On Saturday I went on a ghost walk, partly because I'm interested in the supernatural, partly because it was almost Halloween.. mainly because it was almost Halloween.
It's creepy to learn about the ghostly goings on in your own hometown, but I definitely recommend it. Here are a couple of Nottingham's ghostly tales.. Happy Halloween!
#The cold room
The saddest story on the tour, and perhaps one of the creepiest, was about a room in an abandoned town house. Standing outside the home our guide pointed to a window above the elaborate doorway and told us that this room was haunted, not by anything anyone had seen, but by a feeling of overwhelming sadness. He said the house was once owned by the council, and when workers were forced to work alone in the room they would complain of a cold, sad feeling that would have them bursting into tears for no logical reason.
Eventually the room was closed off, and no-one entered it for a long while, until it was decided the entire building would be redecorated in cheerier tones to boost morale. It didn't work, and the room was still regarded as the saddest room any of the workers had ever entered.
What the decoraters did succeed in doing, however, was to discover an infestation of insects, which lead to calling in a team of experts, who pointed out that there was wood panelling on the walls that would need to be ripped out for them to do their job. Halfway through the job one of the men discovered a hole that had been dug into the wall, and inside it, a perfectly wrapped bundle lovingly tied with a ribbon.
Undoing the ribbon carefully they opened the package, and inside was a tiny mummified baby, which experts believed dated back 700 years to the times of the old home being used as a 'knocking house,' when madams would force their girls to terminate children in fear of them ruining her business.
When the baby was given a respectful burial, the hauntings stopped.
#The bony building
In the city we have an ancient grave yard that is now surrounded by buildings and, as far as I can tell by the age of the headstones, is no longer used.
At the time of the on site offices/houses/shops being erected a group of local builders were employed, and whilst digging the foundations of a new town house they discovered a mass grave, filled with ancient bones, believed to belong to either paupers, or victims of the plague.
Disrespectfully the local men removed the bones and threw them to one side, piling them in a corner and ignoring the fact that they used to belong to real people. Shortly after, the hauntings began. Cold chills ran through the group, the feeling of many an evil presence and malevolent voices were reported, ordering them to leave, to hurt and to kill.
Eventually, the men fled, and refused to return to finish the job. A group of irishmen were employed in their place who decided the best use for the bones was to grind them and use them as concrete.
The bones became a house in the centre of the city, which later became a bank. In the late 80's two young men planned to get what they could on a cold winters night, and broke in. The next morning when the cleaners came the two men were found in the corner of the main room sobbing and muttering.
The bank was in a complete state of disarray after papers had thrown themselves into the air, objects flew across the room and frightening noises were heard. It was as if, the unsuccessful burglers said, the 'very walls had risen against them.'
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A post on my old blog will tell you what a wimp I am, if you want more halloweeny fun.. Click Me
- images found on weheartit.com / source unknown / contact for credit
It's creepy to learn about the ghostly goings on in your own hometown, but I definitely recommend it. Here are a couple of Nottingham's ghostly tales.. Happy Halloween!
#The cold room
The saddest story on the tour, and perhaps one of the creepiest, was about a room in an abandoned town house. Standing outside the home our guide pointed to a window above the elaborate doorway and told us that this room was haunted, not by anything anyone had seen, but by a feeling of overwhelming sadness. He said the house was once owned by the council, and when workers were forced to work alone in the room they would complain of a cold, sad feeling that would have them bursting into tears for no logical reason.
Eventually the room was closed off, and no-one entered it for a long while, until it was decided the entire building would be redecorated in cheerier tones to boost morale. It didn't work, and the room was still regarded as the saddest room any of the workers had ever entered.
What the decoraters did succeed in doing, however, was to discover an infestation of insects, which lead to calling in a team of experts, who pointed out that there was wood panelling on the walls that would need to be ripped out for them to do their job. Halfway through the job one of the men discovered a hole that had been dug into the wall, and inside it, a perfectly wrapped bundle lovingly tied with a ribbon.
Undoing the ribbon carefully they opened the package, and inside was a tiny mummified baby, which experts believed dated back 700 years to the times of the old home being used as a 'knocking house,' when madams would force their girls to terminate children in fear of them ruining her business.
When the baby was given a respectful burial, the hauntings stopped.
#The bony building
In the city we have an ancient grave yard that is now surrounded by buildings and, as far as I can tell by the age of the headstones, is no longer used.
At the time of the on site offices/houses/shops being erected a group of local builders were employed, and whilst digging the foundations of a new town house they discovered a mass grave, filled with ancient bones, believed to belong to either paupers, or victims of the plague.
Disrespectfully the local men removed the bones and threw them to one side, piling them in a corner and ignoring the fact that they used to belong to real people. Shortly after, the hauntings began. Cold chills ran through the group, the feeling of many an evil presence and malevolent voices were reported, ordering them to leave, to hurt and to kill.
Eventually, the men fled, and refused to return to finish the job. A group of irishmen were employed in their place who decided the best use for the bones was to grind them and use them as concrete.
The bones became a house in the centre of the city, which later became a bank. In the late 80's two young men planned to get what they could on a cold winters night, and broke in. The next morning when the cleaners came the two men were found in the corner of the main room sobbing and muttering.
The bank was in a complete state of disarray after papers had thrown themselves into the air, objects flew across the room and frightening noises were heard. It was as if, the unsuccessful burglers said, the 'very walls had risen against them.'
--------------------------------------------------------------
A post on my old blog will tell you what a wimp I am, if you want more halloweeny fun.. Click Me
- images found on weheartit.com / source unknown / contact for credit
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