Who has some spooky ghost stories in the South Hams?

A local author and researcher of the paranormal Christine Donnelly is inviting people to contact her about the strange goings on in and around Dartmouth.

Building on the success of Ken Taylor’s book, Dartmouth Ghosts and Mysteries, Christine is taking a fresh look at a wide range of phenomena in the area.

Ken as editor said: “It’s nearly thirteen years since my book was published, so it’s perfect timing for a sequel.

“I’ve known Christine since before then, and we collaborated on an investigation into the poltergeist phenomena at The George Inn, Blackawton; all that and much more will be in this new volume.

Christine has a lifelong interest in the paranormal and was recently involved in more poltergeist activity, this time in Paignton, which she refers to as the Haunted Wardrobe.

“It was an old, wooden wardrobe and the door had a large face, supposedly the devil, provocatively carved on the front of it” she said.

“In 2015 it was for sale in the Olden Ewe antique shop and the shop owner Linda Bell had noticed the air around the wardrobe sometimes felt freezing, and other unexplainable things had started happening.

“She’d brought the furniture for £350 from a house in the area, and before arriving in the shop it had never caused any problems.

“But now Linda didn’t want to be close to it or even look at it. She needed help. Along with my friend Fiona Dodwell, an author of paranormal novels, I went along to take a look.

“As Fiona and I entered the shop I saw the glass doors of a nearby cabinet fly open and an ornamental brass plate shot out and fell to the floor.

“The wardrobe stood at the back of the shop and it certainly looked menacing. It was easy to imagine the face was watching us.

“On closer inspection it actually looked more like Pan or Bacchus rather than the devil. Either way, I decided to climb inside.

“I stood very still. It was eerie, dark and musty. Something touched my hand-it felt like a child’s hand, but was icy cold. It was there and then it was gone.

“There had been reports of the doors on the wardrobe resisting being closed, as though something was pushing from the inside. Could this be the spirit of a child trapped within?

“The lights in the shop kept dimming, making odd buzzing noises and then coming back on again. We locked the wardrobe door shut, and Linda asked me to take the only key. As Fiona and I left, the lights returned to normal.

"Then, on the day after Halloween, I received a frantic call from Linda. I rushed to the shop and I saw Linda and two other people standing huddled on the pavement outside. She was close to tears and refused to go inside. Apparently there had been a poltergeist attack.

"The back of the shop was wrecked, with displays smashed and chairs upended. String draped from a ceiling light fitting and wrapped around the mirror of a dressing table. A crucifix had been smashed through the glass top of a display, and a Bible had also been moved. Despite having the only key still in my pocket, the wardrobe door was wide open.

"A couple of days later Fiona and I returned and locked ourselves in for the night. We sat next to the wardrobe and waited. As the night wore on I became aware of spirit energy in an area at the back of the shop. It felt old, male, and connected to the shop.

“I felt he was a very religious person who hated the wardrobe being in the shop. I asked if he had caused the damage and he gave affirmation that he did, but there was no further contact. I felt there would be no peace until either he or the wardrobe was gone.

"Linda rang me some days later in very high spirits to say that a buyer had been found and that the wardrobe would be displayed in a museum along with other weird objects. As soon as it had gone, everything back to normal in the shop. Linda was happy again.

"The museum has reported some people feeling chest pain when sitting near the wardrobe, and others being apprehensive about approaching it, no poltergeist activity has recurred. But there is still a secret unsolved, the icy hand of the child I felt in the wardrobe. Perhaps she is still there, waiting to come out…"

For more information about contributing to her book, which includes the full range of paranormal phenomena including UFOs, and updates on stories featured in the first book, email Christine on [email protected] or visit www.wavewrights.com/pub/dartmouth/update.html.