THE HAUNTING OF: Lorien Jones explores The Talbot Hotel

Many people believe that gnomes are the gardener’s friend, aiding in the germination of plants and guarding them against disease and pests, so they may have been naturally enticed to the area.

“Garden gnomes were seen as a symbol of elite social status, but as time progressed the gnomes moved out of the rockeries and gardens of nineteenth century country estates and into the rapidly expanding number of suburban gardens…”

Dr Jack Hunter

With the prospect of lavish and fertile grounds giving the gnomes an ideal place to live, was it then, in addition to this, that the energy of the children that drew them out of their liminal state into the material world? It is believed that the innocent and uncluttered energy of children is most appealing to the fae, and they will approach and interact with them in a way that they seem not to with adults. And what makes the Wollaton gnomes’ case especially captivating is the incident was not only witnessed by several children over a relatively long period of time (relative to other faery encounters), a full 15 mins of the gnomes chasing and laughing ensued. On top of this, their stories where they overall corroborated with each other’s under interview circumstances.

“Talking to their school Head teacher, 6 (maybe 7 or 8) children aged between 8 years old and 10 years old spoke of brightly coloured, bearded diminutive men that chased them, chuckling and chattering, around a small, wooded area in the Wollaton grounds. As with lots of faery encounters this took place in a liminal time, or as Dan Green discovered, just the other side of a liminal time, around 8pm on the 23rd September. The children didn’t arrive home until around 10pm and were unsure about the exact time that this happened. A liminal time could have been the initial catalyst to bringing the gnomes into the material world.”

Twilight, or in this case just after, is known as a liminal time, a time between light and dark and historically seen as a time when the veil between the energetic world of the faeries and the material world that we live in merge. A time when the beings of other realms can easily pass into our reality and manifest themselves in seemingly solid form.

At the time of the gnome encounter most of the children involved felt no fear of the gnomes, although one boy cried, and so most had a positive experience.

When asked how the children could see the gnomes, they where in a wooded area that they describe as dark, Andrew said in answering the head teacher in interview,

“We seen a light in the tree hanging and we could see their faces”

When asked what kind of light, as there are no known lights in the wood in

Wollaton, he replied

“Just a ordinary light, cus when we looked up there was light” This is a curious thing, did the gnomes manifest a light so that they could be better seen by the children? So, what was the series of events that took place for around 15mins in Wollaton?

“…in 1979 a group of children were in the park, possibly trespassing where they shouldn’t have been. They suddenly saw a number of small cars, noddy like cars, ride out from the bushes and all of the children who were asked afterwards said that each car had two gnomes in them”, Dr Simon Young.

The children were Rosie Pearce, Patrick Olive, Glen Elliot, Andrew Pearce, and Angela Elliot plus another known as Julie were interviewed extensively. There were only minor discrepancies in their testimonies which could have plausible explanations, other than these minor notes the children’s story paired entirely. The slight differences came in their descriptions of the gnomes clothing colour, with only a mix up of the primary colours, but all agreed that this was the colour pallet presented.

It is though that when a group of people experience something, that is later recounted, individuals recall of the event is coloured by several factors. These factors differ from person to person from their own experiences such as cultural, religious ideas, age, sex and education, all can heavily influence how they “see” and retain information. On recalling memories these elements could be an explanation as to why some of the Wollaton children saw different colours of clothing on the gnomes. Or it could be something more supernatural. One hypothesis is that liminal beings, like gnomes, can and do, present themselves in a way that the viewer would understand their nature. Could it be that the gnomes at Wollaton were showing themselves as the children wished to see them? All the children involved would have been exposed to similar cultural ideas of gnomes through tv and stories, so overall they shared largely the same vision.

And what about the noddy cars the gnomes drove, this is another fantastical aspect of the case. In the past, faery transportation encounters have largely been lesser modern methods such as horses and carts. These gnome mobiles were very different, not only that they were a modern concept but took on a science fiction feature. When asked about the cars and how they moved, all the children agreed that they “hovered”, with no visible wheels or sound. I have many questions around the gnome cars, and one that keeps popping up is the alien aspect to the vehicles. A hovering car seems more akin to an alien craft than to an earth dwelling being; yes I know that this is farfetched but isn’t the idea of a hovering noddy car housing two gnomes?

One last big question, and one in which I address in the book Wollaton Gnome: A Nottingham Fairy Mystery, is around the geography of Nottinghamshire and its history. Prior to the Saxon invasions of the area, and for some time after, there were people in the county who worked and lived in subterranean caves. These caves where carved out of the sandstone and those that remain show a homely quality to them, sporting frontages that look like a normal house, one still exists in Mansfield. With the energy created by people working and dwelling in the earth was this something that the Gnomes approved of? Did the gnomes come to the land because of this, or were they already there and permeated the idea of this way of life to the humans? Again, these are fanciful questions, but maybe a line of enquiry. The case of the Wollaton gnomes, as outlandish as it first seems is worthy of further investigation, with for me many more questions than answers, and hopefully in the following months and years some of these will be answered… Kate X

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS with SPOOKED

SCOTLAND

In SPOOKED SCOTLAND, renowned American medium Chris Fleming and his partner in crime Scotland’s Gail Porter lead an expert paranormal team to investigate the chilling crimes, supernatural sightings and terrifying stories across one of the most haunted countries on earth: Scotland. By day and by night, they must explore some of this ancient Nation’s spookiest locations. With exclusive access to places that have never let a film crew in before they will try and make contact with the spirits to explain the paranormal mysteries that have haunted Scotland’s most iconic landmarks for centuries. Equipped with the latest specialist paranormal technology they’ll come face to face with long dead tortured souls who are still plaguing the living and find out why?

Avariety of ghosts are to be found in the houses, castle, inns, moors, lochs and ruins of Haunted Scotland. Scotland has always been a divided nation and its history is spattered with the blood of countless conflicts, many of them fought between the Highlanders and the Lowlanders. Only very occasionally did the two sink their differences to unite against a common enemy, as successive English Kings strove to invade and conquer. Vestiges of Scotland’s stormy past are to be found all over the country and nowhere is it more apparent than in the haunted, ruined castles of Scotland. These ruined fortresses - silent reminders of old and bitter conflicts - stud the Scottish landscape. From the gentle farmlands of the Central Lowlands to wild Empty lands of Europe’s last great wilderness in the country’s Northwest, Scotland’s abandoned castles stand as sullen witnesses to centuries of conflict and bloodshed, and the ghosts that wander their timeworn corridors and historic rooms are perpetual reminders of a violent and stormy past. Behind the sombre walls of these impressive bastions, Kings and Queens, Lairds and Ladies, Highlanders and Lowlanders, the famous and the long forgotten, continue to inhabit an ethereal domain where old feuds and differences have never died, and where dastardly deeds and ancient discords occasionally cross the centuries to baffle and astonish those who happen to stumble upon their ghostly re-enactments.

Richard Jones

“It’s not about being on TV. It’s about doing what you can for the greater good… Some spirits wanted help while others told some of us to fuck off!”

Hi Chris! It’s absolutely fantastic to have you back on our screens in such a fascinating new show. What was it about Spooked Scotland that made you want to be a part of it?

Thank you I appreciate that. The decision was simple actually; it was a chance to work with Gail Porter again. I always knew and told her over the years that I saw us working together again in the future. Back in March/April of 2021 I called Gail on WhatsApp and told her about an idea I was working on with our previous producer from Dead Famous investigating the most haunted castle in Scotland as a one off special or mini-series. I thought we should have Gail join us, be a part of the team and show us around Scotland. It just made sense to bring Gail into it. Gail loved the idea. We hadn’t pitched it yet, but as fate would have it, Spooked Scotland became a reality through some other means, and I was called in last minute to be a part of it. The universe did its magic, and the idea became a reality anyways.

In this Spooked series, we obviously go to some amazing, haunted locations in Scotland. That is what drives me, going to places that I have never been to before. I know viewers will love it, especially if they loved Dead Famous. The history of these places is remarkable. My goal, as always, is to make contact and find out who is there. We ran into some surprises, some good and some bad during this series. I love when they respond, which you will get to see a lot of on Spooked Scotland. Pay special attention to the EVPs and responses we get during our Instrumental trans communication sessions with our devices, you will hear many other responses then jus the main one we mention. Some of you out there with good ears, will catch the spirits talking more than just the EVPs that are titled.

One of the most striking aspects of the show is that you take on some of the more “taboo” areas of paranormal investigation – quite openly discussing elementals, the Fae, imps and pixies. Was this a conscious decision from the start or just a natural progression for the show?

Elementals was something I brought up to two of our producers and directors, Benji and Chris. I shared with them what I had discovered when I was in Devon and Calverton back in 2019 during HMHIH in regards to Pixies and gnomes and that sometimes hauntings can be caused by these elementals, as well as by Imps. I was hoping we would come in contact with pixies or some form of elemental being in Scotland, which is known for rich stories and sightings. I find these unique entities fascinating.

We came in contact with imps at a few locations and a nasty elemental type at a castle. It was a form of an IMP called a Red Cap. More powerful than some of the other Imp like creatures I have run into before. They affected Gail on and off camera and Ryan. I had an unfortunate experience with them as well near the stairs. You will have to see the episode to see for yourself.

So, when it comes to Fae and elementals, paranormal investigators have to remember there is our world, our dimension, the spirit realm and also the elemental realm. They live somewhere in between. The aether is real, and they tend to retreat deep into the aether, just outside our electromagnetic field and visual spectrum of view. Whether they go into another dimension or just