As the biggest cynic on the Planet, I was always the first to send up any mention of a spiritual encounter or a tale of a ghostly kind. So imagine my amazement when we bought our first house in France in the charming town of Montargis, and felt an eerie presence in the downstairs living room.
My partner and I had always dreamed of owning a property in France, and so on one of our holidays touring the country, we stumbled upon a charming little house going for only £24,000.
It was the late nineties, and we felt confident that if we acquired the bijou abode, just 60 or so miles from Paris, that we could transform it into something very special, have fun in the process and eventually sell it on for a good profit.
We returned several times to check it out, and was shown around by the local Estate Agent who had bought it for his wife who was a paediatrician and needed premises to practise her profession. So the house had been a place of healing, which felt good to us. What we hadn’t realised initially was that she had recently passed away, and so the house still held a lot of memories for the Agent and their son who was then in his early twenties.
We exchanged contracts and almost immediately began to renovate the house with the help of a couple of interior designer friends who had offered to help us at a fraction of their normal rate in return for a change of location and good company.
The first night my partner and I slept downstairs on a mattress we had brought with us in a van we had hired, and we had actually managed to make it very cosy – with the weather being quite warm as it was Summer.
In the middle of the night I woke up and felt someone was in the room. I quickly woke up my partner, and we both laid very still and felt the presence but didn’t actually see or hear anything. We were both too scared to put the light on, but listened in the dark, and there was nothing, but the feeling remained.
The next day we decided not to say anything to our colleagues, as we didn’t want to influence them into thinking the house was haunted. Also, we had consumed a few glasses of the local wine before going to bed and so felt in the cold light of day, that it could have been a figment of our imagination.
I was searching through the paperwork attached to the house, when I discovered that the previous owner had been called Jackie, which is my name and she was exactly the same age as me when she died a couple of years before. I quickly closed the file, and decided to ignore it, but was feeling a bit uneasy.
The next day the wife of of the Designer couple had been working on the walls downstairs, and she came up to the middle floor as white as a sheet. She said that she didn’t know how to tell us, and in fact felt uneasy about imparting the information, but was sure she had felt and seen an outline of a woman in the room where we had felt the presence.
The hairs were beginning to stand up on the back of our necks, and so after copious glasses of wine that night we decided not to sleep in the downstairs room but take our duvets to the loft and left the couple to sleep in the middle bedroom.
The next day we had to go into town to buy some materials, and so I went to the local library and looked up the history of the house and the area where we had our new home. I discovered that a tunnel was running from our house, and under the houses in the road to the Castle on the hill, where prisoners had been guillotined on many occasions. Perhaps this was the clue to our ghostly encounter.
The following day I decided to buy some incense and light candles and talk to the spirits in the house, and tell them in the nicest possible way to move on into the next life, which I had picked up from some random TV show or novel. So I was clutching at straws – or so I thought.
As I was practising my first ‘exorcism’ my partner brought me a silhouette painting of a woman he had found as he was taking down a wall, and it was a picture of Jackie – it was as if she was sending me a message. I then knew it was her that was trapped, still thinking she was here to heal children and probably not realising she had passed. I also felt there was a reason I had been attracted to the house, and that I had been drawn to it to enable her to pass over to the other side.
It took several attempts before the spirit left the house, and yes, she did eventually go. I painted Jackie a picture of happy children, spoke to her, lit candles and burned incense every day for a week before she finally went, and as far as I know she did not return.
We sold the house several years ago after we had renovated it and had many happy times there, but the ghostly encounter will stay with me for the rest of my life, and one thing for sure, I will never again question anyone who says they have seen a ghost.
When I had the suggestion from my ‘Bestie’ to go away for a City Break, I was really excited. It had been a while since we spent quality time together, and I can’t say that we are completely ‘Abs Fabs’ any more but had certainly shared some fabulous times in the past when we partied hard and shopped till we dropped, helped mend each other’s broken hearts and even broken heels as we stumbled home from a Night Club or heavy night out in the nineties.
But now, twenty or so years down the line, three marriages between us and two kids later, we are again in the party mood and up for sharing a bottle of Bolly and a belly full of laughter.
I did a quick scan of the latest deals online, and discovered that Eurostar were doing a great weekend break to Belgium. I have to say that Eurostar for me has always been a really civilised way of travelling, and they had got it spot on with their choice of Hotel, near to the Station but central to the City itself and all its shops and amenities.
I settled on a Standard Premium rate for the Train and a reasonable rate for the Hotel and Brussels as the destination. Neither of us had been to Belgium, and so it was fresh, new and full of promise with the commodities we both loved, shopping, eating and interesting places to visit.
My friend Jackie loves music, and so I discovered that the Musical Instrument Museum http://www.mim.be/en MIM is a Museum with a collection of more than 8000 musical instruments, so decided that this would be our first port of call.
Eurostar also offered a special package of around 20 euros each of extra train fares to travel to other destinations near to Brussels, and so we chose Ghent, which is a lovely town full of beautiful architecture and great restaurants, and spent the day there. We even found a mini comicom at the ICC and a lovely Brasserie called The Rambler, where we did share a glass or two of champers to round off the day.
In Brussels itself we discovered a square full of fish restaurants, and Le Quai on Quai aux Briques was our favourite, reasonably priced and both food and service came up to full expectation
The shopping in Brussels was another experience, and on the main shopping Street Rue Neuve, you have a combination of all the regular High Street shops you would find in the UK like Zara and New Look, plus a combination of German and French outlets and shops from the past that I thought no longer existed like Etam and Naf Naf. Completely fascinating!
The host of side streets are a ‘must do’, and we both picked up some bargains in boots and shoes, as well as some amazing ‘off the beaten track’ cafes, where you can stop to have a coffee or break for a light midday lunch.
We made it three full days to really make the most of the time and money that had been expended, and both felt we had enjoyed both the Country and the experience. I would say it feels like a more relaxed Paris, and most people speak French or English.
The journey to and from London is certainly shorter than other destinations, and overall I would highly recommend Belgium as a safe bet if you are planning an away day or weekend with a friend or loved one – or as a lone traveller.
When I met up with Tony Klinger for an interview at Pinewood, the first thing that struck me was his gentle charisma and casual glint in his eye. So initially I couldn’t work out whether this was as a result of his heavy association with ‘A’ listers, or having inherited a famous family film legacy with his father Michael Klinger of ‘Get Carter’ fame.
But it is Tony’s own achievements that have given him the ‘edge’ and they range from producing Movies, writing Novels and being privy to the world of the Film Elite. In other words, Tony has steered his own ship without compromise, in his own right and on his own terms.
Tony knew from an early age that he wanted to make films, and even at school was awarded prizes from sponsored writing competitions, and running an underground school magazine called Fanfare with some of his friends. At 18 he was also writing and producing his own short films.
He has achieved a long list of film credits over the past four decades from action-adventure films such as Gold (1974) and Shout at the Devil (1976) both staring Roger Moore.
Tony also made rock films, documenting Deep Purple “Deep Purple Riser Over Japan” and “The Butterfly Ball” and The Who, including The Kids Are Alright (1979). Klinger’s book, Twilight of the Gods, recalling the making of the film The Kids Are Alright, was published in 2009–10.
‘Twilight of the Gods’, will have you hooked and as it documents his time spent with legendary rock band The Who, and as Director of the film and in command of the unpredictable activity of the Cast.
As if this isn’t enough, Tony has served on international boards, such as National Secretary of The Association of Media Practice Educators (AMPE) and The Audition for Hollywood Company. He has also run Film Production courses at the UK’s renowned Bournemouth and Northern Film Schools and was Director of the Media Production Centre at the University of East London. He has co-founded the Screen Commission Northants and is a newly appointed Patron of The UK Film School Charity and is on the NEL Creative and Cultural Strategy Board for who he represents the Digital and Creative Sectors.
Tony went on to serve as company President or Chief Executive for several media production, sales and distribution companies both in the UK and USA, including Avton Communications & Entertainment Inc., Small Giant Media Ltd. and Production TLMH Ltd.
Now in his sixties, Tony has no intention of slowing down, and his latest Novel, Under God’s Table has just been published and tells the story of two boys growing up in a divided society. Tony has clearly written this based on his own theology and has transported much of his inner world into this extraordinary Novel which is current, relevant and completely compelling. The separation of the two men to become staunch enemies, tears us apart as we live their pain and feel the agony of their ultimate destination.
A man of talent and intelligence, Tony Klinger continues to be an inspiration, and we are celebrating his success and watching his space, as he embarks on his next creative endeavor.
October 17, 2026 1918 Rita Hayworth 1915 Arthur Miller 1938 Ann Jones 1939 Evel Knievel 1940 Peter Stringfellow 1942 Kelly Monteith 1948 Margot Kidder 1969 Ernie Els 1974 Eminem
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