While the October 10th (2009) fundraiser at Tenney Gate House was a tremendous success, some people asked questions afterward.  Here are my replies, and a new recording about Tenney Gate House.

• Some people thought that I’d organized the event.  I didn’t.  The event was managed by the Essex County Ghost Project, and supported by the Pelham Paranormal Researchers.  I was merely one of the speakers, and — like everyone involved — I appeared at the fundraiser, free of charge.

I’m delighted that the event raised so much money for the Methuen Historical Society, to help as they continue to restore and maintain Tenney Gate House and nearby Grey Court Castle ruins.

I was also pleased that so many people had a wonderful, eerie time investigating the house and surrounding property.  It was great to see old friends, and meet many new ones.

Here are some answers to other questions about the event:

Starting time: When I was invited to the fundraiser, I was told that the event started at 6 p.m.  Several media announcements also said that.  Later, I was told that it started at 7 p.m., and changed the time in my announcement at this website.

Since a large crowd had gathered by 6:15, that’s when I began talking about ghost hunting at Tenney Gate House.  It was intended as an informal introduction, but — as usual — I guess my enthusiasm turned it into a mini-class.

In addition, at about 5:30, one of the event organizers was called away for a family emergency.  Though he was able to return to Tenney by 7 p.m., we were “filling in” for him as best we could.

Ordinarily, he’d have opened the event and assigned teams, etc.

Due to the late start, I stayed for an extra hour and a half, so the event concluded at 1:30 a.m. instead of midnight.

Sound quality: Since this turned into a standing-room-only event, some people weren’t able to hear everything that I said at the beginning of the evening.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have an easy solution for this problem. (I tend to speak softly, especially when I’ll be leading teams for 6+ hours and need to conserve my voice.)

To make up for that, I’ve summarized what I said during the evening, in two recordings.  You can listen to them here (as MP3s). One is a brief talk about the Tenney site, its history & ghosts. The other is a 16-minute podcast about ghost hunting without hi-tech tools.

MP3 recording: Tenney Gate House – history & ghosts

MP3 recording: Ghost hunting without high-tech equipment (That’s my regular podcast for 6 Nov 09.)

I also recommend the following articles, which contain similar information about Tenney’s history & ghosts:

Investigation – History of Tenney Gate House

Investigation – Tenney Gatehouse ghosts

Investigation – Ghosts at Greycourt Castle ruins

Tenney ghosts – Gorrill brothers

To learn more about ghost hunting techniques, you may enjoy my free course, Introduction to Ghost Hunting.

To return to Tenney Gate House for your own investigation — formal or informal — or to participate in another ghost-related event at the site, see the website of the Methuen Historical Society.

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