Send us a text

this was a well known case although virtually forgotten today, a prosecution for a conspiracy to corrupt public morals. There were a number of prosecutions for this charge in the 1960s, almost all were found guilty. Usually the cases were for showing 'blue' movies or adverts placed by GAY men in newspapers such as the underground paper International Times (IT). The Oz and the IT trials are better remembered today. The offence  of conspiracy to  'corrupt public morals' isn't properly described or found in any public statute. It is when the authorities think something should be done about something the law has not previously forbidden. This case was made up by public authorities in 1960 to prosecute the Ladies Directory publisher Fred Shaw. 
Please be warned, this podcast is lo-fi and has not been edited and I am not a good narrator. 

Send us a text

I suspect that you will not of heard of this case before. It is a tragic case of a mentally unbalanced man trying to kill his family while on a picnic next to the River Adur at Sussex during 1968. It is a real life horror story which is probably part of the reason why the reporting of the case was repressed at  the time and has been largely forgotton now.
Recorded in one take, in lo-fi, I stumble and miss pronounce words and there are background noises, please do not listen if you want a BBC type production.

Send us a text

This is part three of the the Ballechin House haunting, known as the most haunted house in Scotland when the story was told in the newspapers in 1897.
This case caused a fair amount of embarrassment for  the Society of Psychical Research who tried to distance themselves from the investigation that was led by Ada Goodrich Freer.
The past three podcasts have been inspired by Trevor H Hall's book 'Strange Things'.
Please be aware that this podcast has been recorded in one take and pronunciations are not my strong point, neither is narration, so apologies for all words that have mangled. I had wanted to tell the story in one podcast but since researching the story earlier this month (May 2023), one podcast would not have done justice to it. 
The Ballechin House story was the inspiration to the Borley House haunting which I did a couple of podcasts about two or three years back.
I have not listed the sources used, sorry but I do not have the time or patience, but they are those as listed in the relevant chapters of the Trevor Hall book, I have not come across any new sources.

Send us a text

This is the  second Ballechin House podcast. This podcast continues the background research on Ada Goodrich Freer's  investigations leading to the Ballechin case. We concentrate on the alleged haunting of Clandon house in Surrey investigated by the Society of Psychical Research. We will get to Ballechin in the next podcast.
This subject is niche, going over events of 120 years ago. The presentation is poor recorded in one take without any editing. Please be advised that this is a hobby for me  there is no advertising and I make no money from its broadcast. I have no intention to make the perfect podcast.
The inspiration for this podcast is the book by Trevor H.Hall 'Strange Things'.

Send us a text

This podcast is part 1 of the story of the alleged haunting of Ballechin House, the so called most haunted house in Scotland. Ballechin House was a well known case in the 1890s and 40 years later seemed to be the blue print for the Borley Rectory  case which was known as the most haunted house in England.
This podcast tells the lead up to the Ballechin case by explaining who Ada Goodrich Freer was, the person who investigated Bellechin house for the Society of Psychical Research. It concentrates on the Society's Enquiry into Highland Second Sight in Scotland which was led by Goodrich Freer. The investigations do not end well causing controversy for the Society of Psychical Research.
I apologise for the pronunciation of some of the Scottish terms, there seems to be a syllable missing in my saying 'Ballechin'  and some other words such as 'Uist'. I will post the next podcast on Ballechin within the week for anyone interested in the story.

Send us a text

This podcast is about a Bournemouth in 1954 and an obsessive Boy Scout became a psychotic murderer. I had not heard of this story until I discovered it in police files in the National Archives.
Please be advised it is lo-fi and recorded in one take with no editing.

Send us a text

Those that have listened to the podcast in the past will know what to expect by now, an interesting story based on primary sources but a flawed presentation with me stumbling over words and spluttering into the microphone. The story is generally told in chronological order and sometimes going off piste in a ramble.

This is a generally forgotten sad story. A shooting at a fashionable Brighton nightclub in 1962. A fashionable young couple with so much to look forward to  have relationship difficulties and everything falls apart. Also a snap shoot of life in Brighton during 1962.

Send us a text

I have attempted to give a history of the Ghost Society from 1850/1 which ran until the late 1870s. A very similar club reformed in 1882 calling itself the Ghost Club. This ran until 1936, A similar club reformed in 1938 until 1848, using the same name the 'Ghost Club' then it reformed again existing to the present day. This podcast tries to give some some idea of why and how it developed. It examines some of the important early members and how they influenced the club,  concentrating mainly on its 1882-1936 period. I have not given lists of early members, explaining who they were as I thought that would be rather dull. I have just focussed in on a few topics and meetings to give a flavour of how the club operated.
Please be advised this has been recorded in one take and is lo-fi.

Send us a text

This is part 2 of a case that was well publicised in the UK in 1967 but is now virtually forgotten. 
The information for the podcast comes from police records and  goes into detail over the investigation.
I have dispensed with the strange stories uk website. The domain name for Strange Stories came up for renewal, it was a very low price when I first paid for it but the renewal price was an increase in cost of about 2000%!

Send us a text

This is a case that despite being all over the media at the time in the UK during that psychedelic year of 1967 it seems to be almost forgotten about today.I have told  the story in detail and in chronological order starting with an in depth analysis of the main people involved.
The story involves a totally unscrupulous with a strong character who seems to be able to get weak willed men to do what she wants.
I will post part 2 in a few days time which is concerned with the police solving the murder.