Nights are closing in and so is Uncanny UK

Hallowe'en is streadily approaching and so is the launch of the Uncanny UK website. The finishing tweaks and flourishes are just being made to it and it will go live (as opposed to undead) on October 31.

Once upon a time this date marked the end of the Celtic year and I'm beginning to understand why. The season has suddenly turned; it's become much colder, damper, mistier and the light seems to drain out of the sky more quickly. Here in Britain, of course, the 'clocks have gone back' an hour and night is upon us almost indecently quickly.

Twilight, rather than midnight, seems the more usual time for ghosts to haunt, certainly out of doors. Twilight, like Hallowe'en, is a between time and this indeterminacy suits the supernatural: the barriers between the corporeal and incorporeal worlds have become less well defined. Twilight is now upon us at about 6pm, a time when there are plenty of people still about - so that ups the chances of more spooks being encountered.

In folklore in-between places, like bridge, stiles and crossroads were the favoured haunt of ghosts. If you really want to see a ghost, then, here's my suggestion to offer you the best chance:

On Hallowe'en at twilight visit a crossroads with a bridge nearby and a stile leading off from at least one of its lanes. Don't blame me, though, if your hair turns white (unless it's already white, in which case don't blame me if it stands on end and then falls out).

Much safer to stay in by your trusty computer and read all the articles about ghosts and other esoteric subjects you'll find that evening at www.uncannyuk.co.uk

(Don't forget in the meantime, to check out my other blog http://hauntedwales.blogspot.com)

Scary nights in museums

Chris Jolley, the chap putting the finishing touches to the soon-to-be-launched Uncanny UK website, happened to stumble upon a reference to a haunted aeroplane. According to a review of Cosford Air Museum in Shropshire on 'John Hopkin's Aviation Pages', an Avro Lincoln bomber on display 'is reputed to be haunted'. Oo-er! Unfortunately, I have no details to add yet.

Chris seems to recall that 'the Fleet Air Arm musuem down south has a haunted plane as well'.

I vaguely remember reading about a German aircraft in a museum where its former pilot is sometimes glimpsed still seated in the cockpit. A quick flick through Hippisley-Coxe's 'Haunted Britain' also confirmed my recollection of a haunted tank - in a Tank Musuem at Bovington Camp in Dorset. Hippisley-Coxe writes: 'a German officer has frequently been seen, peering at the Tiger tank he commanded - and in which he may have died - in World War II'.

There have been rumours of other haunted museums, mainly centred on ancient artifacts like Egyptian sarcophagi. One day I intend to make an inventory and write a book about all these haunted exhibits and indeed any other solid, three-dimensional haunted objects you can visit.

I strongly suspect that a former World War II bomber will turn out to be the largest artifact, though!

Check out the reference to the haunted bomber at:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/john_hopkinson/Cosford.htm You may also ike to look at www.tankmusuem.co.uk

Don't forget to read my blog devoted to the ghosts of Wales: http://hauntedwales.blogspot.com

Mysterious mason gives head

My friend Karen Bailey has just sent me a link to a BBC news page about a very odd incident in Yorkshire.

In the small hours of the morning someone has been leaving big, heavy carved stone heads about (such as the one pictured). Why, nobody knows. Twelve of them have turned up so far, in villages as far as 50 miles apart. Three alone appeared overnight in Braithwell, South Yorkshire, where the mysterious giver of heads was caught on CCTV leaving one outside the post office. So far he remains unidentified.

As you can see from the photograph, these heads aren't throw-away items: they are solid lumps of rock, expertly carved. The only clue to the artist is a device on the verso of each which spells out the word 'paradox'. Each also bears the following line of doggerel: 'Twinkle, twinkle like a star, does love blaze less from afar?'

Reaction to the odd gifts has been varied. The couple who run the Braithwell post office seem to have been a bit creeped out, because they handed the CCTV footage over to the police. The licensee of the Foresters Arms Hotel, Kilburn, North Yorkshire, has given her head - which she found staring at her from the patio one morning - pride of place on the bar. She told reporters: 'We'd love to meet or find out who it is. Whoever it is is extremely talented.'

Maybe it's a publicity stunt. Once a buzz has been created about the heads - lo, they shall go on sale. But even that seems far-fetched. After all, time and skill has gone into making them and distributing 12 of the things is surely over the top if the intention is ultimately commercial. Perhaps it's some sort of weird situationist art project. Or someone is just having a lot of fun, doesn't need the money and is enjoying surprising people.

Good old British eccentricity, that's what it is, I reckon. It reminds me of that chap who turned up in Aberystwyth in Mid Wales (was it last year or the year before?) and suddenly started handing out great wads of cash before disappearing. Now that sort of eccentricity is worth encouraging!

To read more about the mysterious Yorkshire heads, follow this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7022091.stm

(And don't forget my sister Blog, http://hauntedwales.blogspot.com