VentnorBlog offers a warm welcome to Island ghost writer, Gay Baldwin who has put together for us, a collection of spooky stories set in the Ventnor area. She starts with an introduction to the Island, but over the next few weeks we’ll have ghostly stories from the Ventnor Brewery, the old Hospital and Botanic Gardens amongst others. Ed
See The Darker Side of Wight
By day the Isle of Wight is a place of sunshine, spectacular countryside, beaches and great sports and leisure activities. But it has a darker side too. For it is also known as Ghost Island – the most haunted Island in the world!
Ghosts and spirits abound here, for the Isle of Wight has a supernatural energy that’s particularly evident in some very haunted hotspots. This diamond shaped island off England’s south coast, a covering just 147 square miles, has some 130,000 ‘living’ residents who share their home with hundreds of ghosts.
It has everything – from phantom monks, grey ladies and poltergeists – to the shades of smugglers, soldiers, Royalty and Romans. There are ghostly murderers and their victims, ghost-ships out at sea, and even a ghost-train still running on long vanished rails.
With the Island’s rich historical heritage, its violent and colourful past, it’s not surprising that ghostly goings-on and haunting echoes of those turbulent times still reverberate in the 21st century. Unquiet and restless souls have been reported everywhere from hotels to hospitals, manor houses, pubs, churches, and shops. The spirits of smugglers and shipwrecked seamen walk lonely beaches when darkness falls. Undead soldiers haunt old fortresses, there are ghost trains – and there’s even a haunted police station – and one phantom convict is still ‘doing time’, locked away in notorious Parkhurst Prison.
So what makes this small island such a hotbed of paranormal activity? This may be due to the powerful unseen energy or ‘ley lines’ running under the Island. These may be responsible for charging the earth’s electro-magnetic vibrational field here, so increasing the psychic potential for ghost sightings, and attracting thousands of ghost-hunters from all over the world.
I have been collecting and researching stories of ghosts and hauntings on the Isle of Wight for over 30 years, and during that time have moved from sceptic to firm believer. The weight of evidence is too overwhelming to be dismissed.
To read more stories and news from Ghost Island check out our Website where you can also purchase any of my published books.
For details of Ghostwalks at Ventnor Botanic Gardens, as well as other tours and vigils contact Marc Tuckey on 01983 520695 or check the Website
