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Ghostly Database

DrPaulLee said:
Just to let you know that I'm still working on this and have just passed the 3200 locations mark.
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It's good stuff, but can you please reinstate your 'Toadfish outside a pub' avatar so we know it's really you back there pulling the levers?
 
I took a break for Hallowe'en and my birthday but I'm due to start working on it again now. I have plans to expand the database, including pictures (I've been on a huge tour of the UK recently and taken loads of pictures of possible locations - https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/107453540125404799460). I'm also looking into using different icons for the different types of locations - castle/museums, pubs/hotels etc. Watch this space!
 
Thanks for your kind words too. I thought it'd be fun to see where the average location of the ghost sightings would be. Turns out its in western Derbyshire.
 
The forum software doesn't seem to allow animated gifs in the avatars :-(
 
Hi Calgacus03, sorry I didn't see your response. The stories derive from books given in the "recommended reading" section but as time goes on I was start to include cases emailed to me directly that haven't been published.

Anyway, just to let you know I've reached 4000 locations and now I'm going to take a nice loooooooooooooooong break!
 
An opportune moment for an update; I'm still adding ghost stories but have slowed down because it was starting to p*** me off last year. I've just done Middlesborough and Hartlepool and about to start on West Yorkshire. I've added a new feature that tells you which locations I've added in the last day. Anyway, its still at http://www.paullee.com/ghosts/ghostgeo
 
Glad to see Farnham represented by 3 spooks on your great website, but that hardly does "the most haunted village in England" justice.
I'm going there tomorrow for the beer festival and then will be walking past the haunted church and up haunted Castle Street to what is now Zizzi Pizza restaurant, but which used to be an old cinema and theatre. It has an extremely creepy reputation for poltergeist activity and apparitions and surely deserves a place in your database?
 
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DrPaulLee said:
Don't worry, Farnham is high on my list of places to updates, which will be c.early Summer!
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No ghosts dared manifest themselves in broad daylight yesterday, but here's a couple of pics I took of what is, allegedly, Farnham's most haunted building (particularly liked the small side-room with the low ceiling beams, advertising their new "spirit range").
As mentioned above, it's now a Zizzi pizzeria (formerly Pizza Piazza) with a bookable function room on the first floor, but until 1974 was The Castle Theatre. Sir Michael Redgrave (1908-85) is on record as describing the Castle Theatre to be the most haunted theatre he had ever worked in. In a press statement, Gerald Flood (1927-89), associated with the Farnham Repertory Company from July 1949 until he embarked on a successful television career said: 'None of us liked to be left alone in the place. There is a most odd atmosphere. Once during rehearsals the floodlights went off and we found the switches had been moved' [Surrey and Hants News 2nd February 1952]. In the same report it was stated that the ghost was that of a local farmer who had killed his wife and her lover before hanging himself from a beam. At the time of the incident the building had been a barn. The ghost became known as 'George'. In between being a barn and theatre, this curious building has also been a silent-era cinema and skating rink.

Farnham1.jpg
Farnham2.jpg
Farnham3.jpg
 
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blessmycottonsocks said:
Sir Michael Redgrave (1908-85) is on record as describing the Castle Theatre to be the most haunted theatre he had ever worked in. In a press statement, Gerald Flood (1927-89), associated with the Farnham Repertory Company from July 1949 until he embarked on a successful television career said: 'None of us liked to be left alone in the place. There is a most odd atmosphere. Once during rehearsals the floodlights went off and we found the switches had been moved' [Surrey and Hants News 2nd February 1952]. In the same report it was stated that the ghost was that of a local farmer who had killed his wife and her lover before hanging himself from a beam. At the time of the incident the building had been a barn. The ghost became known as 'George'. In between being a barn and theatre, this curious building has also been a silent-era cinema and skating rink.
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Thank you! I'd LOVE to visit that place and be haunted.
 
This should partially please you, bessmycottomsocks, I've added a few more ghost locations to Farnham. Only three this time, but there is a dedicated book on this town which I'll get round to probably in the autumn ;)
 
DrPaulLee said:
This should partially please you, bessmycottomsocks, I've added a few more ghost locations to Farnham. Only three this time, but there is a dedicated book on this town which I'll get round to probably in the autumn ;)
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Nice one! Don't forget to include "George" at the Zizzi pizza restaurant!
 
Excellent, good to see this website is still going :)

Had a look around my current location (Swindon) and I recall my Readers Digest book of spookiness and mythology lists one for Purton Stoke, not currently on the map. I'll see if I can dig it up...
 
I am now a very long way from Swindon and my books are slowly being unpacked. Going to have a Fortean Shelf! Will dig up aforementioned Wiltshire story and some others too... once everything is unboxed :)
 
Thanks Maximus. I'm taking my customary end of year break and I'll resume in January.
 
Thank you. I have ideas to spruce it up a bit, like adding photos of some of the locations.

One idea I had was to add a drop down list so that users could quickly navigate to a specific location - because of the size of the list, I'd have to limit this to major cities and towns. Or another possibility is a drop-down list of the towns with the largest number of cases. I think I'd have to split London up into its component regions otherwise it'd dominate a list. I'd also have to do a lot more research to boost some place's statistics. For instance, I can't believe that a town the city of Reading is so badly represented - and I'm also aware of large gaps in the map too, some of which are due to large forests but surely some of the small towns have reports too?
So, you see, a lot of work still to do!
 
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