The Storyteller: Paignton’s haunted history inspires new ghost walk

Last week, I held one of my free Evenings of Storytelling, at The Esplanade Hotel on the seafront in Paignton, ahead of the launch of my Paignton Ghost Walk, at the end of March, to tie in with the Easter holidays.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great, so it might have kept people indoors, but the six who joined my partner, and myself, were certainly entertained by the tales I told. One couple, in particular,  had experiences of their own to share, which inspired some of my recollections.

As usual, I started off by introducing myself, trying to give people an understanding of where my love of Dartmoor, and all its spooky folklore, comes from. I blame my parents, for they chose to honeymoon in the South West, making several trips over the moors, during their stay, and then, nine months later, I was born! So I like to think that there is a little Dartmoor in my DNA!

I then explained how I ended up in Torbay. Having left home in Bristol, to spend three years at Mountview Theatre School, in North London. I graduated in 1987, and my first proper job, brought me to the Palace Avenue Theatre, where I took part in a Summer Season of plays, which included, Agatha Christie’s, Verdict, and Joe Orton’s What the Butler Saw, as well as an Olde Tyme Musical Hall cabaret show.

After the season finished, I stayed on in Torbay, and started my career in the local theatres, working in the box offices. It was then that my love of Dartmoor flourished, spending much of my free time, walking and Letterboxing. My interest in the paranormal developed too, when I found out that I was living on the doorstep of one of the most haunted castles in the country, Berry Pomeroy.

This played a big part in encouraging me to set up my paranormal investigation group, TIP, along with my good friends, Dave and Adrian. This was back in 1995. Then, in 1999, we went public, and started meeting people, who shared our interest, at Churston Court.

It was during these gatherings, that we discovered lots of people liked to share their own experiences of visiting Berry Pomeroy. When I brought this up at The Esplanade, one member of the audience said he had once had a sighting of the White Lady, the most notorious resident spook, in the old ruins.

He said he had seen her, high up in one of the windows. A good friend of mine, had a similar experience, on her first visit, thinking that white was an odd choice of colour to wear inside a dirty, old building. She had a rather disturbing surprise, when she discovered that the mansion house has no upper floors for anyone to stand on. Both my friend, and the gentleman at the hotel, found it rather disquieting to learn that the ghost is, allegedly, a portent of death...but they have lived to tell the tale.

I encouraged others to share their stories, and one couple told us about the time when they used to live in the Gloucester area, not far from another notoriously haunted building, called Woodchester Mansion. I’m aware of its reputation, but I’ve never been...not as yet anyway.

This couple visited, as part of another investigation group, and had quite a creepy time there. They belonged to several different groups, during their time in Gloucester, including a rather impressive group, by the name of ASSAP. Coincidentally, Dave, Adrian, and myself, once attended a day, full of workshops, aimed at training would be paranormal investigators, in London. The result of which, was the birth of Torbay Investigators of the Paranormal, the group that I still keep going today.

During the course of this discussion, the couple revealed that they now live in the Lancaster Drive area of Paignton, a revelation that triggered a recollection of a most intriguing time, that I’d spent in that particular area, many years ago...

It all started when one of my colleagues, at the Princess Theatre, told me of an odd experience that her daughter had in their local play park, on Lancaster Drive, opposite the cul-de-sac they lived in.

She had been sitting on a bench, chatting with her friends, when she started to become aware of a figure standing beside her, that didn’t seem to be fully formed, it was mostly transparent. When she asked if her friends could see it, they said they couldn’t.

This really shook her up, so she went home to her mum, and told her all about the incident. My friend knew exactly who to call, as she knew of my interest in such odd matters. I gathered as much information as I could, from her daughter, and, with their permission, I shared it with a reporter from the local paper, who had a piece published, asking for local residents to come forward, if they had encountered anything similar.

This was accompanied by a very dodgy photo, of myself, sitting in the children’s park...something I was asked to pose for...certainly not something I could get away with nowadays...

Fortunately, the story struck a chord with some readers, and I received several interesting phone calls, from people sharing their odd stories from the area, two of which described the same figure, one amongst the trees in the woodland above the park, the other standing under the lamppost, outside the park, both observed after dark, and both figures described as looking like an American football player, complete with the gridiron helmet and padded shoulders.

Most curious, I thought. So I asked my good friend, Maia, an experienced medium, and practicing Pagan, to accompany me on a daytime investigation. As we walked amongst the trees, above the park, Maia picked up on some traces of energy, that she associated with, in basic terms, ritual magic.

There was a copse of Oak trees, with a Hazel tree amongst it, a site that would be attractive to a coven of witches, to perform rituals in, by the light of a full moon. The copse actually faced the right direction, to experience the rising moon from. Maia also felt that the coven might have summoned up a guardian spirit energy, to stand watch over their sacred space. Something that could have taken on any form, often referred to as a tulpa, a thought form, that can be manifested by the power of the human mind for others to see, and consider real.

In this instance the guardian summoned, was in the form of an American football player. It didn’t take too much working out, that members of the coven, might be aware of the fact that nearby Clennon Valley sports ground, at that time, did have American football teams practicing there, and what better image to use to guard a space, than that of a quarterback in full attire...case closed!

After this trip down memory lane, I told my audience all about the various Ghost Walks that I host, around certain Dartmoor towns and villages...some of which I’m currently taking bookings for, for Half Term next week...and they seemed quite interested in joining me on them, in particular the more local one around Brixham.

After a short break, I returned to the idea of my proposed Paignton Ghost Walk, and shared some of the stories I’d already come up with, that will shape said walk.

My meeting point will be outside the Palace Avenue Theatre, for, as I said earlier, that’s where my Torbay adventure started for me...and it’s haunted by the ghost of what’s known as the Lavender Lady. From here we can move towards Kirkham House, and the nearby cottage, both buildings, I believe, have borne witness to paranormal activity, over the years, and I even believe I have a name for one of the ghosts that frequents the area...

Moving on, past the parish church, where there is an odd tale to tell, we reach Hyde Road, and the site of a couple of shops that I’ve been invited to investigate, over the years. Then we come across two haunted cinemas, the old and the new...before reaching the seafront, where several buildings are known to be haunted, and I intend to share those stories in the comfort of the aptly named, Deller’s Bar, part of the recently completed Ibis Hotel, which has been built on the site of the old Lighthouse bar, once Deller’s Summer Cafe, that I had requests to investigate over recent years...

Talking of investigations, it would appear that The Esplanade Hotel, itself, also has its own resident ghosts, and the plan is to check it out, with the mediums in my group, to see what exactly is there, and why, which will, hopefully, give me some more stories to share on my walk.

If this article has whetted your appetite for my latest addition to my ghost walking repertoire, then you don’t have long to wait to join me, for I’m launching them on Tuesday 31st March, just in time for the Easter holidays.

If you would like further details on this, or my other walks, please contact me via my email address davidtiptrips@gmail.com and I look forward to meeting you in person.