Ghosts & Witches & Creatures of Bournemouth

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought it'd be suiting to post on some of the spooky things reported in Bournemouth over the years.

Phantom of the Opera

The Pavilion theater located downtown is rumored to be haunted by a young woman wearing a bonnet. The ghost, known as Emily, is said to be the spirit of an young actress who collapsed and died on stage at the Pavilion in the 1930s. Supposedly a staff member was chased up a corridor in the theater by Emily, while others report seeing objects thrown around and hearing ominous footsteps on the empty stage.

Ashley and I have sat on the steps of the Pavilion many times at night and now, to be honest, I'm a little freaked out about going back.

New Forest Witches Coven

Allegedly, a group of witches formed a coven deep in the nearby New Forest during the 1930s and 40s. These witches were Neopagan, worshiping the Horned God (pictured above) as well as the Mother Goddess. The New Forest witch coven, in particular, can be partially accredited for the creation of Gardnerian Wicca, a form of modern witchcraft popularized by British occultist Gerald Gardner.

Apparently, Gardner, who is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Wicca" was initiated into the New Forest coven, which he deemed as one of the few surviving covens of the ancient, pre-Christian Witch-Cult religion. The coven performed numerous rituals, which were performed naked and included chants and spells. Once they even held a ritual called the Operation Cone of Power in order to stop Hitler from crossing the sea to England during the second World War.

Today, the New Forest, particularly the village of Burley, still entices visitors with tales of witches and such. There even seems to be a witchcraft store in town. I'm making plans to go visit soon and check it out for myself.

Unidentifiable Beast Caught on CCTV



This video was taken by a CCTV on a Bournemouth motorway about three years ago. It's probably some crazy wild dog or something, but it's still creepy.

♡ - Kristen

Magpie Superstitions

Magpies are lovely fairly large birds, a relative of the crow, which can be frequently spotted anywhere in England. The first time I spotted one, I had been walking with Ashley.

Since I have a habit of pointing out animals to him, it was no surprise that I got really excited over the bright blue-striped birdie. That's when he informed me, however, of the superstition surrounding the magpie. "If you only see one, it's bad luck and if you see two, it's good luck. But it could be the other way around."

Well, it doesn't do much good if you know a superstition all wrong. But luckily my friend Jen, who knows all the old English sayings, gladly informed me:

1 for sorrow
2 for joy
3 for a girl
4 for a boy
5 for silver
6 for gold
7 for secret never told

And if you happen to find yourself face to face with a single lone magpie, you're suppose to say, "Hi, Mr. Magpie, how's the wife and children?" in order to reverse the bad luck. (Aww, what cute little English sayings.)


♡ - Kristen

DIY Electric Meter

One really great thing about my current living situation is that I'm basically living a paperless, untraceable life. I hate putting my name on accounts. People generally don't give a shit about paying them if their asses aren't on the line. But here, there's no monthly bills or contracts I'm connected to (although I do contribute to them). And being anonymous makes me feel liberated and free in a weird sort of homeless way.

My boyfriend and roommates, fortunately, have one less bill that I thought they'd be tied down to, and that's the electric bill, because there's a handy pay-as-you-go electric meter in our flat instead.

Basically, the electric meter runs on money that is deposited on to an electronic key, like a USB drive. Whenever the money is used up, the electricity goes out, and we have to go to an offie and put more money on the key. Usually, we pitch in five pounds each and that gives us electric for a couple of weeks.

This is genius! It completely removes the chance for late fees, or any chance of screwing up your credit. And it eases the burden of paper bills each month. Plus, I had to recharge it for the first time the other day when I was home alone and I found it exciting to take it to the offie. (But I'm a weirdo and probably the only human who finds this exciting.)

Are these in the USA too??!
♡- Kristen

Royal Mail

The Royal Mail is none other than the national postal service of the United Kingdom. It pretty much runs the same as the US Postal Service (USPS), as in the mail is delivered Monday through Saturday, mail is carried on foot, by bike, van, train or plane, and there are convenient letterboxes scattered throughout cities.

The Royal Mail motto is "...with us, it's personal" and "best and most trusted". While the USPS unofficial but well known creed is a little more elaborate: "neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever."

Interestingly enough, the term "going postal" is not well-known in England. The term was coined in the US after several fatal incidents in which USPS workers killed USPS managers, co-workers, and police. Fortunately, the Royal Mail workplace doesn't have such a horrible reputation. In America, if someone becomes aggressively violent in the workplace it's common to refer to them as "going postal".

^^^Ashley in the little mini-van outside the post office.

^^^These are all my postcards I'm sending out right now.
^^^This is the extra sticker I have to put on my international mail.^^^ These letter boxes are known as pillar boxes. The initials displayed are the Latin initials of the reigning monarch at the time of its installation. In this case, E II R stands for Elizabeth II Regina. Regina is Latin for Queen.
♡ - Kristen

Underground Inspirations

Since my trip to London, I've become increasingly intrigued by the Underground. I've never used any other subway before (well, possibly in New York, sometime in the early 1990s on family vacay, but I can't remember) so it always leaves an impression on me.

This time I noticed a collection of poems in several train carriages simply known as Poems on the Underground. Once I spotted one, I began looking forward to randomly encountering another. I've come to find out that each season six poems are selected to be displayed and that this system has been going since 1986.

The poems selected mimic the tube itself, for they, like the Underground, take you into the city, or out to the country, or wherever you will.

^^^Sweet Thames Flow Softly by Ewan MacColl, is a poem I remember in particular.
^^^There is also Art on the Underground, which is a visual art showcase.
^^^ I caught wind of the freaky flick Creep, which takes place in the London Underground, and watched it the other night. It's about a woman who gets locked inside a tube station, only to discover a murdering mutant who captures its victims for torture. It kinda sucked tho, but if you're into bad horror movies you should check it out.

♡- Kristen

Cycling in the Big Smoke

About three months ago, London began a new self-service cycle rental with about 400 docking stations around town. Basically, you're able to pick up a bike from one station and then leave it at another near your final destination. This was a move by the city to lessen the congestion of drivers and amount of people using the tube during rush hours.

London, unsurprisingly, has a huge problem with overcrowded streets. In 2003, the city even instated a £8 congestion charge per car driving in specific Congestion Charge Zones, which I personally think is ridiculous. Like people really want to be there, let alone literally pay for, sitting in traffic. (I'm from LA, I KNOW what traffic is!)

The bikes, then, do seem like a nice alternative. Get some fresh air, get a little exercise, skip the traffic and packed-in tube trains, and you even get the first hour on the rental free. BUT, do you really want to put yourself in harms way on the busy crazy streets?

^^^These are the bike docking stations I was talking about. No, I didn't rent one. I don't want to die!^^^Me and Claire. Ashley and I stayed with her and Ashley's brother Darryl in London. (Thank you, guys!) See how Claire looks kind of beat up? Well, the first day of our visit, Claire had a horrible bike accident on a ride to the gym. She flew over her handle bars and face-planted on the pavement; had to go to the hospital and everything. Poor thing!^^^This is one of Ashley's BMX pics in London. He's had his fair share of riding around there and agrees that it is very dodgy for riders. In fact, I'm not allowed to ride my bike around London. (Like I really wanted to anyway.)

♡- Kristen

House of Sylvia Plath's Suicide

The American poet, novelist, playwright, and short-story author Sylvia Plath is as famous for her award-winning writing as she is for her personal life and death. Her one and only novel, The Bell Jar, is regarded as a roman à clef or a novel meant to be looked upon as fiction but in all actuality is real. The protagonist's descent into mental illness in The Bell Jar parallels Plath's own disconnect with sanity. If you've never read it before, you should give it a try.

Plath was married to English poet Ted Hughes. They lived together in London for years before she discovered he was having an affair with one of her close friends. During this time, Plath attempted to take her life several times, once purposely getting into a car accident.

After their split, Plath moved into the London flat you see pictured above, which is 23 Fitzroy Road. It was once lived in by famous English poet William Butler Yeats and Plath viewed this as a good omen. Nevertheless, mental anguish got the best of Plath and she took her own life in the kitchen in February 1963.

After clogging the space under the door with towels to protect her sleeping children in the other room, Plath stuck her head inside the oven and died of carbon monoxide poison.

She was only 30. Several years later she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, making her the first person to ever receive one after death.



^^^This is the plaque adorning the wall of 23 Fitzroy Road. I'm surprised that there is no mention of Sylvia Plath. I wonder if this plaque was here during the time she lived there as well. Although Yeats is intriguing in his own right, I find Sylvia's story and connection with the home much more interesting.

♡- Kristen

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Romeo & Juliet was my obsession as a tortured lovesick teenager. And although I was introduced to Shakespeare via Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes in a modern interpretation film, I soon after learned of his many plays and poems in English literature class in school and my love of Shakespearean works began.

Although Shakespeare wrote for several different theaters throughout London, his greatest works post-1599 were written for the Globe theater, which was built in said year by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. One of the first plays performed in the Globe was Julius Caesar, followed by classics such as Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear.

In 1613 the Globe burned down, but was rebuilt in the same location by 1614. The theater closed in 1642 and it's foundations weren't discovered until the late 1980s. Unfortunately, because the foundation of the original Globe was discovered underneath historically listed buildings, it remains under the ground with no further excavations permitted.

The Globe that you see me standing in front of in the picture above, is a modern interpretation of the original theater referred to as Shakespeare's Globe. It's located close to the original site, but its dimensions, details, and size are not an exact match to the original.

^^^ Tours of Shakespeare's Globe are held daily for £10 a person. I'm seriously broke as a joke at the moment so I didn't splurge on the tour. (awwww, sad) But you can take a virtual tour online if you'd like.
^^^This plaque is at the site of the original foundation of the Globe. This, a few informational signs, and a indicator on the ground are all there is for the original site.


♡- Kristen

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is where the Queen lives. That's cool and all but it's really all about the guards with Marge Simpson tall ridiculously fuzzy hats, no?

Since forever, I can remember countless movies or shows or stories about the still-faced bright red clad guards. About people trying to make them laugh, or taking obscene pictures with them, or flashing private parts in their direction to get some sort of reaction. Unfortunately, you couldn't even get that close to the guards as I had always expected. Although I swear I made brief eye-contact with one!

The guards are called the Queen's Guards or the Queen's Life Guards. The elaborate changing of the guard takes place around 11 am in front of Buckingham Palace daily. I didn't know that, of course, and missed it!

When the guards aren't marching about for the changing of the guards, they are simply standing there, keeping a watchful eye on the public within the confines of the massive gates surrounding the palace. Once in awhile, the guards actually move, but only for a short little stroll a couple yards away and then back again.

^^^See that little guard in the background, yea, that's what I was going for.
^^^ Luckily, I found a guard closer to get at a little ways from the Palace. Although, he was guarded off by a small chain. (Wtf? I really wanted to get in his face!)
^^^Here's the famous Victoria Memorial in front of the Buckingham Palace gates.
♡- Kristen

Natural History Musuem: London

You had me at free entry, National History Museum. But you could really charge a butt-load for all the amazingness inside, not that the outside is less-amazing or anything, the building is like an architectural Mona Lisa.

I don't care if you're old or young, male or female, but the mere mention of full scale dinosaur fossils should get anyone pumped. And sure enough, a huge dinosaur is right smack dab in the middle of the entrance. Although I had my heart set on a huge T-Rex when I walked in, it's hard to be disappointed when it comes to any dinosaur.

Ashley and I spent most of our time in the dino section of the museum, only because that was the most crowded area and the line of visitors in the narrow walking paths came to halt every other minute. In the middle of the tour was a moving lifelike full scale T-Rex but compared to the ones I've experience on rides like Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom Dino Ride I wasn't really impressed; the kiddies loved it though.

^^^ That's me in front. The kind lady that took the pic chopped off the top bit though, dang it!


^^^ This is a gigantic sloth with some skeleton behind it... hahaha j/k.
^^^ Up close to stuffed extinct dodo birds.

^^^sexxxxxy....
^^^ This is the fossil that sparked rumors of actual cyclops roamed the earth, although it was later discovered to be nothing but a damaged elephant fossil.
^^^ In the Earth's Treasury section of the museum, rare gems and diamonds are on display. I could have spent way longer in there, but I think Ashley was kinda over it.
^^^ If you can't read it, it's the world's largest modern cut, top colour, flawless diamond.... um, enough said!♡- Kristen