A Visit to London
Usually after a long day and loads of travelling with the day job the last thing I want to do is to head into London, but there’s a particular area of London that I have always felt a pull to. That area is around the South Kensington part of London close to the museums. Yes I am a bit of a museum fan, shocker!
However there is also a few other places in the South Kensington area which have also become close to my heart. The first obvious one is the office of the Society for Psychical Research in Vernon Mews. Although recently Paul Adams invited me to another location in South Kensington that I have always wanted to visit; the College of Psychic Studies, which is literally a stone throw away from the Natural History Museum. Add into that invite that it would be Paul Adams talking about his new book ‘The Enigma of Rosalie’, which is about Harry Price’s Séance experience with a London family that has remained a mystery since its occurence.
I’ve previously mentioned a little about Harry Price and the Rosalie Case on my website here.
David Saunderson of ‘The Spooky Isles’ introduced the evenings proceedings, which began with an excellent introduction by Prof Richard Wiseman. He mentioned he’s own access to the Harry Price collection in he’s younger years, then a story about a virgin and a goat, plus another about a talking psychic mongoose.
Wiseman explained how Price had an elaborate passion for psychical research to the extent that he would almost see through ideas and paranormal claims just to see where they went. This approach resonated with me right away as I often approach the paranormal from a stance whereas we shouldn’t discount anything without proper investigation and understanding.
The two stories that Wiseman referred to are great examples of this, as they seem on the surface without investigation completely ridiculous and you could easily dismiss them on this basis. Price wouldn’t dismiss them and gave them he’s time and passion anyways.
Following the humorous account of some of Prices stranger cases, Prof Richard Wiseman passed over to Paul Adams.
Paul Adams and the Rosalie Case
Paul took the stage and began to introduce us to Harry Price from his own perspective, leading up to the Rosalie Case.
Paul then went onto tell us a little about he’s work around the Rosalie case, but also a little regarding how Harry Price found himself a part of this particular case too. Which appeared to be related to the claims of a guaranteed ghost at Borley Rectory. The woman that invited him claimed she could provide a guaranteed solid apparition. This clearly caught the attention of Price and he eventually arranged to visit the family and join them in a Séance.
Little did Harry Price know that by agreeing to visit this family alone and documenting he’s own shocking experience later, would indeed lead to one of the more difficult mysteries related to Harry Price. Especially as this also brought with it some criticism of Price’s work.
Paul gave an excellent insight into how he wanted to capture everything around this case in order to better understand the enigma of Rosalie. It was fascinating to hear so much more detail around this particular case including the cross overs to the SPR and also the search for the Séance house by a few. Including Paul himself.
Paul has gone into great detail around the case and made sure to approach it from a position that attempts to ecompass as many aspects of the case as possible. This meant the notes from Price leading up to and after the event, but also other information that had come out since Prices death.
How other authors had evaluated the case, the possibility it was a hoax or that Price had indeed been tricked too.
The talk covered a wide range on the subject, but was only a tip of the iceberg in comparison to Adams research and what lies within the covers of this book.
Borley Rectory – The Most Haunted House in England
The evening was completed by Ashley Thorpe who developed the cover image, but who has also created a feature film on Prices most famous case, the Borley Rectory or the most haunted house in England as it’s often referenced. The teaser that Ashley Thorpe showed us all was really interesting and I for one cant wait for the full length feature to be released. I dont wish to give too much away, but the style of the film was very ‘Harry Price’ in my opinion.
A Touch of Paranormal Networking
After the presentations had been completed we all took the opportunity to chat to each other and swap contact details. I grabbed a signed copy of ‘The Enigma of Rosalie’ and I am looking forward to reading my copy.
If you fancy a copy of Paul Adams book then it can be found on Amazon for a very reasonable price.
I managed to briefly speak to a number of the guests there and swap numbers. Hopefully we will hear more from those people in a future post. Watch this space.
Ashley Knibb 