Three friends and I travelled to Borley, arriving in the churchyard at 6.24pm. It struck me that this figure was also the date (i.e. 6/24) but, to be honest, that was the only "curious" thing about the trip. It was a rather warm day but there was a notable breeze, so the heat wasn't sticky or oppressive. One of my companions knew absolutely nothing about Borley; another had heard of it but had read nothing on the subject; and the third had read just a little about it.
The churchyard was somewhat more overgrown than when I was last there (in the late 1980s). We wondered among the graves, looking at the usual headstones - such as the Bull family's - and noting the surprisingly recent dates on some others. Three of us had cameras and just about everything was photographed. I took my digital camera, so I'm the only person, thus far, to see the results of these pictures - and there was absolutely nothing of note on any of them (100 pictures in all). After a couple of hours, we drove to Long Melford in search of liquid refreshment and food. When we returned, at about 11.20pm, some strange noises were heard and curious perfumes wafted on the air but all of these were due to the curry we'd eaten in Long Melford!
On this occasion, both in daylight and at night, Borley seemed quite unlike any other time I have visited it. The atmosphere was somehow calmer and lighter. To be honest, I don't know, at this moment in time, if I shall return there again. Something tells me that either I have changed or Borley has and, therefore, perhaps it's best for me to remember the place as it was on this visit? This seems to have been a kind of closure for me. Perhaps a few ghosts - either mine or Borley's - have indeed been laid to rest.
My first picture shows the results of me snapping a photo through a leaded window on Borley church's north side. Inside the church it is possible to see some pews, the south-west door, and a red fire extinguisher!
Picture 2 shows the Celtic Cross that Mark Bradley admitted mistaking for "a small alien like dwarf...behind one of the bushes". |
Pictures 3a & 3b show that Robert Duffy's picture of "a face looking over the top of one of the gravestones" is an illusion created by another gravestone behind the ones he photographed.
Picture 4a is a photograph snapped in 1999 by David Bamber, and 4b is my version of the same shot.
All of which goes to prove, in my opinion, that sometimes a photograph is just a photograph.
With best wishes,
Stephen D. Smith