On Saturday, 14th November 2015, Twilight Shadows Paranormal were invited to join other paranormal teams at Nothe Fort, Weymouth in Dorset. After a walk around the fort, our team started our investigation upstairs in an exhibition room.
HISTORY
Situated at the end of the Nothe Peninsula, east from the town of Weymouth, is the coastal defence Nothe Fort. It was constructed between 1860-1872. Built by 26 Company of the Royal Engineers, the fort's purpose was to protect Portland's harbour which was in the process of becoming an essential Royal Navy base. The fort was utilised during World War II when the harbour was a base for British and American navies. The fort was abandoned in 1956 and then purchased in 1961 by the local council. The fort is now a museum.
PARANORMAL
A whistling ghost is said to haunt the fort. The soldier was a
gunner who was killed while he was helping to move a canon. The canon
broke free and hit him, causing his death. He loved to whistle before
his death and he continues to whistle in the after-life.
There is also reports of a female ghost who has the ability to open doors and switch off cameras.
An interesting story has been reported, of a young boy during the 1980's who was exploring the (then abandoned) fort. He saw a figure in the form of a tall black shadow which was standing on the edge of the parade ground. The shadow was shaped like a man. It appeared to stop and look at the boy before walking away and disappearing into an old store room.
Shell Store B9, is said to be haunted and people complain of head and back pain. Reports of the sensation of swaying has also been reported in this room. Batteries and electrical equipment frequently drain. There is a story of a small child waving to an 'invisible' man who he saw standing in the corner of the room.
UPSTAIRS EXHIBITION ROOM
As soon as we entered this room, we had stones flying at us from all directions. Tracy had already been hit by a stone in the corridor before we had reached the room and then Andrew was hit as soon as we entered the room. We all sat around on benches and three stones were thrown into the centre of us. There was a sudden draught . Jacky 'called out' and a stone was thrown. Daniel said that he didn't really like the ferocity behind the stones which were being thrown. I threw a stone and asked if a spirit person would throw it back. A stone was thrown back (it wasn’t the same stone that I threw) and it hit Jacky. It was quite a big stone. Matt said that he could feel a breeze blowing around him. Dan said, “Can you throw another stone at Tracy?” Immediately a stone was thrown but it landed in the middle of us. Jacky said that every time we felt the breeze, a stone was thrown at us. She was right.
Lesley said, “It's brilliant that you are able to throw things but please would you do something else?” Two more stones were thrown at us. Jacky jumped and said that she had heard a funny noise beside us. Matt said, “Incoming, something is about to happen” and Jacky said, “Yes, there's an energy building up.” We all heard a tapping next to Lesley and she said that she's also heard tapping down at the other end of the room when she was looking around. She said, “If you want us to go, throw another stone right now.” Another stone was immediately thrown. We said collectively, “Alright, we're going.”
CORRIDOR
We all stood in the corridor and we realised that we could hear footsteps that weren’t ours. We stood quietly. There were no other teams in this area. Daniel was so amazed at the stone throwing in the previous room, he asked for more stones to be thrown. A few small stones bounced accross the floor but Daniel wanted a big stone to be thrown. He was collecting them. Jacky asked, “Please may we have one more stone and drop it at Daniel's feet?” This time, a stone came hurtling down from the ceiling and landed at Daniel's feet.
Jacky and Lesley were suddenly startled and looked towards the same direction. They had both heard a voice say, “Mmmmmmm.” We heard a shuffling noise in the corner of the corridor. Jacky said that she could hear footsteps and the boys left us to explore. Jacky, Tracy, Lesley and I were looking at the mannequins and chatting about them and we captured an EVP of a male sigh. It was really loud. There was a loud thud. After a while, the activity seemed to diminish and we were packing up our equipment to move onto the next room when we captured an EVP of a female voice saying, “Don't leave me.” It's such a shame that we didn't actually hear this at the time as we wouldn't have left.
PASSAGEWAY
There is a story of a whistling ghost at the fort. We assembled in the place that it is reputedly haunted by a soldier who whistles in the subterranean passageways of the fort. The boys were whistling and suddenly we heard a response. Matt was whistling the National Anthem. He whistled half of the tune and then we heard a whistle finishing it off. Dave and Daniel searched the area to make sure that no one was near by and reported back that we were alone in this part of the fort.
We heard a sound like something was kicked, perhaps a stone. We stood still and listened and we heard what sounded like the rustling of clothes. Daniel said that he felt uncomfortable. Matt started whistling the National Anthem again and it was finished nearby in the corridor. This happened several times. We were all really amazed and excited.
GUN ROOM
A stone was thrown towards us. Matt kept whistling but the whistling ghost appeared to have left us. After this we did not receive any more paranormal communication in any other part of the fort.
We really enjoyed this investigation and we would love to return. On behalf of the Twilight Shadows Paranormal team, I would like to thank Emma for inviting us to join her team at this fantastic location.
Written by: Maria Williams
