During my recent residency at Marchmont Studios in the Borders, I was delighted to visit Polwarth Kirk with acclaimed artist Charlie Poulsen as my guide. We walked there via a path I hadn’t yet discovered, following the curves of the Rambling Burn, where I was able to see some of his amazing ‘growing bridges’ spanning the water. As you know, water is my ‘thing’ and this will be the perfect setting for my current folk horror project. Happily, there was nothing of horror about our walk! It was lovely to chat with Charlie about our respective practices, especially as I could see his iconic ‘Sky Boat’ from the window of my hobbit pod!

At the Kirk (see previous post for more about it) we were approached by a man with a very strange tale indeed. An elderly gentleman with a gentle smile and a very lively white terrier was standing by the gate. He confessed to us that he was fascinated by the church for the oddest of reasons. Sixty-five years previously, he’d visited the Kirk with his wife to have a look around. The place was open, as all churches used to be, but deserted. As they wandered around the nave, they heard strange noises in the bell tower. Even after 65 years, you could see that whatever had happened in there has stayed with him to this day. I’m not sure what the ‘noises’ were – I got the feeling that there was more to this story that he wasn’t telling us. Maybe more than simply footsteps? His wife ran out in terror (never to return; he was there alone) and they climbed into their car, an Austin 10. To add to their nightmare, the car wouldn’t start, and they had to get a push from some farmworkers further down the road.

As he spoke, the man’s gaze constantly strayed to the window of the bell tower, searching for clues, looking for something that shouldn’t be there…

So there you are, a first-hand ghost story to whet the gothic appetite.

No doubt it will find its way into my book…!