Fortean London: Ghosts of Senate House and Ley Lines & London

Join the London Fortean Society for further talks on the strangeness of our home city. Sarah Sparkes covers her researches into the ghosts of a London landmark while Robert Stephenson (London Earth Mysteries., RILKO) discusses the curious case of London, ley lines and Alfred Watkins. Writer and fortean host Scott Wood shares a top five of fortean fings in south east London. Dancing ghosts, mouldering fairies, helicopters chasing UFOS. That sort of thing.

The Ghosts of Senate House – Sarah Sparkes

Sarah Sparkes will talk about The Ghosts of Senate House, a creative research
project, which collects and archives tales of hauntings and other unexplained happenings, centered at Senate House, University of London and its immediate surrounds. Sarah was a Research Fellow at the SAS UOL and also an artist and curator. Her talk will include examples of some of the stories collected by herself and Christopher Joseph as well as actual recordings she collected for the project.

She will also illustrate how research material was developed into a series of collaborative, public artworks “The Magical Library Presents: Ghosts of Senate House” for The Bloomsbury Festival in 2011 and 'The Electric Girl' 2014, for Seance Month at Senate House Library. Sarah Sparkes runs the GHost project which she initiated with Ricarda Vidal in 2008. She is currently painting 101 GHost Stories, inspired by her research.

The Curious Story of Ley Lines & London – Robert Stephenson

In 1921 the antiquarian Alfred Watkins discovered what he believed was a system of straight prehistoric tracks connecting ancient sites across the country. In the 1960s these magically morphed into mystic ley lines - those elusive but dowsable power routes between stones circles, holy wells, churches and other sacred sites. Discover the crucial role that the capital city played in making all this possible.

Robert Stephenson is the chairman and lecture organiser of RILKO - the Research Into Lost Knowledge Organisation – and a City of London guide.