Them old monks

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Black Prince
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Them old monks

Post by Black Prince »

It was a quick after work trip that many of us do when time is precious I had had a hard day in the steel foundry but I was a young man then big and strong I had my fishing tackle ready in the boot 5 30 pm I was rearing to go 20 minuets drive I was there a quick 15 minute walk to my swim lovely September night white fluffy clouds not a worry in the world done this a hundred times before I had caught one single fish but that didn’t bother me i have had quite a few blanks in this swim getting the smell of the foundry out of my lungs was the main point I will give it ten minutes more (as we all do) the dusk was descending i had another coffee looking at the old church across the river chiming 9oclock the story my father had told me ringing in my ears like the bells them old monks dug this very river with their bare hands to divert the tide from the church dead bodies would wash up after a bad storm at sea on the Mersey bar they used to lay the poor sailors out in the vicaridge in a room called the blue room (its a pub now )known for its ghostly lodgers who won’t move on as I packed my gear away a 6am start in the morning the chill of a September evening I pulled my collar up I had left it too late yet again the dark had come in quick all of a sudden from no where a voice came into my head get your gear and go I was 20stone of muscle afraid of no one or nothing I grabbed my rod bag and scrambled the 15 flood bank I had left bait boxes and a landing net by now a terror like I have never known in my life had took over all reasoning don’t turn round boy or your going to see something you never wanted I walked half half ran the half a mile back to the farm I thought it could only be old nick the devil him self it followed me step by step stride by stride back to the car that was parked by the lonely old farm that was built in 1777 I threw the tackle in the back of the car turned the lights a mile drive to the nearest road lights of the dual carriageway that led my way home I looked in the mirror then the passenger seat thank god there was nothing there i really thought there might be I felt complete relief I have never been as scared in my life i was home by 10 30 did you catch anything I was asked no nothing I had a quick drink a off to bed early start in the foundry in the morning as I laid there waiting for the sleep I needed the fear of that night was so real to this day 36 years on nothing like this has ever happened again just ask your self would you be man enough to turn round I wasn’t what it was there that night was pure evil I think If I would have turned around it would have been the death of me I ve never felt as scared :Hat: mike

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Wallys-Cast
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Re: Them old monks

Post by Wallys-Cast »

I must admit Mike, I am very sceptical about ghosts, demons and the paranormal in general but there have been a couple of times when I have been out alone that something has triggered a deep sense of fear for no apparent reason. I cant think of any logical explanation to my experiences but I know what you mean about finding it hard to force yourself to turn and face it.

I have had a few jumpy night fishing experiences but they were nearly all logically explained as nocturnal wildlife or even wandering people and all have ended up being really quite funny.

However I did have a strange experience on the beach one night when I was standing watching the tips of my rods gently rocking back and forth with the action of the waves, when all of a sudden both rods suddenly keeled over and I got the shock of my life. I picked up one of them and struck but there was nothing there, I did the same with the other rod but again nothing there. After I had calmed down a bit I reset everything and I just thought my tripod must have swung around somehow and allowed the rods to come off.
I actually felt a bit daft at being spooked by this so I turned to the left and then to the right to see if anyone else saw it happen and half expected a round of applause and some silly comment, but when I looked, the beach was totally empty.
There were at least ten other anglers down there that night up until the moment my rods went over and I still can't believe they had all packed up and left the beach without me noticing.
I have fished (ok usually blanked) on that stretch of beach many times since then and the memory of it happening doesn't bother me at all (much).

Wal.

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FishingCarpenter
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Re: Them old monks

Post by FishingCarpenter »

hi black prince . as a repair carpenter and joiner l have seen many ghosts in 35 years of working in very old houses . two days ago l saw the shoes and legs of a male walk past a doorway in a 14 century house . the worst l have been scared is a room was opened up after a londoner brought a pair of cottages at flower hill in badingham suffolk , l took the laths and plaster of three studs to mame the door opening . l had already mad a window to fit the blocked up opening so just had to plane it to fit , three times i sharpened my jack plane and three times it wouldn’t cut . room was very cold and quiet: never went back , room was never used and owners moved away as other things happened ; not normally worried about ghosts as wife is a healer and i think they are trapped, don’t think they mean harm : fishing carpenter . sorry to go on but people don’t want to know usually and think you’re touched

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RBTraditional
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Re: Them old monks

Post by RBTraditional »

Many moons ago, Kev, Richard and I were fishing a lake one evening in a very secluded valley in the Weald of Kent. We were tench fishing and planned to fish through the night. The evening was bright and warm, but we set our brollies up just in case of rain. Around 9pm the place went completely silent it was as if someone had muted the telly, no bird song, not a rustle, just nothing. We all remarked on how sudden this was. We were a long way from a road and any habitable property and quietness was expected but this was strange. Just as it got dark an hour or so later the water in front of us became peppered with tiny plops, certainly not rain or small fish more like small gravel being dropped in....the shower upon the water became more intense but only in the swims in front of us, the rest of the lake remaining unaffected. We looked to see if anyone was about and playing a practical joke we were well off the beaten track and we were the only ones down there....the event intensified further...there was no logical explanation and all three of us were now pretty disturbed by what was happening! You’ll never see three Angler’s pack up and run so quickly, rods broken down, tackle thrown into our baskets and we ran and ran, up through darkened woods getting lost, petrified until we made the relative sanctuary of the lane about half a mile away. Sweating and still rather spooked we collapsed in a heap unable to speak. Even years later none of us have been able to find a rational explanation for those events and just last week Kev mentioned the episode over a pint....it still sends shivers down my spine. None of us have ever been back to that lake and for all I know still sits undisturbed in that little valley.....👻
" Angling is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it..."

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Santiago
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Re: Them old monks

Post by Santiago »

Hello RBT, I hope you don't think me a killjoy for offering a logical explanation for the gravelly rain. There can be rain not just of water, but of many different things. The weirdest I have heard of is frogs and fish. They're caused by extremely strong air vortices (like whirlwinds) either over land or water. Think of a Dyson vacuum cleaner, they both work in similar ways! They suck up whatever is beneath them and into the clouds (not the Dyson). Then many miles away when their energy has dissipated they release their cargo as weird rain. Famous cases include a village in Leicestershire, not so long ago, where it rained either frogs or fish (Too long ago for me to remember which). In America during Tornado season one can even have it raining cows! Now imagine that! We also get red rain in the UK quite often, because if winds from the Sahara dessert picking up sand and taking it upon into the atmosphere. So I am not surprised by raining gravel. And these occurrences are often very localised in small areas. And if you're gravel rain was just metaphorical, then you were probably just on the very edge of a heavy shower! Not so unusual as you might think. I well remember rowing my punt one summer's evening and saw a very heavy shower approaching and as it got closer the water erupted in front of me and if I could have rowed fast enough I could have chosen the wet or the dry side.
"....he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy"

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RBTraditional
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Re: Them old monks

Post by RBTraditional »

Yes Trevor I too have heard of those phenomena....but a cloudless sky, no wind and the “gravel” and I only used it as an example of the type of plops and then raging shower without a drop of rain we experienced were confined to each adjacent swim, the rest of the lake and areas to the immediate left and right remaimed completely unaffected, we even put our hands out to catch whatever it was falling....never felt a thing...all very odd. :shocked:
" Angling is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it..."

https://thepiscatorialraconteurs.co.uk/

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Santiago
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Re: Them old monks

Post by Santiago »

If the water was being disturbed and nothing was actually falling, then logic dictates that the disturbance was from beneath. Possibly a massive release of small methane bubbles in the swims caused by a sudden change in atmospheric pressure or moving/feeding fish, I have read of such happenings when big shoals o bream start feeding. The bubbles in the dark could easily have looked like rain drops hitting the surface. Moreover, the methane bubbles may have been confined to the swims because of heavy groundbaiting some time previous. Either way, I am sure that there's a good rational explanation, I only offer mine as being reasonable.
"....he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy"

Hemingway

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RBTraditional
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Re: Them old monks

Post by RBTraditional »

I wish I could explain it Trevor, we’ve spent thirty years trying to work it out and have talked through and through the possibilities, some of which you’ve mentioned but discounted by the strangeness of the event we actually witnessed. They certainly weren’t bubbles rising upwards these were definitely splashes then a deafening torrent from something going inward, not rain either, it was dead calm and balmy so no wind to bring anything in, not quite dark but light enough to see and none of us were hit by anything even though this was happening right in the margins to a couple of rod lengths out but only immediately in front of us, the length of bank we are talking about was no more than twenty yards but as I said nothing to the left or right was disturbed. it remains a mystery and all three of us are not easily spooked.
" Angling is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it..."

https://thepiscatorialraconteurs.co.uk/

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Santiago
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Re: Them old monks

Post by Santiago »

Sounds very interesting. I would have had to of been there to appreciate how strange it truly was. Yet I suspect that if it was daylight you might have found the cause. Equally, if you saw it several times you might have pint pointed what was actually happening. The first time we encounter strange things we often remember the details oddly, even when with others that are there, memories can blur and we take on the group memory, a false memory, and forget the real details. These group false memories are quite common and when they occur those involved really believe what they saw. This is one reason why police don't like witnesses discussing between themselves what happened just after a crime. The most vocal can implant false memories into the others without consciously knowing. Those that are easily hyptonised are particularly vulnerable to this. But we all are to a point. And you would never know it happened to you, unless you recorded the whole event. So if there's no physical explanation for the weird rain then consider the psychological first, before thinking the irrational and unexplained.
"....he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy"

Hemingway

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RBTraditional
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Re: Them old monks

Post by RBTraditional »

Yes you needed to be there. I can assure you there’s no false or group memory issues nor indeed psychological barriers with any of us....three of us witnessed this happening. Some things can’t be explained....I’ll leave it there. :Hat:
" Angling is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it..."

https://thepiscatorialraconteurs.co.uk/

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