Brechiners prepare to be afraid – very afraid

SPOOKATHON: Night-long vigil and ghost hunt

Fans of the paranormal are signing up for an overnight Tayside spookathon.

Bravo Brechin and Brechin’s Halloween will host a night-long vigil and ghost hunt within Brechin Cathedral on Friday March 16.

The event, limited to 10 places, will begin at 9pm with a blessing by the cathedral’s minister, Dr Rev Roderick Grahame, before participants are locked in the building until 6am the next day.

Louise Duncan from Bravo Brechin said: “The Cathedral Vigil has actually stemmed from the Ghost Walk nights that took place over Halloween last year.

“We had an amazing amount of interest for these kind of events and since then, have had several requests for more tours.

“We decided, instead of tours in the fairly cold winter evenings, we would devise some kind of overnight visit.”

The events have made a very welcome sum of money which was split between Bravo and Brechin 2020, an organisation planning celebrations for the cathedral’s 800th birthday in two years’ time.

Attendees are being encouraged to bring along cameras or other devices such as tablets that might help record any incidents, although the group will not be relying on any electrical equipment – in case of “interference from spirits”.

Ms Duncan outlined some of the other paranormal things that have previously happened at the cathedral.

They include a guest taking a photo of the church in which a monk in brown robes can be seen, while on another occasion, a picture taken of the cathedral pews, revealed the figure of a plague doctor and several people on the ghost walks felt their necks or legs being touched.

Ms Duncan added: “One evening the man locking up the church for the night saw and heard two monks sitting in the Queens Isle talking with a Germanic accent to each other.

“He went round the corner to switch off a socket and when he came back they had vanished.

“When we are in the square tower we could hear knocking from above us, and on another occasion, the front doors began to open and close loudly – but when we checked, there was nothing there.

The spooky goings-on are not restricted to the inside of the cathedral, as the figures of monks have been seen walking along Chanonry Wynd during the night.

The limited number of tickets have almost completely sold out already, with all involved looking forward to a spirited event.

jimillar@thecourier.co.uk

Picture: Paul Reid. Event co-founder Dr Sue Wighton in the cathedral.