Tuesday June 21st 2016
A recent conversation with Shropshire author, Fran Norton - on the subject of the infamous ghost of 'Madam Pigott' at Chetwynd, near Newport - inspired us to, once again, advertise for information on this most enigmatic and historic apparition.... Thankfully, this recent inquiry proved amazingly successful and we have literally been inundated with an array of stories, fresh, first-hand accounts of experiences and general reminiscences concerning the ghost / ghostlore in the region concerned!!
Of MAJOR importance to the group is the fact that we can now actually put a name and an associated story to the person who admits having 'faked' the 'ghost photograph' that was sent in to us in 2014. This reasonably famous image - shown above - was emailed to the W.M.G.C., with a brief story outlining how an acquaintance of the sender had supposedly 'caught' the apparition in a photograph taken in Chetwynd Churchyard one night. At the time that we received the image, our old friends at the 'Shropshire Star' newspaper took considerable interest in the matter and 2 articles were subsequently published on the topic....
However, at the time that we received the image, it was already being regarded as somewhat 'suspicious', as image manipulation experts that we had shared the photograph with instantly suggested one of the numerous, create-a-ghost 'phone apps' that had started to become fairly popular around that time....? Within a very brief period, someone came forward with a specific figure - found in a 'catalogue of apparitions' from one of these aforementioned 'Apps' - that corresponded almost exactly with the 'ghost' in the photograph that we had been sent......
Despite the 'dubious' nature of the image, it was still - needless to mention - something of a puzzle as to 'who' had created the picture concerned and 'why' it had been sent in to the group.....!? Thankfully, we can now draw a line under this perplexing matter, as - as mentioned - our recent appeal for information resulted in the 'creator' of the picture coming forward and explaining the origins of the shot!
It seems that the photograph had been simply created as a 'joke', being played on the sister-in-law of the person responsible. The former believed that she had possibly seen 'something' at Chetwynd Church, a little time earlier. As a result of this, the trickster involved had subsequently gone to the churchyard themselves and 'faked' a ghostly picture to send to their relative!! The email sent to the W.M.G.C. containing the image seems to have come about as a well-meaning lead from a friend-of-a-friend, who had simply taken the picture from a social media page and, presumably, thought we may well be interested in the matter concerned!? The 'photographer' involved tells us that no offence was intended and the whole matter was purely carried out in jest!! Chuckle!!
Well - at least we NOW know, eh!? Laugh!!
In connection with this matter, we'd also like to point out that copies of Fran Norton and Marie Williams booklet on the potential, genealogical / historical origins of the infamous ghost - 'The Mystery Of Madam Pigott' - are still available to buy directly by emailing the following address: fvnorton2@gmail.com
As previously reported on this page, Fran tells us that they always been intrigued by the Madam Pigott ghost story and - upon carrying out some research for the 'Chetwynd Medieval Fair' one year - they had basically realised how little people actually knew about a prominent family who had lived at Chetwynd for almost 500 years.....! As anyone who has ever undertaken any historical research can fully appreciate, it takes a lot of time to thread your way through reams of old documents and books, to discover anything of real importance or interest...... Over the decades, there have been MANY reports of Madam Pigotts ghostly appearances.... and their idea was to endeavour to extract 'fact' from 'fiction' and try to possibly discover the identity of our unearthly visitor...!? The resulting book is a testament to their painstaking research and a fitting tribute to what must surely be Shropshires most famous phantom......!?
Of MAJOR importance to the group is the fact that we can now actually put a name and an associated story to the person who admits having 'faked' the 'ghost photograph' that was sent in to us in 2014. This reasonably famous image - shown above - was emailed to the W.M.G.C., with a brief story outlining how an acquaintance of the sender had supposedly 'caught' the apparition in a photograph taken in Chetwynd Churchyard one night. At the time that we received the image, our old friends at the 'Shropshire Star' newspaper took considerable interest in the matter and 2 articles were subsequently published on the topic....
However, at the time that we received the image, it was already being regarded as somewhat 'suspicious', as image manipulation experts that we had shared the photograph with instantly suggested one of the numerous, create-a-ghost 'phone apps' that had started to become fairly popular around that time....? Within a very brief period, someone came forward with a specific figure - found in a 'catalogue of apparitions' from one of these aforementioned 'Apps' - that corresponded almost exactly with the 'ghost' in the photograph that we had been sent......
Despite the 'dubious' nature of the image, it was still - needless to mention - something of a puzzle as to 'who' had created the picture concerned and 'why' it had been sent in to the group.....!? Thankfully, we can now draw a line under this perplexing matter, as - as mentioned - our recent appeal for information resulted in the 'creator' of the picture coming forward and explaining the origins of the shot!
It seems that the photograph had been simply created as a 'joke', being played on the sister-in-law of the person responsible. The former believed that she had possibly seen 'something' at Chetwynd Church, a little time earlier. As a result of this, the trickster involved had subsequently gone to the churchyard themselves and 'faked' a ghostly picture to send to their relative!! The email sent to the W.M.G.C. containing the image seems to have come about as a well-meaning lead from a friend-of-a-friend, who had simply taken the picture from a social media page and, presumably, thought we may well be interested in the matter concerned!? The 'photographer' involved tells us that no offence was intended and the whole matter was purely carried out in jest!! Chuckle!!
Well - at least we NOW know, eh!? Laugh!!
In connection with this matter, we'd also like to point out that copies of Fran Norton and Marie Williams booklet on the potential, genealogical / historical origins of the infamous ghost - 'The Mystery Of Madam Pigott' - are still available to buy directly by emailing the following address: fvnorton2@gmail.com
As previously reported on this page, Fran tells us that they always been intrigued by the Madam Pigott ghost story and - upon carrying out some research for the 'Chetwynd Medieval Fair' one year - they had basically realised how little people actually knew about a prominent family who had lived at Chetwynd for almost 500 years.....! As anyone who has ever undertaken any historical research can fully appreciate, it takes a lot of time to thread your way through reams of old documents and books, to discover anything of real importance or interest...... Over the decades, there have been MANY reports of Madam Pigotts ghostly appearances.... and their idea was to endeavour to extract 'fact' from 'fiction' and try to possibly discover the identity of our unearthly visitor...!? The resulting book is a testament to their painstaking research and a fitting tribute to what must surely be Shropshires most famous phantom......!?
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