Rain again.so I went to visit my fave ghost.

Rain was kind of inevitable. It is the first day of the school holidays.AND this is West Yorkshire.
"let's go to Bolling Hall" said Lee whilst Monza looked on patiently.
"We are going to Wakefield!" I stated "why have you changed your mind?"
" I have stuff I needs te do." He said whilst Monza just wore the expression of a dog wanting the humans to just get up and get on with the day.
"are you sure we can't go to the Gallery in Wakefield?"
"I have stuff ah just HAVE te do,. Barbara Hepworth next week..."
"BUT,,,,,you said....."
"Next Week." he said watching Utube on how to run 12 volts into charge a car battery to power a wind turbine

So off we all went to Bolling Hall in The Fonz car. Lee and I in the front and Monza dog taking up the whole of the back area padded out for him now with cushions.CD player working and pumping out Ziggy Stardust with Monza as accompaniment barking at anything with four legs.

 We arrived to an empty car park soaked with rain just as Bowie got to
Wake up you sleepy head
Put on some clothes, get out of bed
Put another log on the fire for me
I've made some breakfast and coffee..........

The car park was coach and school trip free. Last time I was here it was full of yelling screaming kids scaring the ghosts. today We had the place all to ourselves.

Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Let me make it plain.......

 Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane........

Lee turned off the engine and parked Monza in a quiet corner.  

We entered by an appropriately creeky little door that lead straight to the reception area where we found all the staff huddled and bored. I have been here many times and we passed around stories of previous visits and ghost sightings then Lee and I went straight upstairs to the "ghost room"

 We were doing the old place upstairs first......

  The only challenge to day was taking pictures that were different to every other visit here. This visit we started up stairs and went straight to the ghost room. We were the only visitors to the old hall.

 The ghost room....


During the civil war this house supported the Royalists and was a base. This room is said to be extremely haunted. Telly programmes and ghost hunts have been based just here. There is a wailing woman who appeared to the occupant of this room the night before the siege of Bradford. She pleaded for Bradford not to be destroyed.
Her pleese were heard and Bradford was saved.This was 1643. Scared the hell out of them I suppose.

Today I am wearing a green outfit. I have chosen not to wear my usual white as I did not want to upstage my fave ghost whos portrait hangs on the stair case opposite her husband.

 This is Caroline. Her ghost walks the staircase and gallery and disappears through walls. She wanders aimlessly through the house as a lost soul would. Her husband was a sea captain and was killed in a war with the french. The house was being remodelled. The work  and money both stopped and Bolling kept alot of older features which would otherwise have been lost. consequently the house remains like a time machine. A step into the era of choice.

 Charles here never saw the works he paid for as he died of gangerous wounds received in a battle off the coast of Madras. His son Francis inherited the old hall and decided against living there and sold it to Bowling Iron company.
Caroline never recovered from the death of her husband and haunts the hall still. Her memorial is in Otley church....another fave place to visit.

 This fabulous window depicts the coats of arms of all families related to Bolling Hall. With great excitement we had when American friends visited and we found her ancient family crest in this wall of glass along with every cousin. Related to all the "great" families she is and greatly excited to find this.
The Yorkshire families were torn apart by the civil war and these were on the wrong side in the civil war. Those who survived emigrated to Pennsylvania where they became leading lights in The Quaker community. Those on the wrong side of the civil war suffered prison, execution and seizure of lands and wealth. Death in a debtors prison tuberculosis and madness. The survivors left these shores for ever to escape the persecution of the new religions and the revenge  when the king returned to the throne .


I include this colour pic. just because. I like it!

 This September The lady is returning. This time her sister and brother in law   will accompany her and husband. They are here for one week to soak up the Yorkshire atmosphere and visit their roots. A week is not a very long time and there is a lot to see. Bolling Hall remains a total must.

I have visited many times and keep being drawn back. I do not believe in ghosts though I have seen them. I am not that crazy yet. I will tell you this though....This room has watchers which is a completely other entity. What are they watching!? and why? how the hell do I know, but it is one of the reasons I return. I have never felt so much as a wisp of a spirit any where else.....This room has plenty.

 The civil war room houses the death mask of Oliver Cromwell...........

And after the death mask of Oliver Cromwell there is the nursery full of creepy dolls. They are the type of doll that I am not so fond of. Some of these with porcelain heads and real hair which has gone brittal and faded creep the hell out of me.. I do not have any in my doll collection to date. I am more of a Bratz doll girl myself.

I love the old teddy bears and rocking horse.

This blog is now driving me bonkers. I was up early today as it is my birthday. I wanted to capture the sun rise as always. I very quickly saw that it was raining and intended to rain for the next few hours . so I finished this blog, read it to Lee and published it.


The computer lost it and it went back to the draft I started last night.!!!! pox in a box and bugger big time
so What happened at Bolling? well we spent about two hours going around and then took some pics in the gardens, rescued Monza and the car and came home. I always wonder too what it would be like to live in such a place. then reality sets in as I do not see any bathroom of workable kitchen...heating and note the roof might leek.

We pottered about at home for a few hours and then

I went out and did an evening shift and returned home at about 9.30 to a sleeping household and sat and rejigged these photos in bed.

..