The Ghosts Of King's Lynn & West Norfolk

Well, three weeks after one of their staff messaged me asking if I'd like to do an interview about my book and over a week since I sent a follow up message, Radio West Norfolk finally got in touch saying "we had the ghost tour lady in the end so all was ok" and saying to get in touch next Halloween which is of course too late.
I was very put out, playing second fiddle. Blocked!
 
DrPaulLee said:
Well, three weeks after one of their staff messaged me asking if I'd like to do an interview about my book and over a week since I sent a follow up message, Radio West Norfolk finally got in touch saying "we had the ghost tour lady in the end so all was ok" and saying to get in touch next Halloween which is of course too late.
I was very put out, playing second fiddle. Blocked!
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Perhaps you'll have another book out by next Halloween.
 
Another *ghost* book seems unlikely although I have one or two ideas for towns, and one nationwide project for the long term. I'm hoping to get most of a ghostly project finished by next October which might spark some interest in the press... More news as and when!
 
DrPaulLee said:
I mean "another ghost book in time for Halloween next year"
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Well that's not surprising. It's only now that I'm reading your book that I'm getting an impression of the sheer amount of research you've undertaken, and the time that must have been involved.
 
The pandemic made research very difficult as you can imagine. I had a long wish list of material to look up at the library. I had to sit patiently for about 18 months. Fortunately, gutenberg.org, books.google.com and archive.org were of enormous help. In the end, there was only one antiquarian book I wanted that I couldn't get access to, but others had quoted the relevant passage so I got what I needed. Other people with bigger ghost book collections came forward admirably. When it came to collecting recent stories, a lot of people were happy to be interviewed on-line...other people less so, even though they'd given the bare bones of their stories on forums. They just didn't reply to my messages. Oh well!

The most satisfying thing is that these stories now have a permanent record. If Facebook (where I obtained a lot of recent stories and where a lot of interviews were held ) were to vanish overnight, these tales won't be lost forever.
 
My piece in the local press:

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It's been a slow seller (hopefully the mention in next month's FT may help) but there was a last minute rush as people despaired of their existing Christmas gift list (also a local museum stocking it has helped).
I'm really hoping that some new stories come forward. I've been told of a few, including one from Alison Weir who lived in Lynn in the mid 70s. She's related a story she read in the local press but those years are in the British Newspaper archive and it's not there, so I suspect that it's a story she's been told, rather than read.
 
The admin, Stacia Briggs from Weird Norfolk has just left her job title at the Eastern Daily Press newspaper .. we're all gutted but at least Weird Norfolk is still going on facebook I suppose? .. either way, you can't keep a good weirdo down ..

'A well hidden grass track leads to an isolated 11th century medieval church abandoned since services ceased in the 1860s. The shrine of St Theobald made this church a popular place for pilgrims until shrines were suppressed under the reforms of Henry VIII in the 16th century. Having lost this role the church fell into neglect. In the 19th century the nave of the church was de-roofed and the chancel was converted into a funeral/mortuary chapel. Being so isolated with no access for vehicles and no parking nearby the churchyard has had a reputation for attracting satanic rituals in the past. On the right of the grass track as you approach the church is “Golden Gate ponds” surrounded by trees. Local folklore states gold plated gates where hidden in this swampland to avoid Henry VIII and his men taking ownership of them during the Suppression of the Monasteries period (where priceless religious artefacts were confiscated, stolen and monetised). It was theorised that the tabernacle containing the relics of St Theobald may well have had golden gates. Generations of local people have grappled in the mud trying to find these priceless artefacts but as to date nothing has been found. Local folklore talks of an underground tunnel linking Great Hautbois ruin to nearby Horstead All Saints although no evidence of this subterranean passageway has been officially identified.

(annoying music warning)

 
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DrPaulLee said:
I'm working on a second edition. Due to a concerted effort at libraries and archives, Facebook appeals and adverts in parish magazines the page count has grown from 306 to well over 500.
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In that case, I'll wait a little while before I buy it. Mind you, I don't know Norfolk that well, only been once, it's a bit flat for me ... I like my hills and mountains.
 
I got your book for dad’s birthday as he’s got a connection to the area. He was rather taken with the haunted Argos store at the beginning as the Argos I used to work in was also haunted. Just think of all those unemployed ghosts now we’ve all (well mostly) moved into Sainsbury’s. Although a couple of odd things have happened in Sainsbury’s it’s nothing compared to the big old building.
 
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