Pinterest

I'm quite late at discovering this, I know, but Pinterest is a pretty good site for writers. I've used it (after the novels were finished!) to pin pictures from my stories.

This one is from The Beautiful Man (which is currently out on submission).TBM

Bodmin Jail Ghost Hunt

So, last weekend on Saturday night/Sunday morn - 10pm to 5am - I was hunting for ghosts at Bodmin Jail. Once everybody had arrived, we were whisked away to a 'live execution.' There's an old execution area outside - basically a noose over a 13ft deep pit.

We were given a little talk about the history of hangings - told some grizzly stories about how, when using a 'long drop', sometimes people's heads would come off. And told about how the executioners would have to go down into the pit to check the body once it'd dropped to check the person was actually dead, and to measure the distance between their feet and the floor to see how far their neck had stretched. One was half an inch and one was 12 inches!!


Then we were shown (on an actual living man) how it was all set up - how his hands were tied, how the bag and noose went over his head, and how his legs were tied. We were told about how prison guards had to stand beside the accused and keep the flat of their palms to the person's elbows to that when the floor dropped away, the guards' arms just fell without hindering anything.


Then, living dude was replaced with a weight, the pins were removed from the lever to open the trap door, and then the lever was pulled. The noise was horrific - the slam of the doors and the weight on the rope. Grim. Anyway, then we were invited to clamber down into the execution pit if we wanted. Course, me and bro were straight down there but some people were too wussy.

Then we had a tour of the jail, and then we headed back to the little break room to be split into our groups.

Now... usually each group has one of the organisers walk around with them, who leads the investigation. We were given a timetable which told us which area we were in at which time and sent off. We were expecting someone to arrive to lead us, but no. So basically, everybody did what they wanted. So you had people wandering all over the place - nobody stayed in their group or stuck to the timetable. You couldn't really do anything without someone coming along with a torch, or listen out without hearing chattering and walking all over the place. So, me and bro weren't impressed with that, really.

Basically, after the execution, we spent most of the eve wandering from place to place. I mean, it's a huge place so often you'd be somewhere entirely on your own and we did meet up with another group of skeptics who we had a giggle with and who we did some ouija with (nothing happened at all) but that was it. No noises, cos we were rarely anywhere quiet enough to listen, no smells, or feelings, or touches and we definitely didn't see anything.

The best bit was the old navel prison outside, which is all ruins. That was creepy. Trouble is, every noise out there, we discounted as it being the pigeons.


We left at 3.20am cos we'd had enough, so we didn't hear everybody's findings at the end, but we could hear as we were going round how all the believers were getting loads of stuff happen. Which isn't surprising, really! But there you go. Fun, but no ghosts.

Pretty dust orb

Ghost Busting

One of my interests involves walking around spooky places in the dark looking for ghosts. I'm not sure whether I believe in ghosts or not, I've certainly not seen one and I tend to try to explain away most of the weird experiences I've had.

But, ghost hunting in fun. It's nothing like you see on the TV, on Most Haunted and the like. You do get idiots who will scream at any little thing, or people who are highly suggestible and as soon as one person thinks they 'see' something, then they'll suddenly see it too. Or feel it. Or hear it. But you definitely don't get as much 'action' as they do on the telly. Or at least, I've never had that much happen.

My first 'hunt' was at Kents Cavern in Devon. Caves, basically. Bloody cold caves. It was disappointing, if I'm honest. I didn't feel spooked at all and was so tired I could've slept down there with the slugs.

My second hunt was at St Briavels Castle and that was much better! Castles are spookier than caves. And it felt creepy. On ghost hunts you get to use all the equipment, the dowsing rods, the EMF meters, the heat sensors, the pendulums. You also get to use planchettes and have a go at glass tipping - which is always my favourite thing.

The weirdest experience at the castle involved this one room that apparently only men ever used to go into. Our group all sat in there (several times) in the total pitch black and I was sat on a really comfy chair, the medium was talking about something and I could feel a breeze on my head so I kept brushing my head paranoid that there was a spider on me. Then when the lights came on and we went out the medium said to me that one of the men in the room liked me and had his arm around me. There was no way she could've seen me touching my head as the room was black.

St. Briavels is used as a youth hostel and in one room there is a rug covering an extremely creepy trapdoor where people used to get thrown down. Apparently they don't tell the people who stay in that room that it's there, yet people have woken up terrified in the room.

Cool.

This photo is also from St. Briavels and is my first 'orb' picture. I don't know if you can see it, but in the middle of the black in the archway, just above the bench there is an orb. Ghost? Bug? Who knows.




My next hunt was at Haynes Motor Museum and I didn't think it would be scary at all. It turned out to be the best one so far. Lots of noises (which could've been the cars settling, or the roof creaking), lots of shadows, an 'umm' voice, some breezes... a bit of glass movement.

We went in the speedway room once and as soon as we got in there my heart was racing, but that might've been because of the mannequins in the room. I hate mannequins. We all know they come alive at night and eat people. We didn't go back in there again so I didn't get chance to see if it would happen again.

As on all ghost hunts, it's late and night and it's very, very dark. You walk around with torches and then turn them off to do seances and the like.

The photo on the left looks bright because of the camera flash. It shows, in between the two cars, a strange outline. Reflection? Or ghost? *spooky music*

The medium instructed me to take a photo there.


We went outside too, after we'd split into smaller groups, and the medium said she was going to get a spirit to walk through one of us. Everybody was being wusses so I volunteered. Apparently the spirit walked through me but I didn't really feel anything.

Other ghost hunts I've been on were to the Helyar Arms in East Coker, Somerset, and the Olde Forge Inn in Langport, also Somerset. The best things to happen in those two pubs were movements with the glass during the glass tipping.

Do ghosts exist? I hope so. Otherwise being dead is going to be rubbish!