I have recently been discussing ghostly encounters with my close family and friends and have heard some very interesting stories that I'd like to share.
Around 20 years ago my husband attended a college in the UK at a rather famous old RAF base in Bircham Newton that had been converted into a construction training college. During his time there he had a few interesting experiences. There was an old tale of the haunted squash courts, apparently ghosts of old RAF men had been seen and heard here. Late one night he was walking back to his room with a group of friends and they had to walk past these courts. The lights inside were all off and the place was locked up but the group distinctly heard the sound of a game of squash being played, the thwack of bats and the sound of the ball hitting the wall and they were all convinced that whatever they were hearing was not of this world and they all fled back to their rooms. There is an old tale of a group of pilots who had agreed to meet up at the courts after their bombing mission for a game but their plane sadly never returned. Were the noises they were hearing the sounds of these pilots finally getting their game?
On another occasion at the same college 2 boys who were in the same class as my husband and had rooms in the old barracks were in bed asleep and suddenly both awoke to a man in RAF uniform that walked completely through the window and then through a wall. The window was at one time a door and the wall was a new addition when the barracks was converted to rooms for the students. The boys apparently fled the college that night and were unfortunately so shaken up by their encounter that they never did return to the course. Fortunately for my partner he never did see a ghost whilst at the college but there were always lots of stories from the students of their strange encounters and he constantly had a feeling of being watched. There are lots of reports online from others who have seen/heard things at Bircham Newton and I believe paranormal investigators have been to the site too.
Another story from my husband is actually told by his mother. The family were looking at new houses in a village and visited an old thatched cottage which was a few hundred years old with a view to buying it. My husband would have been around 5 years old and his mother noticed that as they wandered around the house looking in all the various rooms he was talking to someone, she doesn't recall what he was saying as it was a long time ago and she was distracted by the estate agents talking about the house but he was definitely talking as if he was having a conversation but not with them. They continued the tour and the family really liked the house, it was completely empty and ready to move into and they discussed the possibility of buying it on the way home in the car. Then my husband spoke up and declared that they can't move into the house because there was already an old lady who lived there who told him it was her house, the house had been empty when they viewed with nobody there that day apart from the family and the estate agent. Needless to say they didn't buy the cottage.
A story from my mother is quite interesting; she is currently the caretaker of the local village school so she spends a fair amount of time in the school on her own or with the cleaner. She has had links with the school for nearly 40 years, having worked there and also as my older brothers and I all attended the school so she has seen lots of different staff come and go over the years. One summer evening around 4.30pm she was sitting with her colleague who had also worked at the school for many years having their coffee break on a bench outside the main school building on a mound looking down at the school hall. The school was completely empty, all the children and teachers had gone for the day and that main building was locked up as the ladies were in the process of cleaning the nursery which was in a separate building from the main school.
They were quietly chatting when my mother saw through the large glass windows the head teacher walk across the hall; she was quiet for a few moments when her colleague asked if she had just seen the head teacher. My mother confirmed that yes she had just seen him. This wouldn't ordinarily be strange but this particular head teacher had been dead for the past 10 years! I asked if he looked ghostly or transparent and she said he looked exactly like he did in life and they both saw him and agreed it was the old head teacher.
A few months later mum was again in the school locking up for the evening, the other cleaner was waiting outside with one of the teachers having a chat, they were standing outside the windows to the hall, when mum joined them after she had finished the teacher who was with them asked where the man who mum was with had gone. Mum told her she was alone and had just set the alarm as there was nobody in the school but the teacher insisted she had seen a man following mum across the school hall. After getting a description from the slightly shaken teacher it turned out that it was the old headmaster who was following her. Mum has never had a bad experience whilst being in the school so I believe the spirit to be friendly, probably just going about his old routine and not hurting anyone.
As I said before, these are not my stories but if you have any questions I'm happy to answer as best I can.
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