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Haunted Bench Project

@hauntedbench75.bsky.social

150 followers 68 following 570 posts

🪦 Ghostly & macabre legends of #Harrow & district. #HauntedHarrow #HarrowWeald #HauntedBenches #parkphantoms #cemeteryspectres #gardenshedghosts & c. #pulp #horror & supernatural fiction; stuff like that. Tower Hamlets also features quite a lot. 💀

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · Nov 19

Always loved this one. Bride of Dem's illustration of the entrance to the Egyptian Avenue, #HighgateCemetery

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 1d

So do I, Swampi.

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 1d

I've not taken a selfie in my life — sure won't be making an exception for f***book's benefit. Matters zero in my case, but g**gling around, seems they've begun demanding this of longtime f-bookers, who stand to lose accounts they rely on unless they comply. #invasionofprivacy

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 2d

#Facebook_demands ... "Confirm your identity with a video selfie:
To make sure you're a real person, we need you to record a video selfie. We'll ask you to move your head during the recording to help us capture your face at different angles".

Screengrab from Facebook. "Confirm your identity with a video selfie:
To make sure you're a real person, we need you to record a video selfie. We'll ask you to move your head during the recording to help us capture your face at different angles".

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 2d

Ah, could be that I used a bench or something as a photo. Anyway, no loss.

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks for your reply. Well, I had an account on there I thought I'd deleted a decade ago (!), lain dormant all that time. I signed in, posted, no trouble. Went back later, "this account has been suspended ...blah blah." Means 0 to me, I just wondered if the video id was now compulsory.

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 2d

... photo ID or I lose the account. Well, I'm fine with the latter, they can go ... far as I'm concerned, but reason I'm typing this drivel is — I'm curious; has everyone with an account on there submitted photo ID?

#fuckfacebook

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 2d

1/2 .. .Swallowing down sick, I registered with faceb**k yesterday simply to ask a question of author Margaret L Davies about her forthcoming 'Mary Shelley in Harrow.' I did, received gracious & helpful reply, posted a few local history related bits - & got suspended. They're demanding ...

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 4d

#books_to_read_on_a_haunted_bench_(that's_gone_missing). Harry Ludlam, '#Ghosts Among Us: Eye witness Accounts of True Hauntings' (#Janus 1994), inc. The Murderous Mother Superior, The #Highgate Shocker, The Head of Anne Griffith, A Night at Skull Cottage & news from the haunted 'Emmerdale' set.

Cover of Harry Ludlam's 'Ghosts Among Us' features a photo of a sinister nun with (I think) vacent eye sockets and a massive cross around her neck.

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks. Will PM you on the Vault that knoweth not shame before day is out. Your Halloween collaborations have been a joy to date. Hope this one does real well for you.

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 5d

Dan. Looks like this may have to be our 'usual arrangement' if that's OK? [Dem]

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 5d

That looks absolutely gorgeous.

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 5d

Tempted to revisit as I dearly loved the place, but worried it may bring back too many bitter memories. Did the St Mary's, Harrow, thing last Friday (wheezing up that hill, etc). Lovely & rainy. Only slight disappointment, there was a school mass in progress so didn't get to check out the church.

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 5d

From those I've seen, would say British crime mags from same period shared the same aesthetic. I'm guessing you're familiar with Eric Godtland & Dian Hanson's 'True Crime Detective Magazines' (Taschem, 2013), but if not, right up your street.

Cover painting of a bouffant moll pouting between drags on her cool cigarette.

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 5d

I think it's the sincerity. That really is a beautiful monument, and of course, totally unfamiliar to me. West side, again?

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 6d

Felham Fatberg #fatberg_thursday

A FATBERG that weighed as much as eight double-decker buses has been removed from a blocked sewer. The congealed mass of wet wipes, grease and oil weighed 100 tonnes and it took engineers more than a month to blast, chisel and suck the mess out of 125m of pipes in Feltham, west London. 'METRO' Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 7d

Today is the 73rd anniversary of the Harrow & Wealdstone tragedy which claimed the lives of 112 passengers and railway staff. Would love to see a statue of Abbie Sweetwine, 'the angel of platform six,' either on the High Street or maybe inside the station itself?

Detail from the very beautiful childrens' mural on Station approach. "In memory of the victims of the Wealdstone train crash, October 8th 1952, where 112 people sadly lost their lives and in gratitude to the services and volunteers who helped to save many others."

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 7d

I like Ronald Holmes. He wrote some great stuff, including a Sawney Beane biography and a history of witchcraft. Also edited 'Macabre Military Stories'

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 7d

She is indeed very lovely.

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 8d

Join the bleeding club.

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 8d

Mine was a modern edition of Richard Matheson's 'Hell House' for £2 from Spitalfields Crypt Charity Shop (Watney Market chapter). Happy reading!

Cover of Richard Matheson's 'Hell House' (Gollancz 2022) depicts haunted property (a generic shutterstock job, so nothing to get excited about).

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Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 8d

Is this her greatest hits one? If its the book I'm thinking of, it includes most from her 'Ghosts of Beds/ Bucks/ Herts/ Oxford books?

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 8d

As promised, 3 trademark dreadful photo's from tramp around Harrow on the Hill/ Old Redding/ Harrow Weald & Queensbury on Fri 3rd. Rain did its bit. Mass in prog in St Mary's, so didn't get to check out books. Beloved bench on Weald Lane corner still AWOL presumed RIP.

The village green, Harrow, in rain. Kings Head pub sign depicting Herny VIII still present & correct which, sadly, can't be said of pub, which was lost around turn of the century. I consider stopping on bench for a drink a sacred duty. [see also 'The Case is Altered,' Old Redding].

Another detail from the gorgeous millennium mural on the bridge at Harrow & Wealdstone station, this one depicting soldiers marching off to war in 1914, the clock tower memorial and a poppy field.

The Case is Altered, Old Redding, remains out of commission. I wanted a passable shot of the mural before the weather obliterates it completely, so mission semi-accomplished. As mentioned, it's become a personal ritual to stop on bench outside for drink. [see also the bench in the driveway to Grims Dyke hotel].

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 12d

Congratulations, and very well done, Mr P. and friends!

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 12d

Hoping to spend tomorrow making thorough nuisance of myself at St. Mary's churchyard, Grims Dyke, Harrow Weald, Honeypot Lane - probably nip in Primark while I'm at it. Weather forecast: rain all day = Ideal conditions. #hauntedbenchontour

Churchyard path leading to lychgate in St Mary's cemetery.

Bench on Churchyard Terrace. Hope its not yet been replaced by a horrible metal one.

The Case is Altered; still closed, so bring your own.

Haunted Bench Project @hauntedbench75.bsky.social · 18d

Me too, but I'm glad he isn't.

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