Radio Songs #54: The Ghost (Part 8)

You will be glad to know that we're pretty much at the end of this particular tale. Other people who worked in the building at the same time as me, or even earlier, would be able to give you their own peculiar experiences... such as that of "Status Quo Sharon", a lady who answered the phones prior to me (I've only changed the Sharon part of her name) and reported finding an old lady sitting in the corner of the studio. Sharon stopped to ask her if she was all right or if she wanted a cup of tea or anything, but when she didn't get a reply, she went off to ask if anyone knew who the lady was... well, you can guess the rest.

In the end though, most of us started to take the ghost in our stride. We even gave it a name: Sidney. If weird things started happening, we'd shout out, "not tonight, Sidney!" I have a photograph of one of my colleagues standing in the studio with his arm out, as though putting it around someone's shoulders. We had the idea that when we got the photo developed, there might be a ghostly figure standing there... but of course, there wasn't.

Those of us who'd worked there awhile became accustomed to the electrical problems, the blurs of movement from the corner of your eye, the weird noises and drastic drops in temperature. It wasn't particularly pleasant if you were alone in the building (I remember the occasional Saturday night where at 2am, I'd sprint out of the building as fast as I could once the alarm was set, not wanting to stick around a second longer than I had to) but if other people were there, you just got on with it.

There was even the occasional practical joke played on those who were more easily spooked, the best of which was the station engineer who arrived really early one morning, entered the studio before the breakfast show presenter, hid under the on-air desk, waited patiently for the presenter to arrive... and then, during the first link... reached out and grabbed the unsuspecting DJ by the ankles.

"It's five past six, that was Culture Club, welcome to the.... Aaaaaaarrghh!"

Then one day, the bosses got the builders in to spruce up the downstairs offices. Corridors were moved, rooms were made bigger or smaller, new desks were built in Studio C and Studio B. For weeks there was dust and polythene sheets and exposed brickwork... and it was even colder than usual... but when all the work was done and the builders had gone, so had the ghost.

There was still the occasional sighting or shiver, but for most of us - certainly those of us who regularly worked nights and had become accustomed to the weirdness - it was almost as though the builders had driven Sidney out. As though the process of rearranging and rebuilding had changed the atmosphere or walled up that window to another dimension, however you might want to explain it.

Thinking back now, I do start to wonder... was it all just our imaginations? It's easy to ask that with 20 years' hindsight. But if you'd asked me back then, I'd have answered with no doubt in my mind. That place was haunted.