A spook in my house again

I had a strange thing happen in my house today.  We have some little bottles of bubble stuff on the kitchen work top with the lids off.  They had been left out from earlier bubble play time.  I was sat on the soft with the hubby when we heard one of the lids clatter to the kitchen floor.  The door to the kitchen is right next to us and wide open so we can see straight in.  There was nothing near it and the cat was sat right next to me.

This on it's own was very strange.  I picked the lid up and put it back on the work top with the others and I called out.  I asked that if it was someone trying to get in touch then could they do it again.  I went back to watching telly and a little while later I had forgotten about it.  I went to put some washing in that was on the floor of the kitchen waiting it's turn for the cycle.  I bent down to pick it up and found the lid on top of it.

I do get the odd strange thing happen in my house now and then but this was an interesting one.

Sheffield Emergency Services Museum Ghost Hunt

The hunt took place on the 4th June 2016.  The place does feel a bit creepy anyway with the number of mannequins all over.  They are on the stares and lurking around corners.  It's a nice place though and I quite liked the feel of it apart from one spot, but I will get on to that as we go along.

We all got settled in, the public turned up and we had the whole safety tour with the staff and did some grounding.  Had a bit of psychic circle time which didn't bring much and then split off in teams.  My team started on the top floor of the three and we kicked off with just sitting and calling out.  I had a lot of tickles on my face and itching all over as I did all night.  I also had a split second vision of the wall across from me being hit by a falling bomb.  There was a lady said it felt as though a cat had brushed past her leg and our medium Susan was picking up a few things.  Then Mark put on the ghost box (scans over radio waves to pick up on possible messages from spirits) which for some odd reason I just felt like I needed to be close to.  I went over and sat by it.  Mark and Susan were not getting much response but I asked if anyone there could tell us their name and it said "Paul".  I asked it to confirm the name and once again it said "Paul".  I asked if anyone else was there, it said a few names including Paul at the start and end.  I can't remember the other names but there was an Earnie and a Sam.  I asked if we would get movement on the table if we did some table tipping, it said yes, then I asked if he would be the one tipping the table and we got the answer "what table?" The table was still folded away so it seamed like a legitimate question.  Mark got all this on his voice recorder and I will try and get it on here if he is happy to share the files.  Aside from the Nostall Priory laughing incident this has to be one of the strangest things I have heard first hand from the ghost box.

We had two lots of people on different tables but my lot only got a gentle rock, the others had a little tip going on.

We had break time then moved on to the ground floor.  There is a room with old police vehicles in it so we had a human pendulum in here (a person in the middle of the circle tipping back or forth as yes or no).  I kept out to one side as I pick up on more when I am away from other people.  I wasn't getting much down at one end but when I decided to move I started walking and then suddenly realised I was walking like a shackled prisoner, shuffling my feet close together in tiny steps and holding my hands together in front of me. 

Mail Online pic of Scream Queens cast demonstrating 'shackle walk chic'

I moved around the room to the other side where the door was.  This door led out to a corridor with the holding cell.  I hated that corridor.  I could feel someone nasty there on the other side of the door so I stood there for a while and then I felt it come through the door even though it was closed.  It was almost a threatening feeling.  The human pendulum was all the while talking to a man who said he was a guard and he protected people who came to the building from the bad people who were still there.  I started to feel uncomfortable in that corner and went to the other corner where I felt a good presence and think it might have been the person they were talking to.

We headed out to the corridor and I still didn't like the feeling there.  A few went in the cell and I joined them briefly but I was not getting anything in there though one man said something touched his leg.  On the Ouija board in the corridor it spelled out 'fuck off'.  Susan was not happy to keep on with the board when it was swearing at us.  

We tried a few other things on the middle floor but got nothing and then went back down to the corridor.  There was a room that had display cases containing actual murder weapons and one even had the photos of the victim with it.  In here we tried the ghost box again.  The man with us here tried his best at a demanding voice of authority as a guard might have talked to them.  He demanded a name and we think the voice that came back sounded like "fuck off".  He demanded a name again and it sounded like "go away".  This was not recorded though.

At the end of the night we tried a Ouija board in the back of the old police van which did nothing, but the torch of a guest which had been fine all night suddenly started to flash, going dimmer and brighter when it was put down.  A lady started asking questions and asking for flashes in response and it seemed to mostly correspond.  When we stopped talking about it the flashing would stop and then start again when the questions started back up.  The torch then stopped flashing after this.  There are obvious explanations for this but non the less it seemed very strange.

This brought us to the end of the night.  It was a wonderful place and there was some odd goings on and some strange feelings, but on a whole I didn't feel we got anything very solid other than the ghost box conversation which was compelling.  I can't wait to hear it back again outside of the building.

30 East Drive Ghost Hunt

I didn't write this up at the time so this will be a short one, however there wasn't really much to tell anyway.  This hunt was Pontefract Paranormal crew only that was conducted on April 21st 2016.

I was the first to go in.  I collected the keys and headed in alone.  I was greeted to the sight of a kitchen knife in the speaker of the old radio.  Lovely.  I had a walk around the house and then just sat for a while calling out.  I put a ball on the floor and asked for movement, I asked if any spirit could make a sound, move anything or touch me but I got nothing.

The others started to turn up slowly and once we were all in we started on setting up experiments up stairs.  We had cameras rolling with light bars that flash to sound, balls that flash when moved and some trigger objects.  Then it was back to the living room for food and a chat, bit of chill out time.

After food we all sat in the darkness and did some calling out with the K2 flashing now and then.  I don't remember anything really happening.  We went up stares and spread out over the top floor.  The feeling up there was quite uneasy.  I am normally nerves of steel but I didn't like being there and even though I had walked around earlier alone and felt ok about it, at night I didn't like the feeling up there and would not go up stares alone.  This is from someone who went alone down the pitch black corridor at the abandoned Newsham Park Hospital to what was once the morgue.

When we were up stares calling out, twice one of the others said they had felt someone touching them and the second time lead to screaming.  Even Susan, our lovely medium didn't like that room and didn't want to go back in.  She was feeling something that was never human to start with.  I was feeling as though there was someone else in the room with us before the screaming part, but I didn't really pick up on much all night apart from the uneasy feeling.

Once we had done up stares we went back down and I looked over the footage I had from before.  I did find that the ball that lights up to movement did flash on it's own but that was all I got.  I did test the ball out but unfortunately didn't get that part on film.  I knocked in, threw it about and dropped it.  It would take one hell of a bump to set it off, yet there it was flashing away.  Fresh batteries in there too and it only did it the once.  Not sure what to make of that.  I thought I had caught a creepy floating shadow but that turned out to be a crane fly.

We did have the place until 12 mid day but we didn't stay as planned.  I had wanted to sleep over and had got my pillow and sleeping bag in the car but there was nothing going on, we were all tired and I really didn't like the feeling I was getting and didn't want to try and sleep in that atmosphere.  Most of us just went home and the few that stayed back a bit longer said that still nothing happened.

I would like to have another night in the house just to do more tests and see how it feels but it just costs too much me.

Been away for a while - Halloween night 2015

Hello again spook people.  I have not posted for quite some time I know.  We have not really been going out to hunt for Slimer and co with the PP management getting all married up and we did a hunt I forgot to blog about a bit back so I am not going to attempt to remember the details of it now.  It would come out all wrong and I like to report finding as accurately as I can.

So we came back with a bang on Halloween night at Knottingley town hall.  The hall is one of the most active places we have found in this local area.  There was plenty of fancy dress going on too.

The night started out with entertainment in the form of a Friday the 13th screening followed by food and a raffle.  The proceeds went to the Make a Wish childrens charity.  I have never watched the film before and found it more funny than scary.  It did keep me entertained though and the food after was wonderful.  The atmosphere was very friendly, relaxed and chatty, but when the hot pot and cake was gone and most of the fancy dress had been shed it was time to get down to the real stuff.

There were a lot of people there so we all gathered on the ground floor to kick off with a sit in the dark calling out.  We all spread out over the hall way and some in the side rooms.  I was in the dance hall.  While we were just calling out and listening a few people had various feelings and could hear little sounds.  The lights on the K2 were flashing a lot so I was told but I couldn't see it myself.  I felt an odd sensation in one spot on my back that I can't quite explain and then I went from being a comfortable temperature to quite quickly really very cold.  Susan the medium was picking up on a man and a dog but I can't recall the exact words about them.

We split in to three teams, one on each floor.  I was in team one on the top floor.  We did a human pendulum which did bring a few answers from a female spirit who worked in the building.  It worked with two members of the public but not with another.  We then tried a seance and I moved away from the table as I feel things better when away from other people.  I felt as though someone was stood near the doors and then that they moved closer to me but did not want to go over to the table.  Then they left.  As I may have said before, I do get these feeling from time to time but I am still unsure as to what they are.  Could be real, could be in my head.  I do believe there is something but I take quite a bit of convincing.  We also then tried some table tipping which did give a small result but nothing dramatic.  However the people around the table, all public, seemed to feel it was very real and it left them scratching their heads for an answer.  We ended the session out in the hall near the toilets where nothing much happened but there was a girl who kept feeling like something was messing with her hair.

Everyone came back together to have a cuppa and swap stories before heading out as two groups.  The energy seemed to be better in larger teams.  We headed down to the cellar where I spent the rest of the night.  We tried calling out but again had little response and then some table tipping with a stronger result but still nothing OTT.  We had public trying their hand at scrying with wax and crystal balls as well as using pendulums and a Ouija board.  We had another go with table tipping but got nothing.

After all the public had some more tea and cake they cleared out saying they had had a great night and some had seen or felt things that they couldn't explain.  For me the night was very flat and had little energy but that is the nature of ghost hunting.  You don't know what you will find and the spooks do not come to order.  We had some very strange things happen in that building before, but this time I didn't really find anything.

Later on, when it was just a few crew left, Mark saw something in the doorway.  It made him jump.  It was a very tall figure in a long black cloak or coat but it was a momentary, fleeting glimpse.  We gathered in the cellar for one last go at calling out.  Lindsay got very creeped out but nothing really came of it.  We had the Franks box on with what sounded like the odd reply but nothing really made too much sense.  

The night was fun as always but the spooks didn't come out to play.  It is a bit disappointing but as I said, you can't make it happen.  If you do make it happen then you are a theater company, not a ghost hunting company.  Forced results are pointless results.  I do still have some audio and video footage to look through but I am not expecting anything special.  If I do find anything I will get it posted up.

There is a crew only hunt coming up later this month.  I shall be sure to give you guys a write up on the results of that one.

The new venue - The RAFA club

Bit late getting this written up but better late than never as they say.

The RAFA club (RAF association) was a members only club during the war for service men and their partners.  The club still stands and is still trading, but it's many members have become aged and left this world, leaving low numbers of the original members and only a few newer members.  The building was home to a doctors surgery before it was the RAFA.  I have not done any digging as yet to find information on the building and the land as I thought knowing may affect the initial investigation, so I shall be doing the research soon and may post a report on the place.

We got settled in and went around baseline testing.  For those who don't know, this is a record of each room's temperature, both ambient and surface, humidity and EMF.  EMF (electromagnetic field) should normally be zero but you can find hot spots sometimes and if you walk around you may find places close enough to something electrical to set it off.  This is all noted as well as anything you can see that may affect the results, things like a draft, cracked window, hole in the ceiling (as there was there) creaky floor boards, that kind of thing.  I noticed that as we were doing this, there was one room I didn't like the feel of before I even opened the door.  I didn't really want to open the door, but I did anyway.  I really didn't like the room.

After baselines were taken we sat in the room where the Lions come to meet.  We had the modified baby monitor on and were getting sounds but could not quite be sure about feedback levels and had some debate about it.  It was decided to use it as a good old fashioned listening device and the sending unit was placed in a front room with a drum kit in it, so we named it the drum room (inventive I know, and this was the room I didn't like).  While the monitor was in this room we could hear sounds as though fabric was rubbing on the mic.  I wondered if it might actually be a breeze blowing as this was the room with a hole in the ceiling, but while the room was very cold, it didn't have a breeze you could feel.  The noise was constant and was then joined by another sound, a low bumping sound that was almost train like in rhythm.  This sound then continued on and was joined by a further more strange sound.  We could hear breathing.  Not too heavy, but it was as though someone was quite close to the mic, just breathing.  We called out but didn't get any replies, just these same sounds.  The room it had been placed in was locked and we had the key with us.  It was mentioned that it may be the sound of traffic outside but I have never heard traffic sound like that, and as I have a young child now and use a baby monitor at home, I have heard many traffic sounds come through, but that sound was very different.  That sound was more like when my son had stood up in his bed, reached over and grabbed the monitor and was playing about with it.

The monitor was moved to the toilets and it fell almost silent.  We had the slight sound of the mic being touched for a while but then it seemed to stop and we didn't hear it again.

We had a break and then went down to the bar area.  The Ouija board was set up and was very active.  I don't have my notes on all that happened, they were taken by mistake by one of the team, but I wouldn't want to say too much in detail yet anyway.  We had names and numbers coming through.  Service men and their wives, and also some who may have been related to it being the doctors.  The board just kept going and going, some conversation and then a goodbye, followed by large circles as another stepped up.  If you know me then you will know I don't have much faith in Ouija boards at all, but it was interesting to see one going as much as this.  Plus, there was a word used that I'm sure none of us knew.  Migmow.  The board had kept spelling out gibberish and had said they were laughing at us, so when this word came out we said that isn't a word, it said yes, so we asked if we looked it up it would be a real word, again it said yes.  Mark looked it up and there is an urban dictionary listing for migmo (without the w) "a word used to confuse others."  Given that the spirit had already said they were laughing at us and spelling out gibberish to take the micky, it seemed a fitting word to use.

I played some 40's/50's music on my record player, lit a candle, used my new crystal pendulum and took photos and video, but didn't really get too much from it.  The only thing I found with my video was that it looks as though the camera is constantly moving, juddering but was set down on a solid surface.  I thought it may have just been something to do with the camera, but on testing it out at home I didn't get the same result.

We didn't end up doing a lot of experiments that night but we did get to have a good look around and got some activity.  This place needs more investigation for sure.  I am convinced there is something there.  I tend to only really feel spirits properly when other people are not too close to me to distract me.  I have been in some creepy buildings, Newsham Park Hospital for instance.  I walked around in there with no problem, on my own, away from the group in a huge creepy abandoned asylum with no electricity.  But here I was, in a building the size of a large house, still in use with all the lights on but my goodness there was something there making me feel uneasy when the crew weren't close by.  I even heard the upstairs toilet doors moving, I thought it was Mark, but I went back down stairs and there he was, sitting with everyone else.

A new venue?

Tonight I am going to check out a new venue.  By new venue I mean a pretty old building with plenty of history in it but as far as we can tell, no one has ever hunted in it before.  If this goes well and there is activity in there as reports suggest then it may even become a regular place to investigate for us.  We have been thinking of setting up workshops there to introduce people to the world of divining and the tech side of the hunt so that may be sorted out tonight too.

I shall have a report from tonight's venue and any information on these workshops up by tomorrow.....provided I don't end up in the wars tonight ;)

Come hunt with me

Pontefract Town Hall is a very beautiful old building.  It has stood since 1785 and was the Police station for the town 150 years ago.  We are told that this is home to many, many spooks so I am very excited to get in there and get hunting.

If you want to come and have a go 8pm til 3am, Pontefract Paranormal are selling tickets for Saturday 6th June for £35.  This includes use of all kinds of equipment and full instructions and help in how to get the most from your hunt.  Any other ideas are always welcome too.

Click here for tickets