Mystery on the Mound (part II)

If you missed part I of this story, you can click hereto see it.

Was he still alive, I wondered, and would he investigate the 'ghost on the mound' for me? I decided to give it a go, and remembering where he lived, travelled over to the Wirral and managed to track him down.

Unfortunately, he was by now very frail. On the other hand, he now had a younger colleague, called Martin, who was undertaking work on his behalf and who seemed interested in the possibility of an Audlem ghost.

We travelled back together to the village and detailed research was undertaken, with local assistance, into anything that might have happened on the mound over many, many years that could have led to ghostly activity.

It took many weeks of research before a possible candidate emerged: a young woman called Grace who, in the Seventeenth Century, had committed suicide on the mound after she had lost her job in a nearby large house and she had failed to find alternative employment and little help to see her through a difficult time. And as a suicide, she could not be buried in consecrated ground, the churchyard, which in those days covered the church mound.

It was, of course the name, Grace, that stood out to me. Could it have been the mass singing by Audlem villagers of 'Amazing Grace' that had somehow awakened the unfortunate Grace that had died on the mound so tragically alone in the world four hundred years ago.

"It was a distinct possibility," said Martin. "And worth investigating further. What we need is a quiet windless night and to replay the song and see whether we can create the ideal conditions. In the meantime, I am going to investigate our Grace a little more."

I asked what he meant, in particular, if like my ex-colleague Joe, he could do Regression, that is taking living people back to an earlier life, and if the converse was true, let's call it Progression, where a long dead person could be progressed toward the current time, perhaps through a series of lives. "We can indeed," said Martin, although it has rarely been achieved purely because who do you normally start with? At least in Regression, you have a living person sitting in front of you.. But now we have discovered Grace, we can think of giving it a go."

But first, it was decided that we should all wait for the ideal conditions for any ghost to make an appearance: a still, damp night, the classic scenario in virtually every ghost story or film. The weather recently had been dominated by wind and rain, far from ideal, but within a week the wind had dropped and we had a perfect night ahead of us just days before Christmas.

The Music Festival team had been called in to assist and they had recording equipment and cameras covering much of the mound. Martin from the Wirral had set up his specialist equipment and all of us were hidden away to see what might happen. 'Amazing Grace' was being played through speakers to check if that really had played a part in the initial suspected appearance of what we now called 'Grace, the ghost of Audlem's church mound'

We sat quietly for what seemed hours, fed by a seemingly endless supply of liquid refreshment from The Lord Combermere over the road. We even had the necessary accompanying sounds of any ghostly sighting, a tawny owl nearby, making its presence heard if not seen.

And then, suddenly, there it was, unmistakably a ghost, a classic sighting, of a young woman, at first seemingly pleading with her arms raised in front her but then just standing there, head bowed, as if in resignation.

Everyone of us had a clear view, our ghost hunt had been a one hundred per cent success. And yet, while all were working perfectly, when later we checked the cameras, there was nothing of Grace to be seen.

In all it was a curious experience. No-one found the sighting of Grace frightening. Those of us who felt there might be a ghost were hardly surprised when Grace emerged, looking exactly as we expected. Those who doubted the existence of ghosts were, of course, far more surprised but all seemed to take the experience, one that few people ever really experience, in their stride.

I was particularly pleased, now that I had actually seen a ghost, that in all likelihood the ghosts at Muncaster Castle; at that lonely old house in the west of Scotland; my grandmother's appearance, just minutes after she had died, at my mother's bedside; and the poltergeist at Lightwood Green; were all likely to be true rather than just tales I had heard.

Afterwards, always wanting to push the boundaries and create an even better story, I asked Martin, "Should we try Progression, now that we had established that we really did have a ghost. Imagine what a sensation it would be if we could link Grace's past tragic life to a current Audlem life."

Martin agreed that would be a remarkable story but said it would be a difficult and lengthy piece of work and maybe, yes maybe, we should be more than satisfied in proving Grace's existence, seen by a good many, and that the singing of 'Amazing Grace' on the church mound had been a key part of the story.

We agreed to leave it there, particularly with Christmas only a matter of days away – for now, at least. But if ever you are walking through the village on a still damp night, spare the time to glance up on to the mound. After all, you never know what you may see. And maybe, you too, might accept that ghosts really can exist. And very near to home too – if you know where to look!

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