As we travel through our lives I am certain most, if not all of us sometimes reflect on times past. Perhaps we may even return to a former home or area where, in previous days, we have been happy. I was recently visiting the seaside town of Blackpool, noted for fresh air and fun, when the memory of a long past summer weekend came into my mind.
As a family we once came to the town for a short holiday, I would have been perhaps 8 or 9 years of age at the time. As I thought about that time, almost thirty years ago, I recalled the boarding house where we had stayed, it was on Rigby Road. Then I thought I'd go and have a look, just for old times sake.
Spirits do that too, they return from their world and call in to have a look at the places where, in their physical lives, they have been happy. Some even return to places where they have been sad, or hurt, maybe they are seeking an answer to some long forgotten question. Whatever their reason is, I know that many do return, but not all remain. But some ghosts that return resent the people who now had possess their former property.
Through the ancient walled town of York there runs the river Ouse. On the river there are many boats and converted canal barges. During the September of 1996 the Spiritualist Medium Gary Dakin received a telephone call from a man who had just bought such a barge, he thought it was haunted and he had been experiencing some strange, even dangerous phenomena.
He said it all began on his first afternoon on board, hearing the sound of footsteps thud thudding along the deck behind him he turned to see an old bearded man wearing a flat cap. Immediately he knew this was impossible, the barge was mid stream and no one else had been on board when he set off. As soon as he realised this, the man vanished. He never saw him again but there was definitely something strange about the atmosphere of that barge following the incident.
Some days later, whilst cooking a simple meal in the galley the oil in the chip pan, for no apparent reason, burst into flames. Had he not acted at once the boat would have burnt. Then the following day, just as he was climbing on board, his foot caught in a loose rope and he fell, hitting exactly the spot where he had first seen the vision of the bearded man.
Accident followed accident, whilst loading supplies into the hold he heard a voice calling his name, turned to look and as he did so dropped a pack of tinned foods onto his foot. At night his sleep was disturbed, an invisible hand pulled away the bed sheets and, despite having the heater on full, the cabin was freezing cold. It was then he telephoned for help.
Gary Dakin went to investigate and saw the barge on the banks of the Ouse. It was brightly painted in distinctive yellow and blue and Gary immediately saw the spirit of the bearded man. He was standing close to the cabin, tattered old flat cap pulled down almost over his right eye and a heavy brown and grey beard. He must have known Gary was coming and seemed angry as he stepped on board. Gary reports that there was a silent resentment in the spirit's stare, as if he was displeased at his presence. Perhaps the ghost viewed him as an intruder on his precious barge.
When Gary spoke to the ghost he discovered that this spirit was unaware that he was discarnate, he thought himself to be alive and on his beloved barge. Now it is no simple thing to explain to a trapped spirit that it is in fact beyond the physical plane. Quite often spirits u refuse to accept the facts. The bearded boatman was not an exception, indeed if he had physical form he would undoubtedly have thrown Gary overboard.
Walking past the spirit, Gary seated himself in the barge cabin and placed his mind into a quite but receptive state. Still a little shaken by the vision of the ghost Gary said a quiet prayer for the spirit. This ghostly boatman was so positive that he still lived he had taken on seemingly solid form. In life he must have been a very powerful man, his presence was extremely strong.
Gradually Gary Dakin's guides drew close and a warm light enveloped the entire boat. A sense of peace flowed over his body and out towards the spirit. The bright whiteness closed about Gary and the ghost slowly melted into it. When Gary opened his eyes everything had changed, everything. The deck of the barge was clear, the spirit had gone, it was as though it had never happened. Gary looked and saw the boat owner standing beside him looking concerned.
Back on the river bank Gary stood and looked at the barge, it seemed so peaceful now, rocking gently on the softly flowing water. The really strange thing was the colour of the paint, it was deep red with black gloss. The boat he had seen was yellow and blue, as it had been when the spirit of the bearded man had owned it, a lifetime ago.
The owner of the barge has reported no further sightings of the ghostly bargee, though Gary believes he may call back to visit his beloved old boat. Only this time he won't stay, he will know that his physical life as a bearded boatman on the river Ouse is over. Much as we know when we return to the old familiar places we knew in times past, he will know that life goes on, forever. Nothing remains the same, not boarding houses in Blackpool or beautiful yellow and blue barges, everything changes, the past is only memories, a strange place we visit when the mood takes us. There we can once again run through the streets of a distant half forgotten land, clutching a candy floss, as the summer sun shines and our childish laughter echoes down the long dead years.