Taking a time out!

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As many of you know I have been struggling with health issues for some time now. 

My heart seem’s to have given up on me, and only beats when it can be bothered, often making me tired and sleepy.  Pain killers stop the pain, but add to the drowsyness!

With this in mind I am taking next weekend off.

  • No Ripper Research
  • No Ripper Reading
  • No Message Boards
  • No Podcast

I am going to taking a trip to Scotland with my Paranormal Investions team “Ghosttrackers”.  It’s a trip we have been planning for some time and it is a weekend away from civilisation!  A nice relaxing investigation with my friends.

We are visiting an ancient castle, built in the 1200’s!  And due to it’s location have to pack all the essentials that we might need for the weekend.

Once I return, it will be ripper ripper ripper!

My Ripper Book of the week 10

Books, Research 2 Comments »

As a rule of thumb I try and read every suspect based ripper book, but often find myself trailing off when fantastic leaps of imagination are made, or primary sources are discarded in favour of telling a good story. 

This week I am taking the unusual step of naming a suspect based book as my book of the week.

“From Hell” Bob Hinton.

I had taken a while to get this book and was waiting for the price to drop when I saw Amazon had copies for less than a tenner!  I ordered one and awaited it’s arrival!

When it finally landed and I started reading I found myself strangly drawn into the book, so much so that I could not put it down!  The book seemed to flow taking in events, locations and players in the victorian drama.

I loved the section on the types of weopon’s that could have been used on Tabram, and whilst I might not agree with Hinton’s suspect, I did enjoy the book, and the journey he made in getting there.

Before picking up the book I was suffering writers block, I have all the primary sources in massive folders, but making sense of them was another matter.  Hinton’s book really inspired me, and urged me to carry on with my work.

That alone made it a unique book!

The Bridge over the Drain!

Archives, Libraries, Research, Stephenson Family No Comments »

A Visit 

A visit was recently made to the bridge, which it is believed was the setting for Stephenson’s “Dead or Alive” story.  The bridge is about 15 minutes walk from the rear of what was once Willows House and spans what us Hull Folk call the Drain!

I took several shots in the area, obtained maps and took laser measurements of all the distances involved.

The Weather 

I have also recieved confirmation of the weather patterns on the nights that Stephenson had his meetings, and later his encounter with the paranormal.  These have been digitised and added to my work on Stephenson.  I still have to go through these figures and see how they fit in with Stephenson’s story.

The Stars 

I have also made contact with an archival service which has the celestial readings for the nights in question as Stephenson remarks on the moon during the story.

Hopefully this will fo someway in backing up his claims, or debunking them.

What’s happened this week…3

Books, Research, Stephenson Family 1 Comment »

Charles Street Photo’s re-surface!! 

It’s been a busy week and one which turned up yet more new material!

I had started on online competition for locals in Hull to guess the locations of historical buildings in Hull.  The competition has had hundreds of views, replies and is highly rated on the Hull Daily Mail “Yoursay” site.

The chat soon turned to Charles Street and I asked if any pf the posters had any photo’s of the area.  I was innundated with pictures of the locale, from shops, houses and pubs.

I will be sifting through them, armed with a trade directory to ascertain their street numbers and perhaps, just maybe, there will be a number 35 Charles Street among the collection!

Other News

Yet more advances have been made in “Dissecting the Dead or Alive Story” and this week I took delivery of a book from the 1920’s.  The book features the “Dead or Alive” story which was said to have been handed from William T Stead to his daughter Estelle, who passed it onto the author of this book and Rev Charles Tweedale for his book.

It mentions that the story has it’s origins in another book on Ghosts which I have succesfully tracked down and am awaiting delivery! 

Mike Covell- Hoaxer?

Research, Stephenson Family 12 Comments »

Don’t worry, I am not, but this question has been raised!

Check out this website, entitled “Hoax Forums”.  It’s very similar to the Ripper casebook and JTR Forums and it has raised an intresting debate!

Several members believe myself and Howard Brown to be behind some sort of hoax involving, The Da-vinci code, Vesica Picies (or whatever it’s called) and Mary Jane Kelly……

 Here is the weird and wonderful thread!!

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/forums/viewthread/6776/

£100 Winner….again!

Stephenson Family No Comments »

Hull Daily Mail’s specialist website “Yoursay” has changed it’s method of winning £100 from the best article to a treasure hunt of sorts!

Whilst this has angered some people, I was quite pleased as I was announced the 2nd ever winner of the prize!

The site features several posts on Jack the Ripper!

Updates, Findings, and other News!

Podcast, Research, Stephenson Family No Comments »

Updates and Findings 

It has been a busy time, and as such I have not been able to devote enough time to this blogg.  This is a blessing in disguise however, as I had made significant find’s on Stephenson and will continue to digitise them.

A month ago I began dissecting the “Dead or Alive” story.  I have since found several different versions which fall after Stephenson’s tale and several versions which pre-date Stephenson’s tale.

I also managed to track down the Weather charts for the night’s that Stephenson states he had the encounters, and I also have the lunar patterns for the night’s in question.

All of which go someway in putting this myth to sleep once and for all!

Other News 

In other news, I have been approached by an American company with a view to creating an online talkshow about the paranormal, the producers have stated it will be my show, and would like a healthy does of local history, ghosts and Jack the Ripper!

Rippercast 

The Ripppercasts are doing well and loads of great feedback has been passed onto the team who participate.  It is always nice to know people appreciate them, and all the hard work that Johnathan Menges has put into them!

Check the Rippercasts site here…

http://www.rippernet.com/Rippercast/HOME.html

Humberside Paranormal talks JTR

I am still involved with Humberside Paranormal’s Radio show, and after this evening’s Rippercast, I will be jumping onto a different channel to record a radio show with them.  The team at Humberside Paranormal get loads of requests to discuss Jack the Ripper, which is always nice!

Check the site here…

http://humbersideparanormal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=79

JTR Studies 

A new Ripper Studies site has been set up, this is to act as a holding space for the O’Donnell Manuscript, several Dissertations and Archives and acts as a sister site to the JTR Forums.com  The site is run by Howard and Nina Brown and can be found here,

http://studies.jtrforums.com/index.php

Other than that, it’s pretty quite….

My Ripper Book of the week 9

Books, Research No Comments »

I have always wanted a copy of Stephen P Ryder’s “Public Reactions To Jack the Ripper”, so when I finally found a copy available on Amazon in the UK I jumped at the chance.

I wasn’t disappointed!

The book looks at the letters sent by the public to the London Press during the Whitechapel Atrocities, and has some fantastic little pieces!

I love the way the public are all suggesting weird methods to catch the killer, but if I was residing in the area during the period, I think I would be one of them!  There is a wide range of suggested Detection Methods, including Spiritualism! 

Idea’s on how to improve tha area, such as more street lighting, and of course loads of letters on the theories that the locals have.

Several well known names crop up including, Thomas Barnardo, George Bernard Shaw and Samual A Barnett

The book is fantastic and up there with “Letters from Hell” and ”Ultimate Sourcebook” as a fine collection of primary sources, which should form the back bone of any serious ripper related studies.

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