Posted By: Cari
Dover Castle. - 10/28/14 12:27 PM
I know many Boomers enjoy the paranormal adventure games set in England by Matt Clark. We do, it seems, have more than our fair share of places where the ghosties come out to play.
Such a place is Dover Castle, which is only ten miles from where I live so I hope you enjoy this little story.
Dover Castle stands high on the white cliffs above the port and town of Dover. The largest castle in Britain; it was originally built a thousand years ago and added to over the centuries to defend the shortest gateway to the realm. If you are looking for Walt Disney palaces and pretty turrets from where Rapunzel dangled down her golden locks, walk on by, Dover castle wasn’t built for fairy tales, it was built for business. Underneath this fortress are maze of tunnels the latest of which where dug just before WW2. Deep down are the remains of a command post, a hospital, canteens, sleeping quarters and a telephone switchboard and all now are open to the public on guided tours and is where our story begins.
Helen.
Miss Price ushered her brood of eleven year olds into the small exchange.
"Hurry children we only have a short time for Mr. Jones’s talk before we have to leave. Listen carefully and don’t forget to take notes for your essay on Thursday. I think we are ready Mr Jones”
The guide cleared his throat.” Well now did you note the sign on the door which said ‘Communications Room’? Good, well actually it’s a small telephone exchange as you can see by the old plug boards on the wall over there. The operators who sat on those fixed chairs in front of the boards where drawn from the Women’s Royal Air Force”
He went on to explain how the plug boards worked and how the information from the Radar stations in the area was passed on to the nations command centres.
He finished to polite applause lead by Miss Price.
"Now hand me your note books children, we are not going to have a repeat of the trip to Hever Castle when three were lost. They will be given back to you tomorrow at school” She glanced at the notes as she waited for Mr Jones to replace the bits and pieces he had used in his lecture.
"Oh how odd”. She exclaimed. "Angela Stevens, come here please”
A small girl approached Miss Price rather nervously.
"Why did you write this? Look, here at the bottom of the page”
"I didn’t Miss”
"Now don’t be silly, it’s in your hand writing isn’t it?”
Tears began to well in the girl’s eyes.
Mr. Jones walked over.
"Can I help?”
"I really don’t know. The girl has written this at the bottom of the page ‘Where is Helen’
Mr Jones looked uncomfortable.
"Ah, that happens from time to time”
"What on earth do you mean?
"It’s not a thing to discuss in front of the children Miss Price”
"Sorry I? --”
She was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the telephone on a nearby table.
"Aren’t you going to answer it Mr Jones?
Jones stared at the ringing phone in disbelief.
"Well”
"You don’t understand it can’t be ringing; nothing here is connected to anything. It hasn’t been for the last seventy years”
Miss Price lost her patience.
"Ridiculous”
She walked over and lifted the phone.
"Hullo?”
In her ear a sound of static like a radio that was turned off station
Then ‘Where Is Helen’ asked a voice.
Apart from the telephone sequence, which was my twist at the end, the rest is absolutely true. ‘Where Is Helen’ actually did appear written on the child’s notes.
From time to time unexplained occurrences happen to groups of visitors to these tunnels.
The most disturbing to date was a Dutch lady in a group of tourists who moved to one side to let a man in uniform walk past her when he walked straight through her. She was taken to hospital in a traumatic fit.
I am a profound sceptic when it comes to the paranormal but I don’t think that I would volunteer to spend a night alone down there. Would you?