Post by Spooky on Jun 2, 2004 13:20:17 GMT
MANNEQUIN IS BLAMED FOR BUMPS IN THE NIGHT
The man who put a Wiltshire town on the economic map 300 years ago was last night blamed for a bizarre series of mysterious happenings in the tourist information centre.
A life-size model of William Arnold sits in Corsham;s heritage and tourism centre - a building originally restored in 1703 by the wealthy clothier.
But Arnold's mannequin has been blamed for electrical problems, chemical leaks, mysterious noises and phantom visitors.
Centre manager Martin Yallop said staff felt uneasy working late in the office, although the "presence" has not been malevolent.
He said: "Some odd things happen here. We have terrible problems with lightbulbs, for instance. They last a matter of minutes in some cases, but many pop after a few weeks when they are supposed to last for years.
"We've had the electrics checked and there's no wiring problems. The lights often dim without warning, go off and on suddenly."
The oddest phenomenon is the infra-red visitor recorder, a beam near the entrance which logs the numbers of visitors entering the centre.
Mr Yallop said: "We close the centre at 4.30pm and work on until gone five. In that half an hour, we began to notice that the counter which records the number of visitors each time the beam is broken was going mad. Every so often, another non-existent visitor would come in but the doors were locked.
"We had the equipment checked out and it was fine. You can only clock up another visitor by breaking the beam across the entrance and we could see no-one there. Something or someone is there with you and it's not just me, many of the staff say they have felt not alone."
Locals think there may be another explanation. Arnold House was given to the town by the last owner, an eccentric lady called Miss Picter. Mr Yallop said: "She died 40-odd years ago but is still remembered. She would sit all day in one of the windows here, or go around town looking for cigarette butts.
"Many people reckon it's her that is our 'presence'. Whoever it is is costing us a fortune in maintenance."
Taken from the Western Gazette website
The man who put a Wiltshire town on the economic map 300 years ago was last night blamed for a bizarre series of mysterious happenings in the tourist information centre.
A life-size model of William Arnold sits in Corsham;s heritage and tourism centre - a building originally restored in 1703 by the wealthy clothier.
But Arnold's mannequin has been blamed for electrical problems, chemical leaks, mysterious noises and phantom visitors.
Centre manager Martin Yallop said staff felt uneasy working late in the office, although the "presence" has not been malevolent.
He said: "Some odd things happen here. We have terrible problems with lightbulbs, for instance. They last a matter of minutes in some cases, but many pop after a few weeks when they are supposed to last for years.
"We've had the electrics checked and there's no wiring problems. The lights often dim without warning, go off and on suddenly."
The oddest phenomenon is the infra-red visitor recorder, a beam near the entrance which logs the numbers of visitors entering the centre.
Mr Yallop said: "We close the centre at 4.30pm and work on until gone five. In that half an hour, we began to notice that the counter which records the number of visitors each time the beam is broken was going mad. Every so often, another non-existent visitor would come in but the doors were locked.
"We had the equipment checked out and it was fine. You can only clock up another visitor by breaking the beam across the entrance and we could see no-one there. Something or someone is there with you and it's not just me, many of the staff say they have felt not alone."
Locals think there may be another explanation. Arnold House was given to the town by the last owner, an eccentric lady called Miss Picter. Mr Yallop said: "She died 40-odd years ago but is still remembered. She would sit all day in one of the windows here, or go around town looking for cigarette butts.
"Many people reckon it's her that is our 'presence'. Whoever it is is costing us a fortune in maintenance."
Taken from the Western Gazette website