Nanteos House is now a hotel and mansion house. This 1738 Georgian house, built by William Powell, was once the home of The Holy Grail.
The Holy Grail is the wooden cup that Jesus and his Disciples drank from during The Last Supper. The cup was brought back from The Holy Land by Joseph of Arimathea in AD63. The cup remained at Glastonbury Monastery until 1539 when King Henry chased out the monks. In time The Holy Grail passed to Nanteos House and the Powell family, and when the family line finished the cup was deposited in a national Bank vault.
There are a number of Ghosts that roam the rooms of Nanteos House, such as the ‘Jewel Lady’ who left her death bed to hide her jewels, and now her spirit searches for them! And in the dark cold cellars there is the observed spectre of a monk, further, there is a report in The Western Mail of the 19th of June 1984 that tells of a male ghost in a black cloak!
High upon the lonely Northumberland moors, just a few miles from Elsdon stands the Gibbet of the murderer William Winter.
William Winter murdered an old lady by the name of Margaret Crozier who lived at Raw Pele, her home a few miles outside Elsdon. She ran a retail business from her home, and because she was a thrifty woman, it was rumoured that she kept vast sums of money in the house.
When she was found with her throat cut Winter was immediatly arrested on suspicion and later admitted the robbery, but not to the murder of the old woman. However, evidence from a local farm boy soon put a noose around Winter’s neck and he was hanged at Newcastle. His body was then hung in chains on a gibbet and left to the mercy of the crows!
A model of his head still hangs today on the gibbet, and it is said… on a moonlit night the fearsome figure of William Winter can be seen leaving the old woman’s home with a bloodstained knife held in his hand.
The ruins of this once imposing manor house lay testament to a frightening and strange tale known as ‘The Mistletoe Bough’
One Christmas many, many years ago the house enjoyed the wedding of young William Lovell, eldest son of the Lovall family, and his attractive young bride. Everyone danced throughout the evening and as it became late and no-one yet wanted to retire, it was suggested that they all play a game of ‘Hide and Seek’
William’s bride offered to hide first, and dared William to find her before the others. Well, time passed and she could not be found. They searched all through the night and into the next day, but without any luck. For a further one week they searched, but never found her. William did not recover from his great loss and died just a few years later from despondency.
It was soon after when a servant found an old oak chest that had lay hidden in the attic from some years before, and when he raised the lid he stared in disbelief… For inside were the remains of a body dressed in a bridal gown.
For in her excitement… William’s young bride had climbed into the chest to hide from the others, and as she did so the lid closed behind her, locking her short life inside forever!
We all know this famous statue, and we all know where it stands, but less is known of its origin. Frederic Auguste Bartholdi scultured this gigantic statue and it was dedicated on October the 28th 1886.
Officially named ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’ it was built in the foundry of Gaget, Gauthier and Company, Paris, France. Under the direction of engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, later renown for his design of The Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Copper was widely used in the construction, reinforced with hammered metal on the inside, and hung on a steel framework.
At the entrance to New York Harbor – The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons of the world, and was often the first sight of the US for many millions of immigrants from the old world!
These are Brighton’s Promettes of 1952. The Visitor Information Centre of its time. For those men amongst you that like girls with brains there was no better place than Brighton in Sussex in the 50s! Formed from ex-models, these girls would offer all types of advice for your holiday stay in Brighton… But no dating though chaps!
Some of you have watched with interest the DVD of ‘Carnival of Souls’ 1962 after my recent blog, and emailed to say that you enjoyed it, but wondered if I knew anything about the creepy derelict Pavilion used in the movie.
The Pavilion was built in the 1800′s as a health spa on the edge of The Great Salt Lake in Utah. Thousands came to take to the waters that were heavily salted… the only creatures able to sustain life in it’s saline depths were tens of millions of Brine Shrimps, harvested today as pet fish food… In those days one could simply float without drowning in the water! The end of the Pavilion came as part of The Great Salt Lake began to dry, and by the time the movie ‘Carnival of Souls’ was made in 1962 The Saltair Pavilion was in a sorry state.
I hope that makes the film even more interesting for you… By the way, the director had seen the Moorish type Pavilion driving home one night across state, and seeing it at its most erie gave him the idea for the film.
Michael Halfpenny’s interesting picture of fungi, struck a thought with me…
The use of fungi by humans dates back to prehistory. Otzi’ the Iceman, a well preserved mummy of a 5,300 year old Neolithic man found frozen in the Austrian Alps, carried two types of mushrooms that may have been used for medicinal purposes. Otzi’ was found in September 1991 in the Schnalstal Glacier, and is Europe’s oldest natural human mummy. He is displayed with his belongings in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Northern Italy.
Made in 1962 ‘Carnival of Souls’ was shot as a ‘B’ picture in three weeks, and since has become a huge cult film!
After a fatal car accident a young woman played by Candace Hilligoss finds herself trapped between this world and the next.
The Dead make several attempts to bring her to the world of perpetual darkness…
It’s a film of the supernatural played with thought and great feeling, and was made in the US by director Herk Harvey.
“It has been written since the beginning of time, ever unto these ancient stones, that evil supernatural creatures exist in a world of darkness, and it is also said; man using the magical power of the ancient runic symbols can call forth these forces of darkness… The Demons of Hell”
The opening lines against the backdrop of Stonehenge is the setting for ‘Night of the Demon’ by Sabre Film Productions from an original story by Montague R. James.
Made in 1957, it still has the force to give me a good scare! It’s an all British production featuring American actor Dana Andrews and British star Peggy Cummins, but the real star of the show is Irish actor Niall MacGinnis, known for his exacting role in ’Jason and the Argonauts’ Niall was an actor that could be wasted in supporting roles, but given the few leading roles in his career… he was overly magnificient.
A Tranquil Scene
This peaceful and tranquil scene in Hemel Hempstead Town Centre, Hertfordshire England, is in sharp contrast to the terrible disaster 4 years ago at the nearby Buncefield Oil Depot, that resulted in the evacuation of thousands of the town’s residents on the morning of Sunday the 11th of December 2005.
