invite you to share yours.