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Spooked On The Job: Your Haunted Workplaces

Fishka78

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
19
My story begins....it was a cold dark, foggy night...OK, i shall stop and be sensible now.

The building i work in was built in the 1870's, it has most of the original foundations intact, since being built it has always been used as an engineering site, through WW2 it was used to make army supplies as were most factory sites. Walking around the building is like going back in time, old war bunkers and steps below the windows that were used for snipers, the place is steeped in history.

Throughout the years many people have reported strange goings on, the usual noises and shadows that scare people witless when they are on their own.
One man who still works there today has been filling me in on the happenings, he is a well respected man with reputation for not being someone who tells tales, the experience he had was kept to himself for quite awhile, he was worried about the reaction he was going to get, so here is his story....

The gentleman concerned was working a late shift in the winter, he started his shift at 5pm as usual nothing strange or out of place happened in the first few hours. An hour before the end of the shift it was his responsibility to go around the factory and make sure all the lights were switched off in the offices, as he walked the corridor to the main office he said he felt like you do if you know someone is standing near you, as he turned he saw nothing and thought no more about it, he came out of the office turned the lights off and began walking down the corridor.....he then told me as he came to opening the door he turned to face the wall to the left hand side and saw a man walk through it.
I have to admit myself I'm a believer in ghosts and spirits, but i really thought he was winding me up, until i saw the look on his face and told me the rest of the story. The corridor that he was walking down didn't originally exist, about 5 years before this incident renovation had taken place, just a wall an a door existed, and as some of you might have guessed, the door used to be in the same place where the gentleman saw the man walk through .....spooky.


I have to admit it is a strange place to work at night, i like to walk about on my own, dare myself to go into the darkest places, usually to be scared half to death by the lads i work with....but there have been occasions that have given me abit of a fright for example, I'm the only female there at night, to get to the ladies toilets you have to go through a separate building, one that none of the chaps i work with would have to go through...and before you say anything, they wouldn't dare follow me i wear steel toe capped boots muhahahaha....anyway, i have been in the toilets and have heard the door, to me it sounds like its opening, and there isn't a sound of footsteps like there would be, its a mental grid floor, so there would be sound..... but i could have an overactive imagination.....if it was just that i could believe that option..but, i have stood with 3 other lads i work with and we have all been witness to machines turning on by themselves, this...thankfully doesn't happen very often and of course there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation, all machines have gremlins, faulty wiring etc, but these machines are serviced on regular occasions and nothing has ever been found to be wrong..so mystery still not solved.

Last, but not least, 4 years ago a gruesome murder happened there, I'm not detailing it as gruesome for wow factor, to me it was an appalling crime and fortunately the culprits were found.
As most work places they have a shutdown over the Christmas period, like always 4 years ago my work place done the same, hired in some security to look after the place.....first mistake, after the holidays were over everyone returned back to work as normal, 2 days into the working week news reports on the radio told of a body that had been found in a nearby field, the body had been shot, stabbed then to try and cover their tracks they tried to burn the body...not nice i know. Investigations into the murder took place, whilst they were looking around the surrounding area a small partially burnt piece of paper was found, the piece of paper contained on it a last name and partial company name with a medical symbol on it.
It was traced back to where i work, the piece of paper was a yearly medical letter that's sent out to employees.....i hope I'm not boring you with this but i felt it was important to include.
OK, so it was traced back to my place of work..fast forward....they searched the medical room we have and low and behold after spraying their magic liquid and turning off the light, blood was found to be everywhere, floor to ceiling...they had tried to conceal and clean up, but not a great deal, it turned out to be the security guard they had hired for the shutdown and a friend of his, lured the man there..personal disagreement, and done what they done.

The events after this have been a lil worrying, objects have been seen to move in the medical room, its no wonder why everyone has high blood pressure when they go in there, it has a some what un-natural feeling, but that's all i have felt, others have said they feel really cold...but is this because its fresh in your mind of what happened there? or could this spirit still be dwelling in the med room? I'm not experienced enough to take the challenge on of trying to contact the spirit (if present) besides...im a wussy.
It would not surprise me at all if there was a restless soul about, such a violent end.

Well thats all folks *looks up* omg are you still awake.
 
Fishka78 said:
... as he walked the corridor to the main office he said he felt like you do if you know someone is standing near you, as he turned he saw nothing and thought no more about it, he came out of the office turned the lights off and began walking down the corridor.....he then told me as he came to opening the door he turned to face the wall to the left hand side and saw a man walk through it...

Can you describe the figure? Could the witness see details? Was the area where the figure appeared well lit by this time or in darkness due to lights being turned off? How many years ago was this experience?
 
Thanks Norton51 for your questions.

As i have stated i gained this information on the sighting from a member of staff so i can't personally describe the man in question, i will however try and obtain this info and pass it on.

I assume the corridor would have had the lights on, he would have to see to get to the door at the end, but this is something i will also try and clarify.
This incident happened roughly about 15 years ago so as with time the mind distorts memories and im not sure how much accurate detail he will remember.

I will keep you up to date and do some more research.
 
Fishka78 said:
This incident happened roughly about 15 years ago so as with time the mind distorts memories and im not sure how much accurate detail he will remember.

True. And time also encourages embellishments. Ask him now and he will tell you about "red eyes" etc etc.
 
Not necessarily. A personal story about your life can become fixed in a certain set of words and remain stable over many years. Some stories become more mundane over time. Embellishments and amendments are made in response to audience reaction, with skeptical audiences pushing the oral tradition toward the mundane and enthusiastic ones pushing it toward the additional creepy details. Folk elements like red glowing eyes often don't creep in until the story is retold at second hand, at which point the drift into FOAF starts.
 
Thank you both for your contributions.
I appreciate what you are both saying, it can swing either way to be honest, if an event has left such an impression then details will be remembered, but true your mind can also play tricks or distort, its really down to the individual that retains the memory, also whether they record the event in written documentation....OK, that's a long shot i know.

I will however still speak to the chap in question and see what he says, but i do feel due to the time that has lapsed the questions that have been asked shall not be answered to the satisfaction of the reader, but i will not fabricate any details to gain viewers or comments to my story, that ain't my bag.
 
markbellis said:
Do you have any links to articles about the murder?

Leave it with me and i shall do my best, due to the fact that this happened at the place i work i would rather not publish the where abouts of my location, but i will try and get some proof for you.
 
Fishka78 said:
markbellis said:
Do you have any links to articles about the murder?

Leave it with me and i shall do my best, due to the fact that this happened at the place i work i would rather not publish the where abouts of my location, but i will try and get some proof for you.

Perhaps if people were interested in it, they could pm you for a very brief abstract of the case?

:)
 
TheQuixote said:
Fishka78 said:
markbellis said:
Do you have any links to articles about the murder?

Leave it with me and i shall do my best, due to the fact that this happened at the place i work i would rather not publish the where abouts of my location, but i will try and get some proof for you.

Perhaps if people were interested in it, they could pm you for a very brief abstract of the case?

:)

Great idea and one i should have thought of, cheers TheQuixote :D
 
Was the crime scene disinfected after the police got through with it? Since it's been contaminated with blood and body fluids, it might pose a health hazard to people, especially as it's the place they'd go to if they've been injured on the job and have open wounds.
 
I have absolutely no doubt the area was properly cleaned, my place of work prides itself on health & safety and maintaining the health of their workers.

I didn't actually work there at the time of the murder, but from the people i have spoken to do say that when it was established what happened the area was shut off for a few days and a proper clean up took place.
 
I wasn't sure if this belongs here or in IHTM, but my boss and I were talking about this the other day. The shopping centre I work in appears to be haunted. There have been disturbances in our store for as long as I have been there (mild poltergeist activity mostly. Things being moved and thrown, locks being played with, footsteps being heard when no-one else is around, and my boss has had the back of her chair feeling like it's being hit repeatedly when she's been sat in it).

Now it would be one thing if it was just our store, but another store in the centre (not close, but we believe still on the grounds of the original building that stood on the site) also has the same issues, which I've been told independently by two people who used to work there.

Here's the problem: I can't find any information on this online. My town has a couple of locally known hauntings, but this doesn't appear to be one of them despite going on for at least 11-12 years if not longer. I personally believe it is some kind of entity, ghost, poltergeist, or whatever. However I'm quite willing to accept the possibility of something more mundane, and I'm just wondering if anyone on here knows of any way in which I can research this as my current efforts on Yahoo and Google are drawing a blank!

Sorry for the long winded first post as well!
 
How very tantalising! :D

How you go about finding out what's gone on in the past depends on where you are in the world, for a start. Various records are kept, some of which you can ask to see, in the UK anyway.

I'd have a look at your local newspaper records in the local library, if you have even the faintest idea of the time period you're interested in. It's a fascinating way to spend an afternoon anyway. 8)
 
Well, I'm in Berkshire, so there's a fair bit of recorded history here. All I know at the moment is that there was a brewery on the site of the centre up until around the 60's, and that alone has around 150 years of history to it, although again, can barely find anything online. I think you're right, I may have to go old fashioned! ;)
 
Oh wow, you're sooo lucky. What fun you're going to have. :D

Breweries're renowned for being haunted. Something to do with the fumes giving people hallucinations. :lol:

Is there a local history society? I bet they'll be interested too. Also, whichever company owned the brewery would have records and maps.

You could have a look here for a start - British History Online - for old maps of the area.

Keep us posted! :yeay:
 
Well, the company was a local brewery, all that survives is the name, about 3 times removed from the original, so I don't know how much info they'd have on the site sadly... There IS a history society, and that reminded me, they actually have bits and pieces, like bar mats and signs from the old brewery, so they may well be worth looking at! :D

Thanks for the link, looking at it now. Even if it has nothing relevant to this, I love reading about history so either way that's my afternoon sorted ;)
 
Where in Berkshire?
I know that part of Britain fairly well, have family there etc.
 
Maidenhead, the Nicholson's Brewery. I've heard a few ghost stories from the area (mostly pubs... another thing they seem to like! :D), but nothing from the old brewery still.
 
People. Talk to people. Old ones who aren't doing much, for choice, but also schoolchildren. Tell them your ghost stories, they'll tell you theirs. Sooner or later, somebody'll know (or invent, or half-remember) something.
 
TonberryKing said:
Well, I'm in Berkshire, so there's a fair bit of recorded history here. All I know at the moment is that there was a brewery on the site of the centre up until around the 60's, and that alone has around 150 years of history to it, although again, can barely find anything online. I think you're right, I may have to go old fashioned! ;)

Inherited ghosts come up quite a lot in stories of hauntings in modern buildings. There's a supermarket in a town not far from me which is alleged to be haunted by the ghost of an old ganger who worked the goods yard on which the building now stands.

Reminds me of the venerable Supermarket Blues thread (here), which is worth a looking at.

(Ten years old :shock:!! Jesus! Have we really been here that long?)
 
I remember when this were all fields. There were a brewery too, just over yon'.
 
Cheers guys, there's a few of us trying to work this out, I'll put all this to them as well!

And I bet you had to go five miles in snow just to get to the nearest bus stop, eh Escargot? ;)
 
Aye. An' them winters, they were proper winters with snow an' all sorts.
 
Interesting stuff TonberryKing. Are you anywhere near the Hobgoblin pub there in Maidenhead? I read that had a polt outbreak a few years ago.

I'd echo what Escargot said and try your local library. Over in Newbury Library they had a whole folder of ghost story clippings when I was doing some reasearch a while back. West Berkshire has loads of (very old) spooks, but the rest of Berks seems a bit empty. Reading must be the least Fortean town in existence. :D
 
Yeah, I know the Hob pretty well, and know about the polt that took up residence there. I think it's messed with me too, twice... The Hob is just down the road from where I work, and the opposite end of the high street we have an art shop which recently reported polt activity.

And yeah, Reading never feels too spooky, which is weird considering the history of the Forbury area! Though we do have a road just outside of town here named after a ghost, and not far away is Bisham Abbey.
 
University libraries often have a local history section so it's worth looking into that.
My last uni has a fantastic one, stuffed full of maps and lovely documents and various Phd history theses on interesting subjects like the arrest rates for drunkenness in my home town in the 19th century. I bet a few of my forebears feature in that one. :D
 
:lol:

Well I did actually check the library of the uni I went to, years ago, mostly to look up the meaning of some of the local place names, and there was one book on the paranormal there! Ghosts of the Thames Valley, which looked to be a good few years old, and about as thick as a pamphlet! But then that uni is more an arts/technology place than anything.
 
I've just had a quick flick through my two Ghosts of Berkshire books and there's not really that much about Maidenhead. A few highwaymen types around Maidenhead Thicket, a haunted house at Littlewick Green and a haunted stately home owned by Laura Ashley. Nothing from the town centre though as far as I can see.

There is a new Haunted Berksire book out soon according to Amazon though, which that should link to if I've done it right. Might be worth a read.
 
Added to my wishlist! :)

BBC Ghosts Of Berkshire site which is where I first saw the story of the Hobgoblin ghost, and which also mentions the local White Lady, which I believe is the one which named a local road.

Not heard of the highwayman types at the thicket, will definitely be investigating that! And there is a former manor house just inside town which I believe has had some interesting stories. Need to talk to someone about that one soon :)
 
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