Ghost Hunting at the Four Crosses, Cannock

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, a ghost hunt is an interesting way to spend an evening.  I’ve done two ghost hunts with Eerie Evenings, and for this one at the Four Crosses in Cannock I took along the camera to get some photos.  I find the Eerie Evening team good – there’s no faking and they don’t try to convince you that any experiences are paranormal, that’s for you to decide.  For the record, I’m firmly on the fence…  I’ve like to believe that there’s something, but my scientific mind means I’d need to experience something really convincing to believe.

The Four Crosses is an old coaching inn originally built in 1636, with some of the timbers thought to be a thousand years old.  Today it’s seeking a new owner with newspapers claiming the hauntings are putting buyers off.  The reported spooky goings on include the ghost of a baby that fell off the bar and died, a child who ran outside an was immediately killed on the busy road outside, ‘Knocker’ an old regular at the pub, marching soldiers, a man who committed suicide in the garage, and many more.

The evening started with a medium doing some readings amongst the group, and then the group was split into three teams who spent the evening doing vigils in the main hall room, the upstairs bedrooms, and the cellars.

I didn’t feel scared at any point in the evening, and the only thing I experienced was during a session with a planchette where the group were ‘contacted’ by a man called Normal Mole, an old bar worker from the pub, who died at the age of 78.  He lost money playing snooker, and in the room he contacted us was accompanied by five other ghosts.  I’ve not looked into whether any of that information is accurate or could be backed up with real evidence.

From a photography point of view a lot of the evening was spent in the dark which made photography a challenge.  But I’m always amazed just how much detail can be brought out of the dark with a bit of simple editing in Lightroom

Whilst editing I spotted just one oddity, which you can take a look at in the photo looking out of the window below…

The Vulcan at the Weston Air Festival

Following hot on the heels of yesterdays post about The Red Arrows comes another Air Show favourite, the Vulcan. The Vulcan was the final aircraft to display at the Weston Air Festival this weekend and, just like The Red Arrows, the display was in bright sunshine and a little cloud.

From a photography point of view having bright sun behind the subject means that a lot of photos come out like silhouettes. With modern photo processing software it’s possible to rescue some of the colour and detail, but usually to limited success. Well, with my limited skill in Adobe Lightroom! Today’s trip out has made me realise that I need a longer zoom lens too.

This Avro Vulcan XH558 is run by the charity Vulcan To The Sky who maintain and run the aircraft for air shows. Originally the Vulcan was a nuclear bomber, never used to deliver nuclear bombs in action luckily. It’s known for its distinctive delta wing (V shape) design and howling engines. Have a look at the Vulcan To The Sky website for the history of this aircraft.

When I was a child my Dad worked on Nimrod at Woodford and occasionally visited RAF Waddington, where the Vulcans were based. Each year a Vulcan would display at the Woodford Air Show, and I vividly remember the Vulcan climbing vertically and forcing itself to stall and gracefully fall before powering up the engines to fly off.