Ghost Connections Venue Recce

It was that time again, when Ghost Connections were in need of researching possible locations for future investigations and so a list was drawn together and generally in the whole ignored!

What follows is an account of where we went and what we found but due to the locations involved exact details have been withheld.

We set off for a trek towards the Kent coast and intended to take in a couple of historic religious sites along with a couple of out of the way rural locations with a memorial thrown in.

Initial stop was a mediaeval church situated away from its village centre. The building was resurrected from being struck by lightning in the 1500's. We approached along an unmade track and caught our first glimpse of the wonders of the wildlife in Kent as a badger scurried out of our path and through a fence and vanished into the moonlight countryside.

Having parked a little distance away from the church and churchyard we made the final approach on foot and threaded out way along the tarmac path past the atmospheric tower illuminated by the moon and the mist to the door on the furthest side. The door to the porch and the church inside was open to our amazement. A step down into the Nave found us immersed in the historic residue of a building used as concealment for contraband by smugglers many years past.

We spent approximately an hour in the church and found that movement was sensed, cold spots highlighted and figures commented upon. Besides this we found that all of us suffered from one peculiarity .When inside the body of the church our ears were subject to the most peculiar high pitched whine. This diminished when we walked into the porch and completely disappeared when we got outside. To further investigate this we returned into the church and out on several occasions but the results were the same – whining in the ears inside, tranquility outside. Definitely a venue for the future and this report is due imminently.

On reaching the conclusion that this was worthy of a return we left this church and headed for our next location.

A few miles and we would pause in a public house for a soft drink. A pub in the centre of a village with low arches and fireplaces, a very sociable yet not overbearing atmosphere you could imagine all sorts of vagabonds from history being present in years gone by.

A mile or so away we made a muddy trek across a field on a footpath to one of the largest memorials in the county. Unknown by many it commemorates a local land owner and was erected by his peers and recently restored to its former glory it presented a wonderful sight in the misty moon light. It was by now, however, becoming colder so the next venture was another attempt to be indoors for a period.

Another church was located nearby and again miraculously found to be open. It is astounding to us that in the age of 'everything must be locked away' even during the day that in the countryside of South East England there are churches that remain open on the trust for those who may wish to use them. This church, close to its ancient moated manorial site, showed great evidence of over enthusiastic Victorian restoration. It lacked any character or atmosphere that was felt within the previous one. We remained for over an hour here to establish that this continued to be the case and then moved on.

Having said we moved on, this took place after a munch and some coffee. We did have any passing traffic to wonder what on earth this bunch of idiots were doing picnicking at the roadside after midnight!

Then the fun started – in the middle of nowhere miles from the nearest nowhere we finally found some ruins. Church ruins crumbling away for the last 500 years or more yet enigmatic enough to strike a startling profile. We had to park some distance away and walk back to a gap in a high hedge to walk to the ruins. We did disturb a couple of dogs at a nearby house which caused the occupant to come out and flash their torch about before going back in. We were not noisy on site and kept lights to a minimum but again we saw the neighbouring house owner come out.

Now this occupant didn't go back indoors for some reason and whilst we remained still and quiet it was like a Mexican standoff. Eventually we left and walking along the road we saw the occupant lurking in the dark by their gate. We continued past and after a few yards a comment was hurled towards us and a torch beam remained on us and followed us to the car. It was clear that we were being watched after this was extinguished. We chose to remain at the car and have coffee and nibbles aware we were being monitored.

Whilst we cannot speak for all persons who may seek to go to ancient sites in the middle of the night, and feel residents may be nervous, we do not engage in conversation with people who do not approach us civilly. Similarly we do not enter private property where it is clear that this is the case and exercise our rights to be in public places where access is available. We are careful to keep noise to minimum whenever we are near houses as we are aware that sound carries more at night. Be aware that we have documentation with us at all time to show that we are Ghost Connections and also possess our own ID. When at locations which may cause concerns to residents we inform the local police of our presence prior to attending.

Bored with this activity we then ventured several miles to check out an ancient woodland. The weather was getting grim when we got there after a loo stop or two but found narrow single track roads through ancient chestnuts and limes and established conifer plantations. This, if anywhere, was a place of atmosphere. The pines gave the impression of those classic shots of the North American Big Foot. Was something as extraordinary lurking here? You would be forgiven for thinking so and definitely worth a return trip. Amused by several literary road signs you would expect to be in the back waters of Oregon and not near quaint little hamlets named after garden tools.

After a journey of several miles we had identified a few places to return to and made our way home.

An interesting and eventful night that would promote further visits which will be reported here.