Racton Ruin and Demis Roussos

 

Welcome to Racton Ruin also known as Racton Monument and Racton Tower. Racton is not the most easiest place to find. Tucked away in the back waters of West Sussex just of the B2147 and then up a tiny lane/horse track. You can see Racton from the B2147 but I still managed to drive past it. Racton was built around 1772, designed by Theodosius Keene for The Earl of Halifax. There are mixed views as to the purpose of Racton. Some say it was built as a summer house as part of The Stansted Estate. Another is that it was a view point for the Earl to observe ships in the Solent. The Totally Haunted Bods say they found a reference to Racton being used as a brothel, but do not include any info about this reference.

Racton is a popular place for the Ghost Hunters, and is supposed to have had links to The Occult and Devil worship. Another local rumour is that it was used by smugglers. In the late 80s and early 90s Racton was the scene of many raves and parties. I personally remember driving with a car load of people from one end of Sussex to the other in search of a party at Racton, which we never found and maybe never even really happened. Perhaps the strangest story concerning Racton Ruin is the rumour that the singer Demis Roussos was interested in buying the Folly once. Strange indeed.

Chactonbury Ring (Justin, Sharron and Belbury)

Due to my daytime employment I get the benefit of having most of the summer off (and 4 half terms) so at least once in the summer and Winter I take a walk up to the SouthDowns and onto Chactonbury Ring. The photo above was taken a couple of years ago in mid December. That day I never made it to the Ring, as the weather was so bad... and I mean really bad. The wind was vicious and the rain hurt; that was as close as I could get that day.
For those of you who might (and I mean might) not know, Chactombury Ring is situated on top of Chactonbury Hill in West Sussex. Originally it was a late Bronze Age Hill Fort. Legend has it that Chanctonbury Ring was created by The Devil and that he can be summoned by running around the clump of trees seven times anti-clockwise. If he appears he will then offer you a bowl of soup in exchange for your soul. I always take a flask of soup so I should be ok. There have been reports over the years of UFO sightings, Paranormal Activity and witchcraft. The Writer and Author Robert McFarlaine writes about a night spent at Chactonbury Ring in his book The Old Ways; were he is woken up in the night after hearing chilling cries outside his tent.
So imagine my excitement when Mr Jupp from Belbury sent me a copy of the new GhostBox release Chactonbury Rings by Justin Hopper Sharron Kraus with Belbury Poly (Release Date 21st June 2019)
A spoken word and music project by writer Justin Hopper and folk musician Sharron Kraus. It also features Ghost Box's own Belbury Poly. Based on live performances of Hopper's 2017 book The Old Weird Albion (publ. Penned in the Margins), it’s a poetical, autobiographical and psychogeographical account of his experiences at Chanctonbury Ring on the West Sussex Downs.
(Ghostbox Records)
At times reminiscent of the David Cain and Ronald Duncan’s The Seasons. This is a beautiful and perfect sounding album (All Music by Sharron Kraus except Chactonbury Rings by Jim Jupp and Slow Air by Sharron Kraus and Richard Heacock)  Sharron Kraus's voice/vocals on Wanderer are haunting and soothing while Justin Hoppers narration is composed calming and untroubled. He takes us on a wonderful spoken journey which we have to follow through from start to finish.