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Spooked On The Job: Your Haunted Workplaces

What compelling evidence is there that the place is haunted? Do you have first hand witness reports? Has anything been picked up on CCTV or in any other way recorded instrumentally?
 
I live in maidenhead, I was in the hobgoblin last night.

The hob is quite quiet these days, though it gets busier in the summer because of the beer garden. I remember the old hobgoblin before it was refurbished in 2000.
 
norton51 said:
What compelling evidence is there that the place is haunted? Do you have first hand witness reports? Has anything been picked up on CCTV or in any other way recorded instrumentally?
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No CCTV, but I have several people including my boss, and peripherally myself who have been present during several of the things that lead us to think there's something there. I WOULD like to try and leave something recording over night to see if we could pick anything up, but I'm still working on that :)

I'm pretty convinced myself of what I THINK it is, but I've been too long a reader of FT to just blindly assume I'm right. I'd rather try to disprove it than prove it.

And yeah, the Hob has gone very quiet lately. Even compared to 7-10 years ago! My best mate and I try to go in whenever she's in town.
 
TonberryKing said:
I'm pretty convinced myself of what I THINK it is, but I've been too long a reader of FT to just blindly assume I'm right. I'd rather try to disprove it than prove it.
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Don't worry about classifying anything. The important point is to collect evidence that there really is something weird going on and to test any possible natural explanations. I hope you'll share any results you get here.
 
That reminds me, speaking of natural causes. I have heard that a part of the shopping centre is over an artisian well. I know that underground water has been linked with some Fortean subjects (most notably dowsing), but I don't know if that would have any effect.
 
That part I'm not gonna say, mostly because I know a lot of companies have serious issues with being mentioned unofficially :p Don't know if this would fall under it, but I'm gonna play it safe! :)

Oh, and more local interest, I was speaking to someone I know the other day, who was telling me she experienced strange things happening in a local manor house (Stafferton Lodge for those who know the area).
 
PeniG said:
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.
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Absolutely. People remember the most insignificant crap that never gets written into history books, and it's usually this "crap" which turns out to be key information. You'd be amazed what ordinary people know about their local area, not wise 100yr-olds, just normal folk of all ages.
 
It's been a while since I updated, but the spook, if that's what he is, seems to have quietened down a bit (We go through phases of this. Possibly he/she/it is visiting the other shops in the centre?)

I have however been trying to find out a little history of the place. And I HAVE heard some second and third hand stories about the brewery when it was still operating, including how dangerous some of the equipment was. Unfortunately, I still have no first hand witnesses myself of what the area was like 50-60ish years ago, but we're still working on it!
 
I pity the ghost that has to haunt the Shopping Centre in Maidenhead! :lol:

Grew up in Wycombe and so have visited a fair few times, can't say I recall anything peculiar happening there.
 
Haha, well it seems to be staff in the shops that experience it. I know a few people from different units who've had weirdness happen. None of the public areas seem to be affected, not when customers are around anyway! My boss, who is a very firm believer in the ghost however, told me about one day, the alarms kept going off (one at an entrance, and one on our shop floor, in a way that suggested intrusion in the middle of the night), and when she came in with the alarm response people, there was no sign of entry by anyone, and a small, dusty shoeprint in a section of carpet we have to pass to leave. She was adamant there was nothing there at closing.

I'm open to the possibility it was just missed, but it was a single footprint in the middle of the carpet, and said boss is very focussed on details.

And what are you trying to say about Maidenhead!?! We have a very fine... Umm... Bridge? :p
 
In Morecambe we have the grandly titiled 'Arndale Shopping Centre'. It's building knocked down the Royalty Theatre where Thora Hird madce her acting debut. Tesco stands on its site now. According to Paranormal Database and (I think) the local paper, mysterious organ music was heard during Tesco's construction. It also reports phenomenon from Barclays bank which is next to it. I have received personal testimony that a presence has been felt in what is currently a she repairers in the Arndale. I wonder whether the collection of this phenomenon is related to the knocking down of old streets. I intend (in time!!) to overlay the old street map with a current one and see if anthything interesting turns up.
 
I like that idea. I do know that the majority of potential ghosts seem to be around the town centre here. I know of at least three claimed hauntings including my own, but most are in new buildings on older sites.
 
I don't really know which section this belongs in, so mods feel free to move around and edit/delete as neccessary :)

I thought it'd be interesting to hear of any unusual goings-on in your work places? Anything strange you've seen or heard? Do you work somewhere that is haunted?

I do not work in a haunted location (I hope!?) however I do know somebody who used to work in an old law Court in Buckinghamshire, the UK.

She said she had keys to the large building as she often liked to get into work early, or stay behind late, to catch up on her work load. She said one morning, she arrived exceptionally early, about 06:30am, hours before her colleagues were due for work.

She said she had just got in, closed the door and headed up to her office. After a few moments, the phone on her desk began ringing. Startled, she looked over at it, and the light was blinking on it: indicating that the call was coming INTERNALLY.

Unnverved, and knowing nobody else was supposed to be there, the went into the hallway, called out, but there was no answer. She never answered the call - it stopped ringing moments later, but it really creeped her out! :twisted:
 
I used to work at the Royal Albert Hospital in Lancaster (UK).

http://www.unlockingthepast.org.uk/inde ... t_pages/9/

My wife used to work with a client who had learning difficulties and no reason to lie. She once told my wife that many years ago, when she lived on the ground floor of the main building (as seen in photo on link) she used to hear a little girl crying. When my wife asked her who it was, she said very matter if fact like "oh, there wasn't anyone there".
The ground floor of the main building used to house children at one point.

As it is now a Muslim girls school, there is no access to the building. This is a real shame as they only use about 3 or 4 rooms of the main building. I'm sure that it could have been put to a more productive use.

Many friends of mine used to work the old psychiatric hospital Lancaster Moor Hospital.

http://www.azubi.co.uk/Moor/Hospital.html

This is a far more gothic and creepy building. It is also believed to be built on or near the old plague pit. New houses have been build over the road from that where the secure units were located. Activity has allegedly been experienced in some of those houses.

I have posted most of this before, but it is a speicic response to your thread as you won't have seen it before. :D
 
Thanks, Spud (if I may call you that?) for sharing that. Very creepy - the crying of the child in the empty room :shock:

Psychiatric hospitals always unsettle me - perhaps it's just written all over the atmosphere... the fact that it houses disturbed and unstable minds might have something to do with that!

I worked at a psychiatric hospital for three years. Always felt eerie, especially on night shift. Certain parts I hated going to alone, and I always felt "watched". Nothing ever specifically happened though - I have a feeling it was more the setting than the fact it was haunted...
 
Ok, I posted on here a year or two back about my spooky work experiences, but seeing that theres a title of `Haunted Workplaces` feel obliged to send them again.

In the mid 90s I worked for an engineering company in the North East of England. The place consisted of an office (L shaped) comprising of 3 main offices, A work Yard & a fabrication shop complete with stores area & a `loft` area, where we kept tools & stock. At the side of this there was a portakabin which was basically the mess & locker area.

Most of the activity took place in the office & workshop areas. The office as stated comprised of 3 rooms. One the managers office, then connected to this the main sales / admin office with entrance / exit & then the `L` of the office was the engineers office (2 desks) above the building was an `attic` with nothing in it, then the slate roof. From the Engineers office there was another door which led out into a small `alley way` which was a dead end one way & the other led to the main gate approx 10 feet away, at the dead end of the alley was a window into the main office. I have described this building in detail as this is where most of the activity occured & will help when giving my explanation of the `occurrances`.

I started at the company & worked in the office with Pat who was the office manager, it was approx 3-4 months of working there before I mentioned to her that on occasions it felt like we were being watched (whilst working on our own) I was glad i mentioned this as Pat started talking about the same thing. The feeling was intense & sometimes when I wasnt at work & Pat was on her own, she had admitted to leaving the office for 5 mins to `get away` from what or whoever made her feel uncomfortable. One time one of the lads from the workshop came into the office to speak to the engineers, midway between the offices he started having a conversation with whoever was in the engineers office & was surprised that after hearing talking & movement that no one was there at all. There was allsorts of `corner of the eye movement` for example Pat was one day filing at one end of the office & said that several times she had `looked up` to speak to whoever was at the counter to of course find no one there. I myself due to the location of my desk would see things in the engineers office & then realise no one was there & the experience that freaked us both out the most was a day when all the engineers / workshop people where out of the site (about 6 in total) & there was only I & Pat in the office, I was talking to Pat & I noticed a figure walk past the window outside in the alley heading to the gate, my instinct was someone thieving or up to no good in the yard, i jumped up & shouted Pat, I then ran through to the engineers office & flung the external door open, only to run into the alley..........nothing. (this took approx 2 secs) & Pat followed.... we looked around the yard, in the workshop / loft, Portakabin etc...........nothing. We put this all down to Fred as Pat called him, all the knocks / bangs & voices where attributed to him.

I have other stories from working there however one of them involved one of our workshop lads Dave. he was working in the loft area once & there was only I & Pat in the office, what happened according to Dave was that someone had come into the workshop & shouted `hello` (as customers did regularly) Dave hearing this came to loft door & ran down the stairs replying `Hello` himself...............no one....he looked all over the yard & then came into the office......no one.......Dave said it took a second for him to reply / answer, but he was mystified as to who shouted etc.....

One other incident was our Manager Steve was in the loft one day & was on his way out of the loft to head down the stairs but forgot something, he said that he walked out of the loft & noticed someone in red overalls just heading into the office.......he went back into the loft got what he wanted, came down & headed for the office where i & Pat where. Wheres the customer? followed by blank looks from us....

Steve was always going on about objects missing........the usual an item on a work bench 6 inches away........2 secs away from the bench then back to work & the item / tool missing.......only to turn up later.......in exactly the same place........

Also Steve & Dave noticed the `bad` vibe in the office & when working away from the yard `after hours` this was noticed more. The usual procedure to collect the car & put the work vans away, was to open the office, turn alarm off, get workshop key, put the vans in the workshop, close it & then put the key back in the drawer in the office, turn the alarm back on lock office & then main gate.......this sounds simple (& was) But either through active imaginations or `Fred` one time it got to much for Dave.....he came into work one day & got a `rollicking` for not putting the alarm on & leaving the lights on in the office all night.......On further investigation Dave stated.....`id come back to the yard to put the van away (on his own) he said from opening the office up & turning the alarm off it felt uneasy.....& he said the feeling of someone watching him in the office or stood there was overwhelming.....as he put the van away he felt even more & more uneasy.......he said he ran into the office & put the key in the drawer, but felt that whoever or whatever was right behind him.........that was it....he was off......he locked the office door & gate & left......he apologised but admitted hed been spooked....there was no disciplinary either as Steve (manager) later admitted when he was on his own sometimes hed been freaked out putting the keys away............

anyway hope you enjoyed those, have a few more if anyone interested.......keep em coming.
 
I used to work in a petrol station years ago and when it got really quiet I used to hear the big fridge doors opening and closing (although they never actually did), followed by footsteps heading towards the counter. One of my work colleagues experienced the same thing on a regular basis. The place used to take on a whole new atmosphere once you were on your own during the night shift and at times it would become quite oppressive.
 
My department at work have spent the last 18 months temporarily housed in the old research labs, while our labs were being refurbished. People have often joked about the ghost on the second floor, and it certainly was an eerie place to be alone. Often you would hear doors and footsteps but never see anyone.
Since moving out, we have had to go back to clear out or use specialist equipment. One morning i was over there alone and went to use the 2nd floor loos, stupidly when i came out, instead of going down the nearest stairs, i walked along the corridor. As i went through the doors at the far end and looked over my shoulder, i was sure i saw a figure standing at the other end of the corridor - i don't think i have ever taken a set of stairs so fast in all my life :shock:
On mentioning this to colleagues, i have also heard of:
Grey shadows
Doors slamming shut
A feeling of not be alone
Rattling glassware

I can't imagine why anyone would want to spend an eternity at work but hey, research scientists are a weird bunch ;)
 
I have posted several accounts of Techy's haunting experiences on here, in the Struth! I Saw A Ghost! thread or something like that.

He has had many weird encounters at work. If I dig around I could find them. One involved a walk down a long narrow underground corridor to a locked store room. When he came back out, a large heavy goods trolley had been parked outside, completely blocking his way. He had to climb over it, carrying whatever equipment he'd collected.

It would have taken several minutes and some effort to put the truck there, and would have made a noise, but he was aware of nothing. When he accused his workmates of playing a trick on him they denied it strenuously as they were all afraid of the 'haunted cellar room'. :shock:
 
I posted on here a few days back about my & colleagues experiences at an engineering firm in the north east. Here's a few more.

The main office ( described in more detail in last post) had a double glass door, one day ( in the winter when dark morning & night) Steve had locked this door & on a few occasions would see a double image of himself however he said that on a few occasions he'd seen a what looked like another image or figure in the glass / office.

Dave who worked in the workshop had witnessed various things also had been wearing goggles sometimes & whilst working had seen someone walk into the workshop, he finished off what he was doing to approach whoever it was & there was no one.

Pat who I worked with had stated how shed felt, seen & heard various things but it was missing items which peeved her the most, her lighter or ashtray would go missing only to turn up in a different office or in a drawer, once an investigation was going to take place as an expensive piece of enginneering equipment had gone missing for a few days & you guessed it the engineer who made a fuss about it etc found it in his desk drawer!!!!

Lots of little things like this happened over a period of approx 5-6 years & it would have been great to see Fred but he seemed more mischevious than frightening, although a few of my work colleagues wouldn't agree on that.
 
One morning i was over there alone and went to use the 2nd floor loos, stupidly when i came out, instead of going down the nearest stairs, i walked along the corridor. As i went through the doors at the far end and looked over my shoulder, i was sure i saw a figure standing at the other end of the corridor - i don't think i have ever taken a set of stairs so fast in all my life :shock:
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Its almost as if whoever it was made you go that way AND knew you would pee...k over your shoulder!
 
unknown said:
Its almost as if whoever it was made you go that way AND knew you would pee...k over your shoulder!
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"shudder" well, they can just stop it!

As a follow up, I have just been told of another occurance.

Over the weekend, "John" came in to do some extra work (it is rare that anybody works the weekend). The security guard unlocked the door for him, and as they walked in, the drinks machine was in the middle of dispensing a coffee 8)
 
Maviself said:
unknown said:
Its almost as if whoever it was made you go that way AND knew you would pee...k over your shoulder!
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"shudder" well, they can just stop it!

As a follow up, I have just been told of another occurance.

Over the weekend, "John" came in to do some extra work (it is rare that anybody works the weekend). The security guard unlocked the door for him, and as they walked in, the drinks machine was in the middle of dispensing a coffee 8)
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That was very nice of the ghost :)
I used to work in a college that was built on the site of an old farm and there were rumours that in some of the lower corridors you could sometimes hear voices.

One of the security staff not known for having a vivid imagination saw an old woman walking down a corridor, late at night after the place was closed. He followed her into a corridor that was a dead end and she was gone. The only two doors were at the start of the corridor and were locked.
 
I worked in an apparently haunted office way back when I seventeen. The building was on an old street, but was modern, and had two storey's. There were two businesses, so two front doors, but both shared a corridor at the back where the toilets and mini kitchen area was located. The other business was a small Welsh t.v. company and there was an old cellar in their part of the premises, which they used to store equipment. I think, from what was said, that this was part of the original building.

Because the business I worked for was very new, the bosses had people working at all hours for the first year or two, so one or two people were often there almost all night. I did hear that there was a ghost, but not until I'd been there a few weeks, and by that time I had settled down, and was not aware of anything, despite my interest.

The ground floor office was used for storage, and one went through it to the back corridor to use the loo or make tea, so if you were down there, apart from the SC4 people next door, you were on your own. This corridor flanked the warehouse area of a furniture store, and sometimes you could hear movement, vans, people unloading there, so noises went on, and they weren't alarming. You knew what caused them.

I was washing up the cups, as office juniors tended to back then, when I heard footsteps at the top of the corridor, the direction the woman who worked for the SC4 company would come if she left their office. The whole building was carpet tiled except for that corridor, so I could hear high heels tapping quite briskly. You had to step back to look down the corridor from where I was at the sink, but I didn't look as assumed it was next-door coming to use the Ladies, which was right next to the kitchen The footsteps stopped right there, so I thought she'd gone in, although I didn't hear the door to the loo close. I was not really paying much attention though, as washing-up is rather mundane and boring, so I was thinking of something else. I had just finished when the footsteps walked straight past me, behind my back. It sounded just as if a woman briskly walked behind me, literally inches from my back, and then the steps stopped again. The hair on the back of my neck really did stand up, but I was not scared as much as really shocked. There was no horrible atmosphere or anything.

I stared asking people after that - it was a small company, and every-one was pretty close. No-one minded. The manager's had not said anything because they were simply more concerned with getting their business going, and didn't want the younger employees acting 'silly.' But apparently when they were working there at night, they would hear the steps too, and one night when three of them were working in one room, they heard footsteps run up the stairs from the ground floor, and then the door to their office slammed open. There was no wind, (they locked the door behind them because in theory, if they were upstairs, any-one could have walked in off the street, into the store room and nicked something).

One room on the first floor was used for microfilming; there was a big flat-bed camera in there, and the room was blacked out all the time. That door would apparently open on its own when no-one was in the building save the one person in the camera-room. Nothing at all happened on the second floor, which was the newest part of the building.
The most interesting things did not happen to me. One of the managers would use the Ladies toilet before he left the building, and he was often the last one there. He use it because it had a mirror, and he would com his hair, fix his tie etc. Twice, he said, he saw a woman's face looking back at him, dark hair drawn back, and wearing what he thought was an oval cameo at her throat. He heard the footsteps on that corridor frequently. The SC4 company next door heard, two or three times, the most tremendous crashing and falling noises from the cellar and ran down, thinking that their equipment had fallen from shelves, but found nothing amiss.
I worked overtime at weekends sometimes, in the camera room, and didn't like it at all, but used to play loud music to ignore any noises :)
Can't say I was ever really frightened, even when alone. I have been to places that oppress me, and alarm me, or give me a feeling of terror (such as Littlecote House) but that building was not one of them.

Anyhow, this being back in the 80's, when a lot of people had liquid lunches, we often used to get a roll and a drink at the local pub, which was an old coaching inn, and so did a lot of other workers on that street. Some of the warehouse workers would come in, and I would ask about 'noises'. They said they heard a woman's footsteps all the time, and louder crashing noises, but never took any notice. (They were in a warehouse, after all). But every-one considered that whole street haunted, and had their own ghost stories. It is supposed to be one of the oldest streets in the town, and on a coaching route to Marlborough and Hungerford back in the day. I wished I could have found out something about 'the woman', but all I could discover was people heard her footsteps, and Mr C allegedly saw her.

The office buildings remained empty after the two businesses moved out, for a long time. Occasionally I'd go past, and almost always see them empty - I don't think that's because they were 'haunted', but the location meant the rents were really high, and parking was crap, also. Now they've been converted into flats, and I often wonder if people hear or see anything there.
 
I work in a library in Derbyshire and a colleague of mine, who sadly passed away earlier this year, told me this tale.

She used to be the cleaner, before she became a library assistant and would consequently spend a lot of time in the library alone on dark mornings and even darker nights!

Apparently there used to be a hand bell in the staff room, which had been there as long as the library (80 years or so), and in times long past had been used to let staff know when tea was ready during break time. Now it was just a keepsake.

My colleague was in the main body of the library, doing her chores before the staff arrived, when she heard the bell ring of its own accord from the staff room next door. She was alone in the building and locked in, so there was no chance of it being a prankster! She told me she grabbed that bell and threw it straight in the bin, sentimental antique or no! That's how no-nonsense she was, it makes me smile to think about it!

I never saw the bell, as it had met its fate years before I started my job.

Just a small incident, but I thought I'd share! :)
 
I posted a while back about my work ghost. Our workplace is in a shopping centre in town, and stockrooms in these shops tend to have some weird things going on. In my own, I've seen or heard about:

Stock being thrown from shelves, often coming in to find it several feet from where it should have been,

Picture frame being thrown from the wall (This happened when I was around the corner, heard the smash, and come round the corner to find it about 6-7 feet from where it had been on the wall for years),

Locks being turned with no-one near them (I couldn't verify that though, only one person has said anything about it),

My manager has been sat in the office after the staff have left, and had the back of her chair being hit by something, as if it was being punched or kicked (again, I can't verify that, but I do know she seemed a little freaked out at the time. Not hysterical, just in a "what happened!?!" kind of way)

Same manager has had stock falling over outside her office, all of which had been quite stable for days beforehand,

Many staff report sound-making toys going off randomly in the stock room, even when no-one is anywhere near them. Said toys will usually go off several times an hour for a day, and then never again,

Staff also report seeing a person in the stockroom. Only a shadowy shape, but definitely human looking. This is something I've experienced myself, but I put it down to tiredness or stress usually (at least where I'm concerned)

A couple of staff have also said they've heard their name whispered, and when they've gone to look there's no-one there.

And finally, we had an alarm go off, which was confirmed as an intruder alarm, late at night. When managers got to the store with security, all entrances were closed and locked as they'd left them, nothing was missing or broken, but the motion sensors had registered movement as an intruder. There was also a footprint on a section of carpet that they were sure hadn't been there the previous night.

Those are a lot (but not all!) of the things just from my store. I also know at least two other shops in the same centre have things happen in them (again, in the stock areas weirdly), such as a store that I've had both a family member and a friend work in (At different times, and they don't know each other) both of whom have said the downstairs stockroom is haunted, to the point where some staff refuse to go in there alone!

Now I don't attribute all of these to hauntings. Some are strange, but it should be noted that our stockroom is below a car park/loading dock, over which lorries pass all the time during the day. I don't know if infrasound would be a viable reason for any of this, but I'd say it's a possibility!

...Sorry for the long post!
 
My Mum (who's a nurse ;) ) used to have loads of stories regarding when she worked night shift at a local supermarket. All the girls used to gather and play the Oiuja board during their breaks and they often spoke to someone called Jack.

These stories were told openly for anyone who would listen and I've heard them counteless times. Yet when I try to remember them exactly, it all becomes blurry and I'm not sure how many different instances I'm recalling.

However, IIRC, the girls all thought that is was harmless fun until things kept being thrown at them on the shop floor. The major incident was when my Mum stopped playing to go and have a cigarette. The board kept on spelling my mothers name and asking her to come to the window. My mother was already standing near the window so she edged closer to look out. The board kept on spelling "come to the window" and my mothjer was confused until she sat back down at the Ouija board and Jack spelled out "Thank you for coming back".

That night, all of the girls experienced objects moving and being thrown from shelves. My mother and her boss were hit by several packets of cereal at once.

I can't remember if it was before or after this evening, but my mother swears blind that the glass once moved to the edge of the table, down the leg and onto the floor and when they finally let go of it, the glass exploded.
 
I work in an office in Coventry England, it is surrounded by haunted locations and three of the most haunted roads in the area. The office has various activities including noises, sighting of shadow people and two ghosts a male and female both wearing red scarfs.When you work late you do not want to be the last person in the office as the shadows start moving and the air become very weird.

But one report has been made that children playing ring a ring of roses in the car park late at night has been seen.
 
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