FOCUS ON A PHANTOM
A SPOOKED snapper from Normanton got the fright of her life when her school project turned into something far more mysterious.
Hannah Chilton, 16, of Woodhouse Mount, was photographing the eerie derelict brickworks just off Wakefield Road for her A-level art project on urban decay.
But when her pictures were developed, she discovered a chilling mist that she swears wasn't there when she took the picture.
Now the Pontefract College student believes she has caught a ghost with her cheap disposable camera.
Hannah said: "It was my first attempt at photography, but I was drawn to the brickworks because of the empty feel to it, all the disused bricks and bits of iron have so many different textures.
"It was about 3.30pm and dusk was beginning to settle so it felt quite scary, but I certainly didn't see anything. When we first had the pictures developed my mum spotted it and asked me what it was. I had no idea."
Researching further, Hannah discovered this was not the first time unearthly goings-on had occurred at the site.
She added: "My mum knows someone who worked there before it shut down, and when she told him about the picture I had taken, he told her there was a story among the workers about a Chinese man who worked there years and years ago.
"One day he just vanished off the face of the earth. In his locker they discovered his work clothes and his day clothes. He was never seen again."
A mile from the site, in the Newlands area, local children nickname a row of derelict houses the Blair Witch village, telling tales of spectres and evil sprits that roam the deserted paths.
Hannah said: "We always thought as children that the area was haunted, but there were never any stories about the brickworks. I've been too scared to go back since."
But the Wakefield Express convinced her to set foot on the ghostly grounds again.
Along with her dad, Alan, we braved the brickworks on the same day of the week and at same time Hannah took her pictures.
Although the bitter wind whipped against our faces and the formidable tower cast an uncanny shadow across the ground, the only spirits we found were dregs in a discarded whisky bottle.
Alan said: "I'm a compete sceptic. Hannah believes in ghosts, but I don't really. But this photograph just cannot be explained. My brother, a professional photographer with 30 years' experience, can't explain it either. It isn't light, or mist or smoke.
"Whatever you believe, you must admit it's weird."
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Weather for Wakefield
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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