Monstrous
Ghosts, Poltergeists & Apparitions => Ghost hunters => Topic started by: Devious Viper on December 30, 2008, 04:43:38 AM
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http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X-bAchxhfqc (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X-bAchxhfqc)
Some more info at Monstropedia (http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Borley_Rectory)
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I had the great privilege of being able to visit Borley (in 2000, I think) and actually get a guided tour of the inside of the Church itself. As far as I was told, we were the only paranormal researchers who had been given such a tour in a long time....... Such things (people) have been invariably looked upon with great scorn in Borley over recent decades and the locals will not have anything whatsoever to do with the greatly vexed, 'haunted' equation / question.
Regards,
Enderfay
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Our Borley Field Trip took place on Saturday July 15th, 2000.
Anyone wishing to pay a visit to the village of Borley is urged to treat both the area and the local populace with respect. Unfortunately, the good people of Borley have already had their fill of Paranormal Researchers (and their ilk) over past decades, and – during our brief visit – we were more than a little shocked to be presented with a worrying catalogue of vandalism, desecration and various indiscretions, apparently carried out as a direct result of the area's ghostly reputation and the parties and individuals it bought into the area.
For those with a genuine interest in our country’s paranormal heritage, who simply wish to indulge your curiosity for what was once (supposedly) ‘The Most Haunted House In England’, may we just suggest a little extra tact and common sense when visiting the site. ‘We’ might get genuinely excited about the prospects of such a visit – I certainly did! – but, I assure you, the bulk of the residents of Borley would all sleep a little happier in their beds if they’d never, ever heard of ‘The Rectory’, ‘Harry Price’ and all of the other ghostly trappings!!
At the opposite end of the spectrum, i.e. for the mentally deficient among us, breaking into churches and vandalising graveyards is, needless to say, abhorrent in the extreme! (For example: the chappy who once wrote into the ‘Borley Rectory’ web-site bragging how he actually managed to break into the Church during his particular visit to the area……… Well done that man – what a complete asshole!!) Anyone actually thinking that such activity might – by any stretch of the imagination – be anything to do with paranormal research should certainly think again.
On reaching Borley, we had barely a chance to register the smell of the freshly mown grass in the Churchyard before we found ourselves being accosted by one of the local residents and questioned as to what we were doing there. In all honesty, it was a matter of pure mistake that our questioner invited us to take a look around the inside of the Church before finding out precisely who we were. Thankfully, any reference to associations with ‘Ghosts’ or the ‘Supernatural’ went unspoken until after the key to the porch was already well and truly inside the lock. It was an oversight we were most thankful for, as – we were later told – we would never have so much as stepped over the threshold had our guide known exactly what we were doing there!
Needless to say, gaining entry to Borley Church was a very definite ‘high point’ to our visit, as there really aren't many ‘professed’ paranormal investigators who have actually managed to view the building from the inside over the past decade or so. (Let alone 20 in one go!)
Unfortunately – no doubt because of such activities outlined at the beginning of this section – our guide for the duration of the visit flatly refused to divulge their name to us and generally ‘poo-pooed’ any notions regarding ghostly activity in the Borley region. (A matter which, I must admit, I totally agreed with her on!!) Evidently, any such leanings towards a belief in the areas ghostly legacy is definitely something to be frowned upon, especially if you happen to live in the locality. Particular resentment was aimed at an unnamed Vicar of Borley who, during the 1970s, was said to have actually allowed Ghost Hunts to take place in the Church! (No doubt he was burned in effigy in the village for his indiscretion!?) It was pretty much understood that such activity had been undertaken in an attempt to benefit the site, but we can still imagine the unfortunate Rev. being well and truly ostracised by the community!
Despite the rather serious air that surrounded our visit, some considerable amusement had to be taken from our (elderly) escorts attempts at character assassination regarding some of the key characters from the Borley Rectory stories. No doubt speaking from first hand experience in such matters, it was categorically stated that both Marianne Foyster and Harry Price were ‘extremely weird’ - while the Bull sisters, who pretty much started the whole Borley ball rolling, were distinctly lacking when it came to brains (the original ‘Essex Girls’?) and were most probably ‘Inbred’!!!
Despite obvious, initial reservations about our presence at the site, the courtesy and professional outlook of the groups and individuals present prevailed and we were delighted to have been given the rare chance to view Borley Church in it’s entirety. As we finally left the site, we were more than a little heartened to find our guide indicating that we were always welcome to call again and view the Church whenever we might find ourselves in the area…………
The remainder of our day was spent trudging around the beautiful city of Cambridge, taking in as many of it’s haunted sites as possible….
Regards,
Enderfay
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So, the moral of the story is, don't act like an ass and you'll get a pass.
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I must admit that 'honesty really wouldn't be the best policy' if you want to view the church from the inside Onishadowolf!! Ghost hunters just aren't welcome in Borley any more...!! :-D :-D
Having said this - and I'm not sticking up for the types who have broken into the church, etc - but if these people were determined enough and had (in all honesty) stated their intent to the local authorities and been rebuffed....... well, I can imagine a few people getting indignant and deciding to 'make their own way', as it were. A bit of a double edged sword, I'd imagine, in the long run......
Regards,
Enderfay
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Like I said, don't act like an ass and you get a pass. Act like an ass and you get 4 by 4 walls. XD
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With Borley it's very much a case of 'damned if you do / damned if you don't', it would seem!!
BTW - here are the pics from our visit:
http://westmidlandsghostclub.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album51 (http://westmidlandsghostclub.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album51)
Regards,
Enderfay