BBC Building Ghosts

[Melf]

ive read in a book i think was called "northen ghosts?"(ill try to dig it out when i unpack all my books (11 large boxs and 2 tea chests :eek!!!!: ))

there was a dj who was working late (doing tapes or similar) one night on his own when he saw a shadow move across the frosted
window when he knew that he was the only person in the building and basically he was scared and left the building with lights on and didnt go back till morning to collect some of his stuff

are there any recent reports of this haunting?


(i may have posted this elsewhere in the past?)

 

[SoundDust]

was the ghost going round making claims the government weren't being honest about Iraq?


what town was the studio in?

 

[Melf]

north of brummie in the 70's (?) that all i can rember
sorry i cant remember the author either

i think that the cover was a detail from the picture called "the lit house?"

the cover has a woman walking to wards a house in which the windows are lit up

(but i can guess where the book in question is:- proberly at the bottem and at the back of a box/t-chest as usual!!)

 

[augustverango]

I can recall hearing a DJ talking about a similar late-night encounter. While working on his own late at night he said he had felt a cold pair of hands on his shoulders. Of course, there was no-one there when he looked.

Sorry that's all I can remember, but I am famed for my rubbish memory!

 

[Timble2]

More BBC ghosts...

There seem to be ghosts in other BBC studios, perhaps the spirits of presenters forever doomed to local news programmes.
The 'Haunting of Alan Partridge' perhaps.

Theres supposed to be something at BBC Cambridgeshire;

The Cambridge Paranomal Society investigated this one:

http://cambridgeparanormal.co.uk/

(The link takes you to the Home page, you need to click onto reseasrch)

Cambridge Paranormal Society (MW/55/230403)
Report of investigation
Location:

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Investigation conducted: 23rd April 2003


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brief History of the building
The site of BBC Radio Cambridgeshire was once the location of Heffers printers and once was the home of the Black Bear Press. What stood on the site prior to the 1900 is still unknown and is currently being researched by the C.P.S (we would be pleased to her from anyone, with any knowledge of what was on the site prior to the printing press)

Folklore
Reported accounts of Haunting in the Building
Sue Marchant - Nightime Presenter

"I was a little late one morning for the Dawn breaker show. I was getting a little hyperactive as I went into Studio IA to change the trail sheets and had to do a double-take. There sitting in the chair was a figure of a man. A friendly gent sitting very calmly, dressed in beige with grey hair - he was so calm he just gave me the message "hey calm down". Maybe he was the one who helped the morning I managed to lock myself out - luckily for the first time ever the early morning news reader was here before 5am - I say cheers......"
Ray Clark - Afternoon Show Presenter

"I was presenting the overnight show and was the only person in the building. It was 4.10am, a record had just finished playing, I was talking and 'being a disc jockey' when I suddenly looked up and saw ' an apparition' in the corner of the studio. There were no details or features to see, but it was the shape and size of an old lady. So ..... I was talking about this as the breakfast team were coming into work ... and what I'd seen was an exact description of what had been seen before .... and I'd never heard about previous 'visits'.
Nick Young - Film Editor

"The ghost SPOKE to me the other day, in the car park behind the studios.... I was walking along the corridor towards the back car park, fumbling for my door fob, searching in my pockets, when a voice behind says something like "Hang on, wait for me." Then I felt someone behind me, and I could tell they were laden down with books or tapes or something. I was facing the door - I hadn't turned around - I was still going on about how I couldn't find the key and still fumbling about. When I turned round to see who I was talking to, there was no one there

Above quotes taken from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire website : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/features/halloween/studio_ghosts/studio_ghosts.shtml

Investigating Team
C.P.S primary team members
Martin
Paul
Dave
Elaine
Angela
Medium Ron Moulding
Gill Moulding

Details of Investigation by Cambridge Paranormal Society
This was an interesting investigation for the team of the C.P.S, with live radio broadcasts performed by the team throughout the day and night, a live studio situation, and viewers watching us on the web cam as we carried out our research in the ' Haunted studio'. Would we find the elusive evidence that the studio was indeed haunted....

I'll leave it on a cliffhanger, as it's quite a long article. They seeem to have been pretty thorough with pressure sensors, CCTV, infrared illuminators etc.

Back to the thread, I have a vague idea that there was supposed to be something at one of the old BBC Manchester studios which was in an old chapel (this was the 70s).

 

[Anonymous]

There's a common theme to them all, though, isn't there?
The big empty building late at night, empty corridors, large dark spaces, you're the only one there.... enough to give anyone the willies.
And with all that radio equipment around is there any scope for EM field effects I wonder?

 

[Melf]

good site trimble ill book mark that one

 

[Anonymous]

I must add the ghost of Radio Sheffield (Victorian maid, they've moved now) and the ghost of BBC TV centre itself (London W12 8QT; ah, nostalgia). Which, I heard tell, took the form of a ball of light in the small hours, or sometimes a menacing looking gent.

The Radio Sheffield ghost is credited with shutting the station down when the transmission link was mysteriously turned off one evening in the 70s. Yeah, and it was the ghost that scratched my works van as well.

 

[stu neville]

I can recall hearing a DJ talking about a similar late-night encounter. While working on his own late at night he said he had felt a cold pair of hands on his shoulders. Of course, there was no-one there when he looked.

Sorry that's all I can remember, but I am famed for my rubbish memory!

If I remember rightly it was James Alexander Gordon, and was at Broadcasting House in London - I read it in a book called "I've Seen a Ghost" in which celebs various recounted their own real ghost stories (we're talking 20+ years ago, so my memories are sketchy too) - there were one or two really spooky ones in there.

 

[stu neville]

Found another one via our very own FT archives from April 2002 - Ghosts force Clyde to close studio.

BOSSES at Radio Clyde have been forced to close one of their studios after scared DJs said it was haunted.

Sunday Mail astrologer Frank Pilkington says he was attacked and suffered mysterious scratches on his arm during his regular phone-in slot in Studio Three.

He and presenter Bill Smith were also plagued by technical faults and falling microphones.

Frank said: "Something strange has happened here in the past. I can feel it."

Bill and Frank have vowed never to work in there again. But they took Clyde's Eye in the Sky girl Sharon Oakley along yesterday for a final look.

Bill said: "We'd only been in there a few minutes when equipment started playing up. Then the microphones came tumbling down on top of us.

"The next thing I heard was a yelp from Frank and he said something had attacked him.

"I thought he was winding me up but when I looked over, I could see marks on his arm." Frank said: "It's a disturbing place and you can feel it immediately. There has definitely been a tragedy or death on the site which would explain the feelings I got."

Frank offered to do a blessing to exorcise the bad spirits. But Clyde bosses have decided to close the studio, which is on the site of the old Singer factory in Clydebank.

A spokeswoman said: "The studio is avoided by all the presenters because they just don't feel comfortable in there.

"It used to be a storeroom. Due to recent events, we are thinking about changing it back and building a new studio elsewhere."

 

[evilsprout]

On the Radio Sheffield spook:

...as befits its status, the rambling old house [on Ashdell Grove, Broomhill] has its resident ghost, who in 1970 was, it is said, responsible for taking Radio Sheffield off the air, when a control knob myseriously closed.

According to an ex-police superintendant it is the ghost of a maid who around 1908 was courting a constable. She would wait until the gentleman of the house had retured to the library after dinner. Then she would walk down the cellar steps and through a door to a rendezvous with her boyfriend in the orchard.

The ghost is indeed dressed in a maid's outfit with black stockings, cap and apron. She is of human form except her face, which is lined with little squares like a television picture [].

The ghost was generally thought to be benevolent, although throwing tape spools around at times, and was seen numerous times. In 1996 a wrought-iron spiral staircase was found in a long forgotten cupboard, leading to an attic, where it is thought the maid may have slept!

Radio Sheffield has since moved to Paternoster Road in 2001.

[Valerie Salim (2001), Ghost Hunter's Guide To Sheffield, Sheaf Publishing, Sheffield, p114

 

[Anonymous]

...and the crowd goes wild as the Sprout returns.

One wonders if there is an magnetic/radio-wave/EM element to all this? Just a rogue thought. Radio is one of the spookiest mediums, don't you think?

 

[CALGACUS03]

This is, I think, an account of the haunting connected with the BBC in London. My understanding of it is that the building was used as accommodation for late night TV and radio presenters (and I assume other staff) who couldn't get home after work. The building is now (as it originally was) the Langham Hotel.

from https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/product/the-langham-hotel-london

"The hotel was first built in 1865, and with nearly 500 rooms and suites it’s really not surprising that a number of ghosts have been seen regularly at the hotel. The paranormal activity at the hotel became apparent when it was owned by the BBC, when it was discovered that there were at least five ghosts that make regular appearances at the hotel.

The most active of the ghosts at the hotel is said to be that of a German prince or nobleman who was thought to have met his death when he threw himself out of the window of an upper-storey room. Guests have seen his ghostly form moving through walls and closed doors and he is often accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature.

Room 333 is supposed to be the most haunted – ghost-story.co.uk has this story. “In this room a BBC newscaster woke up to see a florescent ball of light which slowly took a human shape. The apparition hovered two feet above the floor the lower portion of its legs missing, it was dressed in extravagant Victorian evening wear. The announcer tried to communicate with the ghost asking what it wanted, the spirit slowly started to move towards the newscaster arms outstretched eyes empty.

The announcer fled in distress to the safety of his co-workers and told them of his encounter, a colleague accompanied him back to his room. The ghost was still there when they entered, but appeared less visible and less threatening before slowly fading away. Other BBC staff reported seeing the apparition in the same room, though only in October.”

Most recently during the England cricket teams’ stay at the Langham, reports surfaced that some members of the team where having trouble sleeping in the rooms, with some wives"

... etc.

 

[Sabresonic]

I know this is not radio and not ghostly but didn't anyone find out about this broadcast.
If it needs to be moved to another topic ?

 

[balding13]

I think one of my favourite things about this community is that we will take the time to post seventeen years after the previous one. I love you guys.

 

[MorningAngel]

This is, I think, an account of the haunting connected with the BBC in London. My understanding of it is that the building was used as accommodation for late night TV and radio presenters (and I assume other staff) who couldn't get home after work. The building is now (as it originally was) the Langham Hotel.

from https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/product/the-langham-hotel-london

... etc.

Odd that the ghost should wait for them to come back. Usually they are like spiders once you look away they run for it.

 

[Spookdaddy]

This is, I think, an account of the haunting connected with the BBC in London. My understanding of it is that the building was used as accommodation for late night TV and radio presenters (and I assume other staff) who couldn't get home after work. The building is now (as it originally was) the Langham Hotel...

The 'BBC newscaster' in this story was in fact James Alexander Gordon, who became a household name for reading the classified football results for the BBC for something like four decades, I think.

He tells the story in Richard Davis' collection of first-hand entertainment industry ghost stories, I've Seen a Ghost: Trues Stories from Show Business - and I suspect that this is the original source for all other retelling.

The details in the link are pretty much as Gordon tells it - although he does not mention anything specifically 'extravagant' in the apparition's dress, rather than describing it simply as being in Victorian evening wear. (Also, I don't think he mentions the lower part of its legs missing - just that it was hovering two feet above the floor.)

Odd that the ghost should wait for them to come back. Usually they are like spiders once you look away they run for it.

Yes, this is one of the most disconcerting elements of the rather well told tale, not helped by the fact that the author also states that, at this point, the light was actually on in the room. (He also describes the figure approaching him to a point where it was actually on the bed - at which time he legged it...as any sensible person would.)

Gordon also mentions fellow announcer Ray Moore seeing the figure on two occasions - once while he was shaving, and on another occasion he saw it hovering outside the window, despite the room being well above street level.

 

[IbisNibs]

Gordon also mentions fellow announcer Ray Moore seeing the figure on two occasions - once while he was shaving, and on another occasion he saw it hovering outside the window, despite the room being well above street level.

Maybe it was this entity:
"The most active of the ghosts at the hotel is said to be that of a German prince or nobleman who was thought to have met his death when he threw himself out of the window of an upper-storey room."

 

[Comfortably Numb]

The 'BBC newscaster' in this story was in fact James Alexander Gordon..

I can vaguely remember this ghost story and see it turned up in his obituary, published by the Guardian.

"Audrey Adams, Gordon's producer from 1983 to 2013, recalls how he would reduce his colleagues to hysterics with anecdotes such as his account of a night in what is now the Langham hotel, formerly owned by the BBC, in Portland Place. 'The place was reputedly haunted, and James, who may have had a pint or two, woke up and was terrified to see the ghostly figure of a man in Regency costume standing at the foot of his bed. He said the ghost disappeared only when he reached down to grab his heavy raised shoe and hurled it in the direction of the spectre'."

 

[Spookdaddy]

That's a bit different in detail: no shoe hurling mentioned in the written account, and Victorian rather than Regency dress. (Although this could be down to the retellers memory.)

Davis mentions another BBC haunting in his book - this time along the way from the Langham, at Broadcasting House. Allegedly, pre-WW2 several members of staff saw who they thought was a musician or maybe a waiter, tall and carrying a tray, walking a few paces in front of them before disappearing by a doorway. One person saw it so clearly that they noticed a limp and a hole in one of its socks.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

One person saw it so clearly that they noticed a limp and a hole in one of its socks.

That's all really interesting, much appreciated.

If I may take a time-out... 'gather my thoughts together' and express, quite possibly a sentiment shared by many here...

Can I not just see one so I can be sure!!!

 

[Lb8535]

I came across a book about Ghosts in Baseball that described among other events ghosts in hotels that teams usually stay in. Players would either ask for specific room or ask to avoid them depending on their points of view.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

That's a bit different in detail: no shoe hurling mentioned in the written account, and Victorian rather than Regency dress. (Although this could be down to the retellers memory.)

I have discovered several interesting and previously unknown, to myself, online features.

Too many for individually detailing - simply Google, 'langham hotel room 333'.

Looks like there may be related, 'We spent the night in a haunted room' YouTube videos, I haven't had time to watch as yet (it would be interesting to hear what the general opinion is there).

I might watch alone, in the dark. .

Then again, I might not...

 

[Victory]

Bloke I know used to work on events for the Langham Hotel about once a month, though was not a staff member of the Langham itself.
He said that the management severely frowned upon any mentions of the ghost of room 333, or other ghosts.
I would have thought it would be the other way round and would tempt people to book the room as a dare?

 

[Spookdaddy]

...He said that the management severely frowned upon any mentions of the ghost of room 333, or other ghosts.
I would have thought it would be the other way round and would tempt people to book the room as a dare?

I too had always assumed that, these days, a good ghost would be an asset to a hotel or pub. I think it was maybe Swifty who told me that in his experience of the hospitality industry this was not the case.

I suppose with big, posh international hotels they also have to bear in mind that other cultures are maybe not at all so keen on ghosts.

 

[Sabresonic]

I too had always assumed that, these days, a good ghost would be an asset to a hotel or pub. I think it was maybe Swifty who told me that in his experience of the hospitality industry this was not the case.

I suppose with big, posh international hotels they also have to bear in mind that other cultures are maybe not at all so keen on ghosts.

Marsden Grotto in South Shields use to push the Ghost agenda.

 

[David Plankton]

Marsden Grotto in South Shields use to push the Ghost agenda.

I've been in there but I didn't know it was haunted at the time. Marsden Rock arch collapsed in 1996.

 

[IbisNibs]

Maybe the ghost squashed it. Got tired of all those tourists.

 

[Sabresonic]

I've been in there but I didn't know it was haunted at the time. Marsden Rock arch collapsed in 1996.

Alan Robson used to do Night Owls Halloween specials and there used to be a mug there for which supposedly was left out with some ale in for the ghost at night and it be empty the next morning but someone pinched the mug.Sadly the place has become a so called hip hotel after it went through a run down period but I don't go any more as its expensive and the food and service is very poor and I miss the 90s and early noughties.
https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/marsden-grotto

 

[Spookdaddy]

Just reading through the thread again and realised that stu neville had clearly already pointed out the James Alexander Gordon/Langham ghost connection. Sorry, stu.

Also - looking at the original post, it strikes me that something I posted on the R.I.P. thread recently might have some relevance:

Veteran radio DJ Pete Mitchell, who championed a generation of indie bands, has died aged 61.The former BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music broadcaster, originally from Crumpsall in Manchester, collapsed while walking near his home in Stockport on Thursday.A statement from family friend Jo Houlcroft confirmed the father-of-two's death. Across a 34-year career, Mitchell championed dozens of acts from his home city, as well as The Charlatans.

This has been driving me up the wall since I heard of Pete Mitchell's death.

I cannot for the life of me remember where, or in what context, I heard the story, but I'm sure that Mitchell and another Piccadilly Radio DJ (this is before he went on to the BBC) got caught up in a haunting at their studios, sometime in the 80's or 90's. The only real detail I remember (there were others, I just don't recall them) is that at one point Mitchell started hearing children's voices over his headset - I think he threatened to walk off air before being persuaded to carry on (in fact I think he might have actually walked out of the studio and had to be wrestled back in before the track being played ended).

I was reminded of this when, some years back, the Radio 4 comedy programme Down the Line broadcast a genre busting episode, set in a mothballed studio in Maida Vale while renovation work was being done to the regular venue. The episode started off as regular comedy, but the last ten minutes or so shift into a different territory, one which is really actually quite spooky, in a way that - to my mind - only radio can do. Fragmentary and disembodied children's voices heard over the cans were part of the episode, and I've often wondered if that vaguely remembered experience of Mitchell's might have been an inspiration. The BBC's Ghost Story for Christmas: The Dead Room, did a similar thing a couple of years ago.

A quick google doesn't turn up anything online - apart from some references to the better known haunting of Capital Radio's old studios on Euston Road in London.

Edit: Actually, the Capital Radio references are in relation to their later studios in Leicester Square, not the older ones at Euston Tower.