Haunting
Times
Scotland’s Supernatural home to all things weird and wonderful
Issue 1 April/May 2014
A 40-year haunt that shows no sign of stopping and a families acceptance of thier unseen lodger
Scotland’s most haunted: dare you delve into our most scariest hotspots?
Cowane Hospital A night of whispers as a team of investigators try to find the source
For A Night Of Terror And Tales Of The Supernatural There Is Only One Place That Will Satisfy All Your Visual Needs
Global Horror Video For The Perfect Night In
18 Bryers Road, Glasgow, G2 1PQ Telephone: 141 333 5454 or email globalhvideo@vid.co.uk
Features A 40-year haunt
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Scotland’s Most Haunted
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Cowane Hospital Ghost Hunt
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if you have a ghost story or if you would like our team to investigate a haunted location get in touch at hauntingtimes@LP.co.uk
c o n t e n t
A 40-year haunt a WHEN you hear of a haunted location what springs to mind? Big gothic mansions? Graveyards? Old run down theaters? Usually somewhere with a chequered past or somewhere steeped with a bloody history. But what probably doesn’t spring to mind is a lovely modern light and airy home. The family designed and built the house themselves back in the 1970’s. Before the houses were built on this small street it was a forest dating back for hundreds of years. It is part of Bothwell Castle’s estate but even though no other dwellings have ever been built there the grounds have bore witness to many battles between the Scots and the English so where the family home stands now nobody really knows how blood soaked the foundations may be. There are five members of the family the mum and dad, Mr and Mrs Grendell* with their three children Jan, Stuart and the youngest Alan (* all names have been changed.) The three children are all grown up now each married with homes and children of their own but Alan along with Mrs Grendell has agreed to talk about some of their experiences of their haunted house. Alan says: “I can’t really remember when I understood I was living in a house that was haunted. I would tell my friends in primary school about things that had happened and kids being kids they just shrugged it off as no big deal. It was really when I started secondary school that I began to realise it wasn’t normal the things that were happening in our home; I realised they didn’t happen to everyone.” Alan looks at his mum at this point and Mrs Grendell explains: “When we first moved into the house I was still pregnant with Alan. It had been such a long process for my husband and I with designing and building our own home; especially with two toddlers running
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around and being heavily pregnant at the time so at first I didn’t notice strange things were happening. Even when the builders were complaining that things were going missing or their tools were being moved about or being put in silly places I just presumed it was either Jan or Stuart playing pranks and to be honest I was so exhausted I really couldn’t be bothered getting into anything with the workers all I wanted was the house finished and furnished before Alan was born.” The home is lovely and warm – so far no cold spots or creepy shadows. Nothing to put your nerves on edge until we leave the kitchen and turn right and stretching before us is a long corridor. It’s not particularly spooky or anything you can actually put your finger on but there is a feeling; a feeling that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I try to shake it off, as I’m here to gather facts for a feature not be drawn into a ghost story. Mrs Grendell says: “This seems to be where the haunting starts, if that is what it is? The door at the top of the corridor is the master bedroom where we have an on-suite and the room at the top on the left is Alan’s room and the door across from it is the family bathroom. Everything that happens seems to stem from this part of the house.” Walking up the corridor and into Alan’s old room the first thing you see is the drum kit. The room is light and bright with no suppressing atmosphere. Alan explains some of the of the events that have taken place: “The two strangest things that happen here is the corner of my room where the head of my bed is; if you lie there you’ll here someone breathing. And that’s all the time not just now and again.” I must look dubious because before I know it Alan has talked me into removing my shoes and taking a listen for myself. I lie there thinking how stupid I must look but as soon as I do I can hear it - distinct breathing, a regular rhythmic intake and outtake of breath.
nd 40-years more Alan says: “It was something that has always been there for me. From a baby this has always been my room. When I was about 13 or 14 one of my friends was sleeping over. I gave him the bed and I slept on the fold-a-way. The breathing really freaked him out and we ended up swapping beds and having a long discussion on what it could be. That was the very first time I’d talked about it; I’d never even mentioned it to my mum and dad before because it was just something that had always been.” Mrs Grendell picks up the story: “Alan and his pal told us the next morning about the breathing and it was my husband, who’s an engineer who went to listen to it. He really tried to get to the bottom of what was causing it, even going as far as removing a section of the wall to check if there were any pipes there. But it’s an outside wall and there aren’t even any plugs in that section, so there are no wires, no pipes no drafts nothing that can be explained or matched to the noise.” “Another thing that always happens here.” Alan continues. “Is whenever I play the drums, footsteps come running up the hallway and stop outside my door. But nobody’s is ever there and nothing has ever burst through my door even though that is what it sounds like is going to happen.” Alan picks up the drumsticks and sits down and begins to play and the footsteps are immediate. Heavy and fast running up the corridor – and yes you are waiting for his bedroom door to burst open because they sound so immediate, there is an urgency to them. But nothing happens and the noise stops outside the door. Mrs Grendell opens the door and just to show nothing is there. It’s not an echo of the drums as it is a different rhythm and it only happens the first time he begins to play and not throughout. Alan stops again to let some time pass and then once again he begins to play. Mrs Grendell has left the door open and as soon as Alan’s first beat is struck the footfalls come pounding up the corridor. We then go into the master bedroom and again it’s an-
other large light and airy space with no negative vibes. Mrs Grendell says: “It’s the lights in here that always cause the problem. They seem to go on and off whenever; and not just the overhead’s it’s the bedside lamps and the on-suite lights as well. At New Year - but not every New Year all the lights come on at the same time and as soon as my husbands feet touch the floor they all go off. The first few years this happened I did find it quite scary but we’re used to it now and we feel its maybe just loved ones coming back to say hello. I’ll be happy if it goes on for another 40-odd-years.” As we wrap-up the interview I get the feeling that this family are very down-to-earth and not given to flights of fancy. They’ve just come to accept the fact that these things happen in their home and no one has ever come to any harm and so they just let it continue. I left the house feeling very shaken and un-nerved I didn’t know really what I was expecting before doing this interview but after witnessing what I did I can tell you I was very happy to put this family home in my rear view mirror.
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Most ha Hartwood Asylum
here is believed to be the first Med Campbell Clark, who said: “The firs cure where possible, and to give th can not be found.” It is thought that Dr Clark showed his patients that he is still to this da St Bride’s Church
WITH Scotland’s long and bloody past most people think of battlefields and castles to be the most haunted locations. But listed here are a few overlooked gems of our countries supernatural heritage. Ranging from hospitals to amusement parks not everything is as you might expect. Hartwood Hospital
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Hartwood opened its doors on Tuesday May 14, 1895. In the beginning the name Hartwood Asylum was preferred but through changing attitudes towards mental health it was deemed inappropriate and so in more recent years was changed to Hartwood hospital. Hartwood was seen as a very modern and progressive asylum in its day as instead of locking up patients or restraining them; they believed that people recovered quicker through music, dance and sport therapy. St Bride’s Church The haunting
The St Bride’s Church of Bothwe 1398 by the Earl of Douglas. The C visible structure and dates from the During recent building work and e back to the 12th century where frag found below the floor levels belong style. Even though the church and surro nearly 1000 years the haunting her To the side of St Bride’s is a very where the public is free to roam an oldest residents. Here if you’re lucky you may get t who walks between graves crunch paths. On occasion she has also b ported she is dressed in the era of bunch of flowers but she has only b sions and it is more likely that you Loudoun Castle Theme Park
Loudoun Castle was the ancestra the earliest buildings on this land w the Craufurds who erected a four s back to the 12th or 13th century. It Earl of Loudoun, Sir John Campbe bell family has always occupied the laid to ruin by fire in 1941. Loudoun Castle opened again in was a theme park and this is where On July 15, 2007 a young 18-yea roller-coaster platforms helping to g ever they came to that turn on the man held on to one of the carts for and the momentum pulled him ove he tragically fell 80 feet to the grou Crosshouse hospital but never reco There have been several reports up on the platform of the roller-coa shut-down; it is believed that he sta others from making the same mista
aunted Loudoun Castle Theme Park
dical Superintendent Dr Archibald st purpose of the hospital is to he best possible care when a cure
d such care and compassion for ay making his rounds.
ll was founded on October 10, Choir of this church is the oldest e 14th century. excavations foundations dating gments of dressed stones were ging to late Norman of pre-Gothic
ounding land has been in use for re is a fairly modern one. old and very cinematic graveyard nd discover some of Bothwell’s
to hear the footsteps of a mourner ing up and down the red gravel been seen and it has been rethe 1940’s and is carrying a been spotted on very rare occawill hear her mournful steps.
al home of the Campbell family but were thought to have been built by storey square battlement dating t wasn’t until 1601 when the First ell added the castle. The Campe castle and grounds until it was
1995 but this time on its grounds e the haunting tale begins. ar-old male was working on the give the carts an extra push whenride. Unfortunately the young a fraction of a second too long er the side of the platform where nd below. He was rushed to overed and died the next day. by people who claim to see him aster even though the park is now ands vigil over this ride to save ake he did.
Provanhall/Blochairn House
Provanhall/Blochairn House is one of Glasgow’s oldest buildings dating back to the 15th century. Provanhall has a long and colourful history passing through many hands in its timeline. Some of the holders have been John Wyschard, who obtained a charter from Robert the Bruce in 1322. Walter Stewart, an illegitimate son of King Robert II, William Turnbull, who later became Bishop of Glasgow, Alexander Stewart, James IV’s son by Marion Boyd, to name but a few. But it is the homes last owner that is reputed to haunt this location; Reston Mather who died in 1934 has been seen on many occasions by staff and visitors in the Blochairn House and witness’s have reported he seems a friendly and kind gentleman who just likes to make sure his home is being looked after. A woman and child who were murdered in the upstairs apartment haunt Provanhall; there have been several cases of female visitors reporting an evil force when approaching the table and chair in the room.
Provanhall/Blochairn House
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Whispers in The team: Lanarkshire Paranormal from left to right: Steff, Janice, Laura, Jamie, Mark, Alex, Debbie
Location: Cowane Hospital - Stirling
Date: March 29, 2014 Time: 9pm - 3am
THE night got off to a great start as the turnout was a good one. The atmosphere was thick with anticipation. This was a brand new venue for the investigators and no one knew what to expect. Steff, who is the head of Lanarkshire Paranormal, had been to the location a couple of weeks previously just to scout out the health and safety of the building but even in the short time he was here he bore witness to the whispering gallery; he laughs: “You’d think I would be used to this kind of thing by now but I had to check the building twice to make sure I was on my own – the whispering was that clear.” Before the night begins we are divided up into three separate groups. There are three locations to go to here, the first is the basements, the second is the great hall and the third is the graveyard outside. Our group is visiting the basements first; on entering them they are cold, dark and oppressive. It’s hard to imagine these were once the kitchens to the hospital. In most sections it’s hard to stand up straight never mind working in them. Mark calls out an invitation to any spirit present to come forward
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from graveyard
and interact with him or the group. nothing happens. Then Steff notic the short corridor in the next room; as we settle again all of us can see we’ve just left. Steff and Mark inve which would cause this effect. We longer but nothing else happens an Our next location was the gravey here but it was a very interesting w our location from the headstones. and looked through the photos that that I had taken in a row of the sam ferent ways. And those of you who nificance in these pictures. Lastly our group entered the grea all made our way up into the galler minutes and the whispering began mentioned and dates but it was ha versation was. It just seemed to be
n the night A good turnout
The whispering gallery
Nothing happens. We wait. Still es small lights coming from down so we all go there. But as soon e the lights coming from the room estigate but cannot find a source, stay in the basements for a while nd before long our time is up. ard. Again nothing happened walk and we did learn a lot about It wasn’t until I got back home t I took that I noticed three photos me landscape came out three difo know about orbs will see the sig-
at hall and our final location. We y. And we’d only settled for a few . We could hear names being rd to make out what the main cone a string of names and years
being rhymed off. Steff told us: “That’s exactly what I heard the last time. I tried to interact with it – ask questions and such but it seems to be a residual haunting.” A residual haunting is like a tape being played over and over again. Some believe that the stones of building have a way to record certain events in history and this is what causes a residual haunt. Mark says: “This kind of haunting can do no harm and unfortunately there is no way to interact with it. It would be the same as trying to get someone on the telly to answer back if you were sitting watching it from home.” It soon came time for all the groups to get together to compare the night’s events. It seems our group were the only ones to see the lights in the basement but all the groups heard the whispering in the gallery; one member in another group even managed to record some of the whispering onto her recorder but we couldn’t actually make out what it was saying. Everyone really enjoyed this ghost hunt and felt they each had experienced something.
to orbs
to more defined orbs
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In the next issue of Most Haunted: Govanhill Baths Ghosthunt Could you be possessed? How to put together your own ghosthunting pack AND SO MUCH MORE.... DO not MISS OUR MAY/JUNE ISSUE OR IT WILL HAUNT YOU FOREVER