Pre-investigation visit
On Sunday 29th August 2010, Loretta and I met up with Emma and Kieran to explore a future location for an investigation at Bryanston Woods in Blandford. Emma and Kieran have been telling me intriguing stories about this area for a long time so we thought that we would explore this area with them.
Emma and Kieran told us that Blandford is situated on top of a series of tunnels. Smugglers brought goods from the sea and then via rivers, into the tunnels and then stashed their loot inside buildings which were connected to the tunnels.
We commenced our pre-investigation at a cemetery where Viscount Portman’s grave lies. There is also a school and an old mill nearby. We walked towards a large church which looked imposing in the moonlight. I really didn’t like the church but I don’t know why. It was not especially creepy in its appearance. Kieran told us that while the church was unused several hundred years ago, a satanic cult practised their rites there. There is factual evidence of this in the Blandford museum. The church is now fully functional for Christian worship and is in excellent condition. There is a story of the ghost of a woman that floats across the field toward the church. Kieran told us of a story during his lifetime where two boys ran around the church three times, anti-clockwise shouting ’Bloody Mary’ as it was thought that this would make the ghost appear. Later that year both boys died by drowning in the river. You can hear the sound of the river nearby which is eerie. I realised that as we were chatting we were actually walking anti-clockwise around the church. I asked that no one mentioned the vodka-tomato juice drink! We walked back round to the front of the church and I knocked on the door, asking for a spirit to knock back from the inside. Nobody knocked back.
We left the church and walked along the woodland pathway. Emma said that previously when she had been here, she had the feeling of being strangled. Later when she looked, there were red marks on her neck. Kieran told us that he had a previous experience also. He explained that he could hear what sounded like bees. He heard this noise for a considerable time. While they were there someone was filming and when they reviewed the footage they were astonished, as at the time when Kieran heard the bee sound, a blue-white aura surrounded his head. Also on film, the shape of a head and shoulders looking round at Kieran was captured.
While we were talking about this, we heard a woman’s voice moaning. Emma whispered "Go away!" This footage has been included on the website.
We decided to walk further along the path. I felt compelled to walk to over to a hedge but it felt sinister so I stopped before I got there. Kieran asked me why I had walked over to the hedge and I said "I don’t know." I had felt almost forced to walk that way. Kieran was intrigued as he said that the last person that they had taken to the woods had felt compelled to walk over towards the hedge too.
We were now standing by a large tree and Kieran told us that the last time he was there he had seen a black outline of a horse, looking straight ahead. He had since discovered that the ghost of an elderly woman holding a horse had been seen in the exact same spot.
As we were talking about this, Emma said "What’s that?" She said that she thought she could hear strange music. The rest of us couldn’t hear anything. Emma and Kieran showed us the site of a derelict mill. The atmosphere seemed to change and the prospect of walking along the pathway ahead was daunting. A pigeon flew out of a tree, making us all jump. We carried on walking.
We started to talk about urban legends connected with the area. Kieran told us about the stone hounds that sit upon the gateposts of Bryanston gates. It is said that the hounds occasionally animate at night and go to the nearby river to drink. They return to their posts before morning.
I stopped walking suddenly as I heard talking behind me. There was nobody behind me and the whole area was deserted apart from the four of us. Loretta said "It’s getting a bit scary!"
Kieran told us that a horse and cart which contained a coffin has been seen and heard in this area. It is said that the coffin does not contain a body but instead holds booty from the local smuggling trade. The funeral party are actually the smugglers themselves.
We decided to put our torches out. The darkness descended and we felt like we were looking into an eternal void. It was very frightening. I ’called out.’ Loretta said that she actually felt safer in the pitch black and she didn’t feel so scared. We did not receive a response from ’calling out’ so we walked on.
Emma stopped and said that she thought that she had seensomething in the bushes. She described it as a figure that was just standing there. I could see it too. As we walked towards it, it disappeared. I suddenly jumped as I heard footsteps nearby me. It was probably an animal but it was scary. We realised that we were getting jumpy. Loretta grabbed hold of me. Emma felt like someone was standing behind her. A short while later Emma said that she heard a cackling laugh.
We walked on and Kieran said that he was feeling really spooked. For a long time nothing happened so we continued walking and chatting. We stopped and 'called out' for a while. Suddenly Emma said that she had seen someone standing right beside Kieran. She said that he wasn’t as tall as Kieran. I could hear murmuring nearby. Kieran said "There has been someone walking behind us, the whole way."
We decided that we would turn around and walk back towards the church. As we walked we all felt like we were being watched. Loretta suddenly shot up in the air and grabbed hold of me. She was quite shaken. She said "I saw something which moved across the path.” I said "I expect it was an animal." She shouted at me "It was not!" She explained what she saw as a human sized figure that was hiding on the left hand side of the path which then darted across the path. Loretta is usually sceptical but she was adamant about what she saw.
Kieran said that he now felt trapped in the middle of the path with the sense of something following us from behind and the apparition that Loretta had seen in front of her. Kieran said that he felt really weird. He could feel something watching us from behind the trees. Kieran said that he felt like "We were being herded, like they are rounding us up to where they want us to be."
We stood there for a while and Emma said that she saw a white mist. Kieran said that he saw a white mist earlier but he didn’t mention it at the time. We started walking very fast. As we walked I quizzed Loretta about what she had seen. I really felt that we were being closely observed from behind. Emma suddenly jumped, making us all jump. She said that she heard something which sounded like mmm mmm mmm! She said "It may have been laughing."
Loretta said that she felt asthmatic. Emma said that she had felt like this prior to the feeling of being strangled. This made us uneasy. The feeling of being watched intensified.
Emma said that when she had come to the woods previously, she had smelt a very strong smell of lavender in this spot. She had returned the following day to search for any lavender growing and there was no lavender at all.
We 'called out' but we got no response apart from Kieran saying that he could feel something tickling his face. Loretta flinched and said "Somebody just poked my shoulder!" All was quiet after this and I actually felt OK and not spooked at all. We decided to walk back to the car and look around other haunted places of Blandford with some rather grisly tales from Emma and Kieran. We resolved to bring other members of the team to Bryanston Woods.
Written by: Maria Williams
Investigation
On Saturday 16th October 2010, Twilight Shadows Paranormal conducted a paranormal investigation at Bryanston Woods in Blandford. This time, Emma and Kieran took us to the opposite end of the woods so we would just walk one way, towards the church. As we had a larger group, we split into two teams. The first team set off and stopped halfway along the path. My team stayed where we were.
We stood and 'called out' for a while. We didn’t get a response at all but suddenly Loretta said that she could smell perfume. Jacky said "I can smell it too." They both said that it was a very strong pungent smell with a hint of sage. I started to smell what I would describe as incense and they were right, it was really strong. When the smell disappeared it was instant and not a gradual dispersing.
We thought we saw a cyclist riding towards us. We didn’t question this until we realised that whatever we had seen had disappeared into thin air. Nothing else really happened so we decided to walk towards the other team and see if they had experienced anything.
Daniel had seen a Labrador dog which he does not believe was a physical dog. Daniel has written a report of what he experienced which I have included at the end of my report. Daniel told me that at the time when he had seen the dog, there was a rapid change of temperature and he had felt very cold. The others had described a pressure change at that time.
We 'called out' together. I asked Chris if he had picked anything up so far. He said "No!" Sam said that she could feel a presence behind her.
We reached the point at which Loretta saw a figure cross the pathway during our pre-investigation visit. She recalled her sighting and told us that "It moved like a monkey."
I 'called out' asking for the elderly lady with the horse to appear. Kieran told everyone about the outline of the horse he had seen nearer the church. Chris said that he had clairvoyantly seen a black horse and Kieran confirmed that he had seen a black horse. Chris said that the black horse that he had seen was wearing a single black plume on its head. We were all astounded by this as Chris did not know where we were investigating prior to his arrival. Kieran told Chris about the funeral party which were actually smugglers concealing their booty inside the coffin.
Emma said that she had smelt an overpowering smell of incense which came and disappeared really quickly. Matt said that he had felt uneasy all the way on our walk down as if we were being watched. He did not know that this was how we felt upon our pre-investigation visit to the woods.
Dave had a radar device which was showing positive readings on spiritual presences. Matt said that he saw a shadow low to the ground which ran out in front of us. Loretta said that this sounded the same as what she had seen previously. Although it was of a human size, it ran as low to the ground as possible. Matt said that the shadow was a different shade of dark. A while later Matt said that he could hear a female voice whispering.
Suddenly Debbie heard something and when we played the footage back, the Camcorder had captured the sound. We were quite excited by this until we realised that we had captured the sound of John yawning in the distance.
We joined the other group and asked if they had any strange experiences to report. Sam said that she had experienced a pressure on her chest.
We reached the church. I still didn’t like it. Jacky said that she thought it was lovely and that was the general opinion. We had been talking about the underground tunnels. The boys set off across the fields to look for them. At first they could not find anything but as they came back, they found the little wooden door of the tunnel entrance. We were able to look inside and we could see a stone staircase leading down to an archway of a door. Unfortunately the door has been bricked up.
We decided to end our investigation at Bryanston Woods. As we walked back to our cars, Emma showed us a cross on the bridge which crosses the River Stour where someone is thought to have jumped, in order to commit suicide. Further research into this has revealed that a number of people have been named as the suicide victim. This includes a nun and a nanny. But the ghost who is seen at this spot gives no clues of their identity. It is also said that a phantom hound is also seen at the bridge. Also, lepers used to live underneath the bridge at some time.
The team would like to thank Emma and Kieran from Twilight Shadows Paranormal for arranging this visit and for sharing their spooky stories with us.
Written by: Maria Williams
Daniel’s experience
We were walking along the path with Melody. Tracy was next to me and in front of me were three other people, six feet away. There were another group of four about twenty feet away. I turned around and shone my torch onto the group behind because they seemed very quiet and I wanted to check that they were still following us.
I immediately noticed a dog about two feet away from the group. It looked like a black Labrador walking as if it was on a lead. I instantly turned round and said to my wife "Well, that has destroyed the atmosphere with someone walking their dog at this time of night!" I turned back around to show my wife and there was no dog in sight. When we regrouped, I asked if the group behind us had seen a dog and they said that nobody else had seen anything. But someone pointed out that at that exact spot a lady had died trying to save her dog.
After some research later in the week, there are many sightings of black dogs within the woods.
Written by: Daniel Hughes
