On Friday, 22nd November 2013, Twilight Shadows Paranormal conducted a paranormal investigation at a lovely village pub in Hampshire. The landlady of the pub has requested that we do not identify the name of the pub as she is concerned that acknowledgment of pub ghosts may scare the locals away.
This charming pub is steeped in history and has a rather famous artist associated with it. Some of his pictures adorn the walls of the pub and a self portrait of the artist was staring at us throughout the investigation. Figures have been seen by some of the pub customers and others have reported being touched.
When the pub closed for the night, we were given a tour of the pub, the cellar and outbuildings by the landlady's son. I had felt a presence in the main bar area, the very moment I had walked in so I was eager to start here.
We sat around a large, heavy table and I started to 'call out' asking for the spirits of the building to make contact with us. Some of the investigators felt that the self-portrait of the artist was unnerving. He did have rather a sinister look.
Andrew switched on his Ghost Box and we all heard a voice come through which said, 'Safe.' That was reassuring. In fact, we all noticed that the atmosphere seemed quite light and we all felt jovial. The K2 meter which Andrew had placed in the centre of the table, suddenly gave a high reading. It certainly felt as if there was a spirit present. I 'called out' again and we immediately heard a sharp knocking in the middle of the table. The response was surprisingly quick. I asked if the spirit knocking, could say their name on the Ghost Box. We did not receive a name but the knocking got louder and carried on for ages. I asked if the spirit could speak through the Ghost Box and a voice from it said, 'Sometimes.'
The table knocked, shuddered and then moved. It was really strong. I asked if the spirits of the pub were happy that we were there and a voice from the Ghost Box said, 'What?' There were taps all around the table and the table kept jolting. The spirit felt very strong. We sat there for a long time, chatting between ourselves while the table continued tapping and moving. I felt as if 'it' was getting stronger. I started tapping out rhythms on the table and each rhythm was copied and tapped back. We were all feeling good humoured and the more we laughed, the louder the banging on the table became. The table suddenly jolted away from Ben but when he asked that it was put back, it jolted back to him. I said that if I was a spirit, I would miss humour and I would happily 'hang around' some mortals who were having fun. The table was immediately responsive and started to jolt around all over the place.
We asked if the spirit knew the famous artist who was associated with the pub, or if the spirit was actually the artist. There was no response. We then asked if the spirit knew the landlady of the pub. We received an affirmative response. We asked if the spirit knew the pub dog and we received another positive response. We asked if the dog could see the spirit person and the answer was yes. We started to give the people who worked in the pub funny names (like Sheila the Chef and Barry the barman) and asking the spirit if 'he' knew each one. It's difficult to explain but the energy surrounding us felt full of mirth. Our banter seemed very well received.
Daniel felt that the spirit may not be an old spirit as 'he' really seemed to understand our sense of humour. We asked if the spirit wanted us to be serious and the answer was no. There was movement in the bar which made us all turn around. This was followed by a tapping on the wall beside us. Then we all heard a strange whooshing sound which went right behind us.
I asked if the table could come over to me and it did, followed by three loud knocks from the centre. This prompted Tracey and I to sing a very old song, called “Knock three times.' The spirit seemed to enjoy this but the younger investigators (who clearly had no idea what the song was) looked at us strangely. We started to discuss the times when we played spirits some music and how they reacted. Dave started to play a very creepy old musical box tune. Lauren said unhappily, “Oh Dave, why are you playing that?” It was quite chilling but the spirit seemed to like it.
At this point, there was a shift in the atmosphere and we could feel a different spirit come through. The temperature suddenly started to plummet. The table started to move differently and with considerable force. The atmosphere remained jovial and the Ghost Box said a rather naughty word. The voice sounded light-hearted. It then started to say more swear words and the more we laughed, the more swear words came out of the Ghost Box.
There was a tapping sound nearby and Andrew heard footsteps behind him. There were a variety of swear words emitted from the Ghost Box. I asked, “Have you got Tourettes Syndrome?” The table really shuddered. We asked if the spirit could tell us 'his' name and the Ghost Box said, 'Elvis.' We couldn't decide whether this was a serious answer or not. So we asked the same question and this time the answer was 'Jim.' The table lifted.
The swear words continued to come out of the Ghost Box. They seemed to be said in a naughty manner and not in an aggressive way at all. The table moved towards Dave. Ben heard a scratching sound from underneath the table. Ben told a joke and there was a response by the table knocking loudly. Ben asked if there were any other spirits there and if so, what was their name. A male voice said, 'Francis.' The K2 lit up, the table tapped, lifted and then jolted. I asked, “Please can you shove the table really hard and the table was shoved hard! Dan asked, “Can you shove it towards T racy and me,” The spirit complied as the table shot towards them. Dan said, “And to Lauren?” The table was pushed over to Lauren. “And towards Ben?” The table moved towards Ben. It then lifted really high on one side. We all laughed and the table shook as if it was laughing.
The table then started to move in a strange way, shuddering as if it was building up energy and then as it reached its peak, it was forcibly moved with great strength. It kept doing this and as the energy was building we all made collective noises of anticipation and when the table eventually moved, we all cheered. I loved this spirit. It was amazing!
Dave saw a shadow person move through the bar flap and simultaneously the K2 meter gave the highest reading. The table continued to move and it seemed to be getting stronger each time. Suddenly, the energy shifted, the presence seemed different and the table started to move differently. It was pulsating and it felt exactly like a heart beat. I started knocking out sequences and they were knocked back exactly as I had done them.
We decided to start a more serious séance. We all heard, “I am here!' I replied, “I think we noticed.” I asked if we were talking to the same spirits or a different spirit and the reply was, 'George,'
We conversed with George:
How old are you?
63.
You were 63 when you died?
Yes
What year did you die?
1950. Happy.
Did you work here?
(Dan wondered if George may have worked on the railway).
Yes. Railway.
Did you stay here? Did you sleep here?
Yes.
We asked if there was a lady spirit in the building and if so, had she joined us at all this evening?
Yes. Kate.
George, is it you or Kate moving the table? (The table had been moving continually throughout this séance).
Harry.
Harry? Harry is moving the table? Who's Harry?
(Harry joined our séance but he said that he preferred to move the table instead of us asking questions and him answering. But we persevered).
Harry, how old are you?
78.
Ben asked, “Are you happy Harry?” which caused us all to laugh loudly.
Do. Want to make table move.
We said, OK and the table started to tip right up on its side.
At this point we weren't all sitting around the table properly. Some of us were sitting sideways with our elbows leaning on it but the table just tipped and jolted about anyway. Ben said “A while ago, someone saw the ghost of man down here in the pub.” The table shoved and the Ghost Box said, 'George.' The table tipped really high and Dave and Dan tried to push it down. They used all their weight but it held for ages. Dan said, “You can just feel the force pushing against us.” The table then tipped the other way and this time, Ben tried to push it down and couldn't.
We decided to move over to the corner of the room and we all heard a strange noise. It came from the table that we had all moved away from. I saw movement in the restaurant area. As it was very late, we decided to end the investigation at this point. I would like to thank the landlady of this lovely pub for letting us investigate here. Also thank you to team member Ben for organising this very active investigation.
Written by: Maria Williams
