Sunday 19 February 2012

Clevedon Pier’s Ghost Caught on Camera. Could Clevedon be the "Ghost Coast"?



Matthew Hales caught the ghostly figure with his Nikon D3000 while taking time-lapse photographs of Clevedon’s number one Victorian tourist attraction that offer no other possible explanation for the mysterious image other than proof of the supernatural and a comforting  certainty of an after-life.
Beyond terror: The "Grumbling Ghost"
Matthew had been taking the photographs for a school cookery project that had gone alarmingly over budget. “When I went through the pictures I was surprised to see the figure of a man with his head under his arm standing on the pier – although his decapitated state made it difficult to be absolutely certain, it was almost like he was looking straight at me”.

“The technique I was using captures everything which happens for 30 seconds, so he must have been stood there for at least that long to appear in the picture. There is absolutely no way that a normal corporeal being could walk into camera shot and out again in 30 seconds. It simply is not possible.”

Any kind of use for the picture continued to elude Matthew until he saw a story in the Evening Post about ghosts being spotted on the pier by early morning anglers.

“I then checked the pier opening times and saw that it wasn’t due to open until 10am (admission prices £1.50 for adults/£0.75 for children) so there would have been no one on the pier at that time in the morning. Except those early morning anglers, of course.”

Pier Worker Linda Strong, who is clearly no mug, confirmed there had been a spate of recent ghost sightings. “This could well be the ghost everyone is talking about” said Mrs Strong. Ignoring any requests to clarify who exactly ‘everyone’ is in this particular case, she went on to come up with a real doozy: “Perhaps we should call it the ‘Ghost Coast’?” While her colleagues were still congratulating her, she showed her professionalism to the end: “Has anyone mentioned the admission prices yet?” she schmoozed without breaking her stride.

Angler Jack Hulbert was talking about the ghost sightings only last week while wearing a jacket almost identical to the mysterious figure in Matthew’s photograph. Jack often walks about at the end of the pier wearing his nice warm jacket at 6.30am. “As an angler, I come and go as I please. Any idea what the general admission charges for the public are?”


20,000 Fathoms salutes them all.
Jack Hulbert in that jacket