The Spirit World

Do you believe in ghosts?



Admittedly, I DO!

Many think they're tricks of the imagination, tricks of the light, or our own paranoia. To me though, they're real.

Many years ago, there was an old house in Prospect Park in Reading, called The Mansion House. It was build in the 1800's.



When I was a kid, we'd take our dog there, the family and I. The house was white, but covered in graffiti, and always had punks hanging out there. It was all boarded up. We're of course talking the early 80s here lol.

Sometime in the early 90's, a family restaurant chain called 'Brewers Fair' bought the house, and started to refurbish it, to make it into a large family restaurant, which it is today.

My dad was unfortunately out of work that the time, (due to the recession) and a qualified carpenter, so he went down to the site, and managed to get work helping rebuild it.

There are a few different stories about the house, and its ghosts, and they all differ.

The one my dad told me was about the previous owner of the house, a woman called Frances Kendrick. She fell in love with a gentleman called Benjamin Child. They married, and Frances fell pregnant. Unfortunately, Frances died in child birth. Kendrick was so upset at her passing away, and the death of his only child also, that he build a tunnel from the house into the parkland (which at the time was his own grounds of course, as there was no park there) and a large underground chamber at the end, where he buried his beloved. He would then regularly visit her, to prey by her side and bring her gifts etc. Apparently it's filled with treasures and gold, so the story goes. It was their own private chamber, where only he would visit her. Over the top of the chamber, he built a heart shapes pond, which still lies there today, but is no longer heart shaped due to time.

Unfortunately, he was so distraught by her passing, he felt he couldn't live without her, so he hung himself in the house, in one of the bedrooms.

The tunnel and her chamber was never found!

While my dad was working there, he told me that one of the workman had a dog, but this dog would never go anywhere near a particular upstairs room. Whenever they took the dog up there, he would whine and wimper, and run away. Always around the same room. They later found out, this was the room Benjamin Child hung himself in. His spirit still resided in that room.



Many years ago, while residing in Reading, I was living in a flat with a smoker. It was a council flat. We were awoken in the night by a loud bang. When we turned on the light, we found the ashtray, still sitting on the table, but split in two. Something, (or someone) had broken the ashtray in half. This wasn't a small ashtray. It was similar to this one... (but bigger, very heavy, and solid, from a pub)



Later that day, the boiler died. When the engineer came out to fix it, he said it we'd have lit a cigarette in the flat, and the boiler was turned on, the flat would have gone up in smoke. There was a build up of gas within the boiler, waiting to be released or ignited. Thankfully he'd gone out and left me to resolve the boiler problem, so that didn't happen!

A sign? I like to think so!

I've always believed in spirits and ghosts, but moreso now, having had this incident happen to me.

I also believe in Guardian Angels, white noise, and in spiritualists like John Edward.



However, I would like to say, that in MY opinion, and in the opinion of MILLIONS of others, 'Most Haunted' is a pile of crap!

I'm sorry, but if you really believe that ghosts will appear purely because there is a tv crew there, or because Yvette Fielding is in the room, think again! What do you think this is, 'Ghostbusters'?



It's ok not to believe, but I believe that those who are on the other side, friends and relatives who were once with us, do contact us through the spirit world, and do look out for us, look over us, and protect us when they can.

Always look for signs, because they are there, even if we don't make an attempt to notice them. Those who loved us, who used to be with us in body, are always with us in spirit, and waiting for us on the other side, so remember that, and feel their presence, talk to them, and thank them for being with you, even when you feel at your loneliest!

As i've said before, I don't believe in God or Jesus, or the bible, but this, I truly DO believe in!