The scene for the murders

[Mathilde]

Hi everybody!

In my reading about Jack the Ripper and his victims, I'm wondering: Have any of you ever been to the places were the victims were founded?

[Mike Covell]

Yes, at least the locations that you are still able to get to. I know lots of members on the forums that have too, some are lucky enough to walk around them and get paid for it!!

[Rob Clack]

Yep, been to them all in the past 20 odd years. Only got to Poplar for the first time back in 2006 though.
There's lots of other things to see in the East End and not just where the victims were found.

Rob

[George Hutchinson]

HUNDREDS of times. It's my job.

I think you'll find there are less people here who haven't been to the locations than those that have.

PHILIP

[Fisherman]

Philip writes:

"I think you'll find there are less people here who haven't been to the locations than those that have."

...and then there are those who THINK they have been at the locations, but who have missed out on a doorway or two...

The best!
Fisherman

[Mathilde]

..ghosts..

Thank you for your answers!

Reading the stories about people who means that they have experienced the ghosts of MJK, and some of the other victims, I'm wondering: What do you think; are there energies left, when things like this happends? Have any of YOU had experiences like this?

Thank you.
Mathilde

[Canucco dei Mergi]

In my reading about Jack the Ripper and his victims, I'm wondering: Have any of you ever been to the places were the victims were founded?

Is this a suggestion that someone can travel back in time ?

The scenes of the crime...ahem, pardon me...the places were the body were found (founded ?) have disappeared for some of them more than 100 years ago.

Going today on the spot means nothing. You miss not only the wall and the building and the lights or the abscence of any but overall the atmosphere and the people of the time.

Going today in Berner street to see what is was like in 1888 you had better finding a passage between two houses of 9 to 10 feet width nearby your home. It will spare you the cost of the trip.

Jeez....

[Canucco dei Mergi]

Thank you for your answers!

Reading the stories about people who means that they have experienced the ghosts of MJK, and some of the other victims, I'm wondering: What do you think; are there energies left, when things like this happends?

Jeez, Jeez, Jeez, Jeez.......

[Rob Clack]

Reading the stories about people who means that they have experienced the ghosts of MJK, and some of the other victims, I'm wondering: What do you think; are there energies left, when things like this happends? Have any of YOU had experiences like this?

I did have a strange experience at Durward Street some 20 years back and Philip used it for part of a talk he gave at the Brighton Conference in 2005. He basically thought I was talking bollocks.

Rob

[Mathilde]

Ok, Rob Clack

Is it possible to listen to that conference talk, or...?

[Rob Clack]

Hi Mathilde,

I don't think Philips talk was recorded.
Anyway my experience was that I was walking towards the Board School in Durward Street with my sister when I started to get my camera ready to take some photos. I heard a couple talking behind me. I couldn't make out what they were saying. Anyway I moved out of the way to let them pass and as I looked behind me there was no one there.

Rob

[Celesta]

Hello Mathilde,

There are a number of people who have reported eerie feelings, or something of a paranormal or psychic nature, at some of the murder locations. Some people report a strong sense of foreboding at Mitre Square. There are also other threads of this nature that you can look at, as well.

You're already starting to get responses from members of the CBook who are very familiar with the area.

Then of course there's the East End Photo thread, which is a very nice place to spend time.

Best,

Cel

[kensei]

I'll define "feeling the energy" for the moment as a strong emotional sense of what it might have been like at a particular spot back in 1888, where modern buildings, traffic, etc. do not distract so much that you can't picture the past in your imagination. I toured the murder sites about two months ago. At the Mary Kelly site, as the spot where she died is now in between a modern fruit warehouse and a multi-level car park, I felt no such energy whatsoever. But only several yards away, standing on "Mary's Corner" in front of the Ten Bells, I can truly say that that is where I "felt her presence." Not in a supernatural sense at all, but in picturing her standing there conducting business and then turning to my left and looking up at the towering spire of Christchurch directly across the street. I wondered whether it would have given the Catholic girl a twinge of guilt, or made her smile wickedly. It easily made me breathe a heavy sigh and shake my head in spite of the roaring traffic racing by. Unless you actually run into a ghost in Whitechapel or Spitalfields, I think that is about the strongest kind of "energy" you are likely to find at the sites today.

[Mathilde]

Thank you for your answers! Like the way you are thinking, kensei!

[John Bennett]

As many of the sites have changed considerably, I often think we feel atmospheres or 'resonances' by association, because we know what happened there, or because the sites are still quite eerie in their own right. George Yard is an obvious case in point.

Rob mentions Durward Street 20 years ago, which was a lot different then than it is now - a whole different ball-game in fact. It wasn't so much eerie as scary. Anybody who visited it then will know what I mean.

I have people saying how atmospheric they find Mitre Square at night, despite the modern buildings. But I think this is down to its enclosed nature and that it is usually deserted - last night, the bells of St Botolphs were ringing and that certainly added to the ambience.

The Georgian streets (Princelet, Wilkes, Fournier) have a vibe about them, but I feel that is a sense of historical surroundings, rather than the presence of Jack or his victims. It's a bit like stepping back in time, I suppose (cars notwithstanding).

But there are plenty of places that exude character or menace (for want of a better word) that have no associations with the murders. Artillery Passage, Whitechurch Passage (formerly Spectacle Alley), Toynbee Street, Buxton Street, Vine Court to name but a few.

As for feeling the presence of Mary Kelly outside the Ten Bells, can't say I've had that one, even when the area was less busy than it is now. Today, the only presence I feel outside the Ten Bells is the overwhelming presence of hair-products, retro chic and pointy shoes.