On Friday 25th May 2007 the Twilight Shadows Paranormal team conducted an investigation at The George Hotel in Amesbury, Wiltshire.
The
Upon entering the building on the left side, Selena and I felt that this part of the building was 'wrong.' Eventually we realised that the area in which we were standing was not originally the main part of the building (it is now) and this part was added on.
HALL, STAIRS AND PASSAGEWAYS
After having a general exploration of the location we went upstairs into the hotel part of the building. There are 32 rooms so this part of the building is quite extensive. I experienced a sudden and quite extreme headache in the first corridor and Selena saw the spirit of a black cat that hissed as we walked by. It possessed a nasty nature and was vicious and definitely not a pet. It was a rat-catcher. The area smelt of hay even though it was a hotel passageway. Selena noticed this first and smelt it quite strongly. Some of the team could also smell it but perhaps a ltttle less pungent than the hay smell which Selena was experiencing. It was later verified that this area used to be a hay barn. There were rats within the hay hence the presence of the black cat.
ROOM 6
We entered Room 6 which is the room where many paranormal experiences have been reported. (My headache instantly disappeared). This room is lovely and contains a huge four-poster bed. It has an Olde Worlde feeling and we all wanted just to 'book in' to this room to stay the night. We set up our equipment (motion detector, trigger object and digital recorder) and left Room 6 to explore other areas of the hotel. Just as we were leaving the room, Selena heard a sigh which was not emitted from any member of the team.
Selena heard some children in the passageway running about and having fun. She said that she felt that the stairs were supposed to "go up more." It was discovered that the stairs had been blocked off in this area. Selena felt that the landing should have been a different shape. She saw a lot of activity on the main stairs. The stairs were busy with 'workers.'
As we approached a small table in the hall, Selena developed severe back-ache and felt that she had fallen down the stairs and she said "I feel as if I have broken my back!" Climbing the second step, Selena felt a tap on her head.
We headed downstairs and all assembled in the Function Room.
FUNCTION ROOM
The team assembled together in the function room and prepared for a seance and glass divination. (Selena had brought a glass and letters that she uses on a regular basis). The glass moved quite quickly surprising most of us. We all became aware of a cold blast of air around our hands. The glass slowly travelled around the table as if the spirit was introducing his/herself to each one of us. (This often happens during glass divination).
The glass spelt out "Hello Steven, say hello to Carol." Selena immediately leapt up from the table and went into the bar. She asked if anyone in the bar was called Steven? Immediately a gentleman said that his name was Steven and he was actually texting Carol! The glass started whizzing around the table.
We asked how many spirits were with us in the room? The answer was four including "Fred and two children."
We were then joined by the manageress Lyn. The glass spelt out "look!" We asked "look at what?" The glass seemed to be reacting to Lyn. It spelt out "cat." We all presumed that the spirit was telling us about the 'rat-catcher cat' that Selena had seen upstairs. Lyn then told us that a cat had gone missing from the bar. The glass quickly spelt out "burnt." We were all appalled that the cat had been burnt and Lyn asked "did someone throw it in the fire?" The spirit spelt out "yes." We were all very relieved when Lyn informed us that the burnt cat had been a toy cat and not a living creature. It had disappeared from the bar. The glass started whizzing around, spelling a name. Initially it spelt a person's real name and then the name that he was known by. Although we will keep the identity of this person anonymous (he is a regular at the bar), Lyn and the two male barmen laughed and said that this information made sense and one of them said "I thought it was him."
We tried to find out the name of the spirit controlling the glass. She eventually divulged to us that her name was Helen (we need to keep her surname anonymous) and she died in 1936 as a young woman from cancer. She used to drink at 'The George' and she lived in Porton. One of the barmen said that there is a family with Helen's surname currently living in Durrington. The spirit replied "yes."
The glass spelt out "deed" and "bad." We asked "bad deed" and the answer was "yes." The glass then spelt out "be fussy." We asked "about what" and the relpy was "men!" We all laughed at this statement and some women were grateful for this advice (I think)?
Helen then told us that although she did not have children,
she looked after the two spirit children that Selena had previously heard
running around. They are David (aged six, died 1912) and
Helen then gave us some information that surprised the staff. She said that Mr. S (need to maintain anonymity) had died in a room (she named which one) of a heart attack only a few years ago. This was confirmed by the staff and we were all impressed with Helen.
We asked Helen if she would join us upstairs in Room 6 and she said "Yes." She then directed the glass towards "Goodbye."
BACK IN ROOM 6
Caz lit a candle and we tried to reconnect with Helen. We asked Helen to make the candle flame rise higher and this happened immediately. We were all quite surprised but this is obviously not conclusive evidence of paranormal activity. There were a few cold blasts of air and the smell of cigar smoke filled a certain part of the room. But nothing of paranormal significance occurred. It was difficult to concentrate as there were so many drunken people out in the street shouting and swearing.
We decided to end the investigation. Many thanks to Lyn for allowing us to investigate The George Hotel. Also thanks to Selena and a massive thank you to Vikki for arranging this lovely location.
Written by: Maria Williams
MARIAN’S REPORT
On entering the building, I didn't feel anything specific, but I felt positive about the visit and very receptive.
We were based in Room 6 on the 1st floor. It felt very welcoming and throughout the evening had some positive energy about it. The only time I felt at all apprehensive or any tension was when we visited the 2nd floor. I couldn't say whether that was because there were negative energies there or simply that it was due to the passages being narrow with low sloping ceilings. I certainly wasn't conscious of anything specific.
However on visiting the Dining Room on the ground floor, I felt aware of at least one presence, in the same way that when you walk into a room, even without seeing any occupants, you know that other people are there. It might have been interesting to do some more work in that room.
The Function Room was interesting. I felt very at ease and wasn't sure whether that was because I had previously attended a family 'do' there. It was a good room to work in and having made tentative contact with many people, Helen came through and seemed to positively relish in being able to communicate.
She was happy to tell us about herself and the glass moved around with great strength and energy. Loretta took notes on what was said, and it would be interesting to see if the information could help to verify the existence of Helen. We'd probably have to strike lucky with a census of Porton to find anything.
It was interesting that there were other spirits there including the children, I got the feeling that there were others that we didn't communicate with, because they simply saw no need.
Written by: Marian Hibbs
During the investigation the motion detector was not activated and the trigger object did not move. We have still to evaluate our camera footage and digital recorder.
UPDATE
We captured an EVP [Electronic Voice Phenomena] which we believe to be saying 'Blood'. This sound was captured in the Function Room.
