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THERE IS, it transpires, far more to Russell Grant’s psychic abilities than indicated in our profile of the colourful astrologer (PN June 2016). We reported that the celebrity expert on birth signs and celestial charts first made a name for himself as a boy medium (pictured right) whose abilities made headlines in Psychic News in the mid-1960s.
Our interview with him then moved swiftly on to his impressive development as an astrologer, as well as a parallel career on the stage and as a media personality, most recently on Strictly Come Dancing.
If that gave the impression that his psychic abilities vanished after puberty, nothing could be further from the truth. And who better to provide the evidence than our very own chief reporter Kay Hunter?
Kay lives in a very old property in Suffolk and famous medium Doris Stokes was one of its many visitors over the years. During that visit, Doris described seeing the spirit of a former resident and gave his name. Subsequent research proved that a man with that name had lived in the cottage many years earlier.
The spirit of someone else connected with the building put in an appearance when Russell took part in a psychic weekend in Suffolk, together with various mediums. Kay Hunter had previously interviewed Russell for Psychic News and accepted his offer to draw up her horoscope. So, during the visit to Suffolk, he was invited to Kay’s home.
It had been a long day and Russell was one of four people sitting in front of the inglenook fireplace.
Suddenly, Kay recalls, Russell said, “There’s a woman here. She was a cook. Her name is Alice Winter.”
He fell silent for a while then began speaking in disjointed sentences in a voice that was not his own.
“I’m the best cook from Clare to Woodbridge,” he declared in a perfect local dialect. “My sister’s next the church at Dunwich … sister, be happy… We’re near Saxmundham … get thee there and be happy… I came here and helped with the cooking.”
There was more, and then Russell fell silent for a while before his own personality returned. He could remember nothing of what had been said and could not believe it. But then Alice resumed control again:
“Mr Roger de Courcy’s coming soon. I do everything for him. He meets the people who come here. James Frobisher; Mr Frobisher … killed mother as a witch. I heal with herbs.
“People come from Wingfield…. Poles from Wingfield. Coming to the fair. I cook for all the proper people when they come.”
Recalling the extraordinary experience, Kay comments that Russell had never previously been to Suffolk and had not heard of the names mentioned. He could have had no idea that the ancient de la Pole family were important in that rural village and that Michael de la Pole built Wingfield Castle.
“Trance mediumship?” Kay wrote when she first told this story (PN 20 & 27 December 2003). “Yes, I had the evidence, was convinced that it could be genuine, and that conviction came from a most unlikely source.”
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