On Saturday 26th October 2013, Twilight Shadows Paranormal joined BUS – Bristol & UK Supernatural at their paranormal investigation at the Red Lion Pub in Southampton, Hampshire.
BAR
We started the investigation in the bar. Claire started to 'call out' asking the spirits to communicate with us. Dave also 'called out.' We all heard a loud tap. Jacky started to address a male spirit who appeared to be drawing close to us. His presence seemed dominant and authoritative. There was another tap from upstairs and Jacky said that she could feel an energy building up behind her.
Dave jumped as he heard a sound like someone clearing their throat. The atmosphere seemed to thicken and we could all feel a spiritual presence in the room. I saw movement behind the bar. Claire decided to go upstairs and stand on the balcony and as she walked upstairs, Jacky captured a light anomaly coming down the stairs. Claire stood on the balcony facing us and we all heard footsteps up on the balcony, very near to where Claire was standing. After a while there were more footsteps followed by some more tapping sounds. Claire asked the spirits to tap once for yes and twice for no.
Claire asked:
Are you the woman I saw earlier?
Yes.
You’re wearing a blue dress, aren't you?
Yes.
Are you looking for someone?
Yes.
There was a large bang in the room. Dave went upstairs to join Claire on the balcony. Jacky said that she could see someone standing by Andrew. She also kept seeing someone standing by the parrot cage. (Later, Jacky discovered a strange photo of a light anomaly by the parrot cage and Claire and Gary later saw the figure of a woman by the cage).
We could hear tapping up on the balcony near Claire and Dave. Dave asked if there were spirits standing up with them. We heard more tapping. This was followed by a loud thud down in the bar area by the rest of us. Dave asked if the spirits could make that sound again and there was another sound which Jacky thought sounded like a weight shifting. Claire said that she suddenly felt freezing cold. Dave said that he saw a light anomaly (with his eyes, not camera) fly over Claire's head as she said this. I could not feel the cold cold initially but Claire was recording the temperature and the readings started to plummet. Claire said, “It's our friend from the hallway.” Andrew said, “It's round here” and I could sense a presence near as well. Dave said that he could feel a presence standing behind him up on the balcony. Andrew and I were getting colder and colder and feeling breezes swirling around us. Claire said that it was as somebody has opened an outside door in the middle of winter. Jacky and I could feel a male presence. There was a clink of glasses from the bar, behind us.
Something knocked Dave's hand. The temperature was still dropping. Dave asked if he could be touched again and he was. Claire said that somebody had hanged themselves in the building as she could clairvoyantly see a pair of black legs dangling and swinging. Dave said that the person who had touched him was a woman. It was a feminine touch. Claire, Dave and Andrew 'called out.' Jacky could feel cold breezes again and Claire said that she could also feel a cold draught. I suddenly smelt a strong cooking smell but no sooner had I mentioned it, it had gone. We could all feel energy coming through our feet.
CELLAR
We assembled in the cellar. Claire said that she could feel a little boy in here. Jacky 'called out' and I immediately got pins and needles down the left side of my body. Claire started 'picking' up on a male spirit, an elderly man. She said that he looked older than he was and that he spent a lot of time down here at one time. He had a rough, scraggly appearance.
There was a loud tap on a beer barrel right beside me and then a tap behind Jacky. Claire asked for more tapping sounds and there was a very loud tap, followed by another and another right behind Dave. Jacky felt like someone was standing right behind her and Claire told her that 'he' was looking over her shoulder. Jacky said that she wanted to run as she felt like 'he' was hugging her. Claire told Jacky, “That's the inn-keeper. He's grumpy and he beats the little boy.”
We started to talk about the spirits of the pub and Claire said that when we arrived, she had felt two energies. She had felt a spirit woman and a grumpy man behind the bar. Andrew could hear whispering but he could not work out what was being said. I had previously heard whispering up in the bar area but I hadn't mentioned it at the time. Dave said that he'd also heard it in the bar and he could hear it down in the cellar now too.
Claire said that someone touched her finger. We could all hear tapping on the ceiling. Dave said that he could see the figure of a man, leaning on the wall. Dave told us that he looked mean and that he was watching us. Claire said that this sounded like the same man who was in the hallway earlier.
BALCONY
We heard a noise which sounded like something had been thrown in the bar. I felt a breeze on my right arm. It felt as if an icy breath had been blown onto me. We tried an EVP session but instead we got taps on the table in response to questioning. Also, every time a question was asked, I felt an icy blast of air on my hand. Something was thrown at Dave. Jacky saw the object fly across the room towards Dave.
HALL
We sat down at the far end of the hallway. It was probably the creepiest place in the pub. Apart from a few knocks and bangs and some light anomalies captured onto Jacky's camcorder, nothing of a paranormal nature occurred.
The Twilight Shadows Paranormal team would like to thank Claire from BUS for organising this investigation. We really enjoyed working with the BUS team.
Written by: Maria Williams
