Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Fort Widley Investigation
13th October 2007
Investigating Members - Julie Harwood, Maria Street, Steve Gilbert, Amanda Horley, Sandy Rutter, Eileen Rutter, Mark Pettet, Alison Blyth, Wayne Blyth, Jeff Aldridge, Rab Gardner, Simon Steadman, Rachel Steadman, Ross Richardson.
Guest Investigators - Sheila Simpson & Suzanne Gilbert
Hosts & their guests – Dave, Jennifer, Kerry & Shane
The History of Fort Widley
Several generations of Portsmouth people have given the nickname "Palmerston's Folly" to the Victorian forts on Portsdown Hill. The forts on the crest of the hill overlooking the town and harbour, face inland and to some people look the wrong way. The development of new armaments plus the perceived threat of invasion led Prime Minster, Lord Palmerston to commission a revue and implement new defences to strengthen Portsmouth and the surrounding area. If there were an attack on Portsmouth from the north, none of the existing fortifications would be able to protect the dockyard and harbour against bombardment from Portsdown Hill.
The Royal Commission received its instruction in August 1859, that it should begin work by considering the defence of Portsmouth. The report was submitted in 1860, the recommendations were:
1. To prevent the enemy landing on the Isle of Wight
2. Protection of the anchorage at Spithead
3. Defence of the needles passage
4. Protection of the harbour mouth
5. Land defences from the north
These were divided between the Gosport defences and the hill forts.
The War Department purchased the necessary acreage along Portsdown Hill from the Lord of the Manor. Approximately 900 acres were taken over completely and clearance rights were obtained for another 1000 acres.
The Royal Engineers were responsible for the basic design of the hill forts, with Colonel, later Lieutenant General, Sir W. R. Drummond Jervois in charge. The design was that they should be surrounded by a deep ditch on the west, north and east sides. Access being gained from ramps down to the bottom of the ditches from the fort entrances on the south side at the back of the fort. There was also a dry moat with varied depth from 40 - 60 feet and width from 30 - 70 feet around the five forts.
The escarp is about 10 - 15 feet thick backed by earthwork and surmounted by a rampart. The platforms on the inner side of the rampart were for additional guns firing over the parapet. On the south side, two-storey accommodation was living quarters for about 250 men; there was also married quarters for twelve soldiers.
There were single storey rooms and a stable on either side of the barrack block. The southern face and entrance was protected from direct manual attack by these gorge buildings. The walls had loopholes for rifle fire. Underground tunnels went from the barrack block to the caponiers in the moat. The barrack block walls were 4 - 5 feet thick with a thick reinforced concrete roof.
The five forts were Fort Widley, Fort Purbrook, Fort Wallington, Fort Southwick and Fort Nelson.
Construction of Fort Widley commenced in 1861 and was completed in 1870 at a cost of £93,980. It is six sided in trace and is symmetrical about a north south axis. It is identical to Fort Southwick, apart from one small deviation. The east and west dry ditches are enfiladed by small two storey demi caponiers whilst the main north ditch is covered by a full caponier. The return angles of the gorge ditch and protected by small musketry galleries.
A central spiral stair from the parade ground gives access to the four main tunnels running of it radially. These lead to the barrack block and caponiers. The main magazine is located half way along the tunnel to the barrack block on the West Side. There is a semi circular tunnel bypassing the main magazine. The magazine was constructed as a single barrel vaulted room, 57' X 27', for the storage of 2,500 barrels of powder. It was later subdivided into two rooms for shells and cartridges. A narrow passage runs round three sides of the magazine, there would originally have been glazed apertures in the magazine walls where oil lamps would have been placed for lighting the magazine. Further stairs from the parade ground lead to two mortar batteries and chemin de ronde.
The fort was disarmed in 1907 but remained in military hands being used as an army barracks for the Royal Artillery until 1939. During WW2 the fort saw a variety of uses; from 1940 it served as an 'Action Post, Fire' and in 1941 it housed a Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Unit. From 1942 it was used briefly to house POWs and from 1943 it was used as an alternative control centre for Southwick House (HMS Dryad).
On 19 February 1952, the Civil Defence Committee of Portsmouth Borough Council proposed the construction of a new main and group control for the Borough to be used in the event of a nuclear attack; it was decided this should be established at Fort Widley.
It was suggested that the main underground magazine and the ground floor of the barrack block should be adapted. Work on the conversion started in 1953 when further modifications were made to the main magazine and the Borough Control was officially opened by General Sir Sidney Kirkman, Director General of Civil Defence, in January 1955. It continued to perform this function until the end of the cold war and the Portsmouth District Council Emergency Centre, as it was by then know, finally closed in 1992.
The fort was bought by Portsmouth City Council in 1972 and some restoration has been undertaken and it is occasionally open at weekends for public tours. Private tours can be arranged at other times by appointment. The area surrounding it is designated as a conservation and study area.
Fort Widley (and Fort Purbrook) are now administered by the Peter Ashley Activity Centre and Fort Widley houses The Fort Widley Equestrian Centre including a licensed riding school and pony care and saddle club with fully qualified instructors.
Source: Nick Catford with text on Palmerston Forts on Portsdown Hill by Linda Evans - http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/f/fort_widley/index.shtml
Ghosts of Widley
There has been much reported phenomena at fort Widley over the years however the group on mass has decided that this is a must for a return visit and soon so we shall not be advertising any of the sightings on this report however one comment must be made and that is when reading through the personal reports, many investigators have picked up on previous reported apparent phenomena!
Our sincere thanks go to the Peter Ashley Activity Centre for allowing us an investigation at this great fort and also to Dave and Jennifer whose guidance stopped the team losing any members down tunnels!
Teams
Team 1
Julie - Team Leader
Steve
Rachel
Ross
Eileen
Simon
Team 2
Rab - Team Leader
Sandy
Sheila
Alison
Wayne
Dave - guide
Jennifer
Team 3
Maria - Team Leader
Amanda
Mark P
Jeff
Suzanne
Kerry
Shane
Vigil Areas
North Tunnel
East Tunnel
West Tunnel or Murder Mystery Rooms (teams choice but as to not disturb any other team once in one of the areas you must stay there)
Each team had access to -
1 night vision camcorder
at least 1 digital camera
1 laser temperature gun
1 emf meter
Glass for divination
Itinerary
7.15pm Group to meet outside
East Side gate
7.30pm Enter fort, anyone
arriving after this time will be locked out
8.00pm Settle into team room followed by a tour of the fort.
Baselines completed by – Maria, Jeff & Ross
9.00pm Vigil 1
Team 1 – West tunnel or Murder Mystery Rms
Team 2 – North tunnel
Team 3
– East tunnel
10.20pm Break
10.40pm Vigil 2
Team 1 –East tunnel
Team 2 – West tunnel or Murder Mystery Rms
Team 3
– North tunnel
12.00am Break
12.15am Group Séance in
Murder Mystery Rms
1.00am Break
1.20am Vigil 3
Team 1 – North tunnel
Team 2 – East tunnel
Team
3 – West tunnel or Murder Mystery Rm
2.45am Pack up
3.00am Depart
Baseline Tests Completed by – Maria, Jeff & Ross during the tour
Pony Club Rm – Temp 17.5, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, strong smell of hay and horses in this area
Tack Rm – Temp 16.5, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, strong smell of leather etc
Stables Area – Temp 12.5, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, 3 stabled horses liable to make noise if spooked
North Tunnel – Temp 11.5, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, white horse stabled ¾ of way down, open windows, teams need to be aware of tunnel acoustics making close noise seem further away and vice versa
Cross roads to other tunnels – Temp 15.0, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, some loose debris leading to other tunnels
East Tunnel – Temp 11.5, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, teams need to be aware of tunnel acoustics making close noise seem further away and vice versa
West Tunnel – Temp 11.0, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, teams need to be aware of tunnel acoustics making close noise seem further away and vice versa
Murder Mystery Dining Rm – Temp 16, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, loose slab by door leading into other room
Murder Mystery 2nd Rm – Temp 15, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations
Murder Mystery Kitchenette – Temp 15, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations, smell of food in this area (close to caretakers quarters so noise need to be kept to minimum)
Barrack Block – Temp 10, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations
Experiments
Locked off camcorder set in Murder Mystery Room 2 pointing towards candle trigger object on opposite side of the room.
Locked off camcorder set in Tack Rm
Team / Vigil Notes
Team 1
Vigil 1 - Murder Mystery Rm
Temp 15, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations
Although tested in break, Simons temp / thermometer gun will not work
Julie feels as though she has been somewhere very dusty and some has stuck in her throat
After a couple of minutes Julie reports a metallic taste in her mouth and Simon also reports he has this too and likens it to copper
Julie & Eileen hear a scratching sound coming from the wood behind Julie, at the same time Simon catches light anomalies on camcorder around Julie
All team hear a loud knock / crack noise behind Julie as if something has been dropped. They investigate and don’t find anything obvious to explain the noise.
Team conducts a glass divination, the following details were obtained –
Man
First World War
Connections to a U-boat
High ranking
Bombed
German
Karl (Simon gets this name pop into his head)
Aged 26 years old
Lots of clicks and small knocks were heard during the séance
Vigil 2 – East Tunnel
Temp 11, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations
Team talk on way down about how long it would have taken to dig out
Julie gets a powerful smell of egg that seems to dissipate after a couple of seconds
When team reach the end of the tunnel Simon, Steve and Ross go and inspect the large wood door. Steve makes sure this is properly closed and the latch is shut.
All team sit on the lengths of wood facing the side of the tunnel.
After only a minute a very loud click clack is heard and team switch their torch on to watch the door that was latched shut open very slowly on its own.
Ross and Julie feel a very strong breeze rush past them and at the same time Ross catches light anomalies on camcorder coming through the door.
Team go to investigate but find no explanation.
Women only calling out
2 knocks heard by all of the team after Rachel has called out
Julie calls out and Simon’s camcorder battery drops from 40 minutes to 14 minutes while he is watching it.
Ross’ camcorder now drops from 50 minutes to less than 5 minutes (red warning light flashing)
Men decide to stand on other side of the door leaving the 3 women on their own.
Important to note – while the men were the other side of the door the women closed the door but did not put the latch on. The door did not swing open once on its own during this time or for the rest of the vigil.
Women call out and all 3 hear a prolonged deep growl
Eileen’s camera seems to turn off by itself
When she looks up the tunnel Eileen can see a light floating in the middle
Julie and Rachel can hear what sounds like wind whistling but it is a still night
Julie can smell what she can only describe as rotting flesh
All 3 hear what sounds like the beat of a drum and then cannon fire (this is later explained to be the horse down one of the other tunnels kicking)
Eileen and Rachel hear a dull thud coming from further up the corridor
Rachel can see a shape (when the torch is on) of something pointing at us
All women feel a cold breeze across their legs but the area temp has actually gone up to 13.0 as it was 11 when they entered the area.
Julie gets the names Cleggy and Fletcher
Rachel hears a scraping sound near the wood to her right and then sees movement by the chair.
When team look the chair has been moved from its original position and is now nowhere near the nailed piece of wood (it was placed there by Dave in the previous vigil to stop anyone hurting themselves)
Women call men back to look at the chair and Simon notices that it has left drag marks in the dirt where it has been moved and also 1 footprint (though we can not be sure this is not Dave’s from when he moved the chair)
Team all hear what sounds like a deep mans laugh but are aware it could be another team as vigils are nearing the end
Team also note that considering how dusty it is very few “orbs” have been caught on digital camera’s.
On way back to base team go past central staircase and Steve notices the smell of smoke, gunpowder, burning. Rest of team when they arrive can also smell this.
Murder Mystery Kitchenette (Group Séance)
Team attempt table tipping experiment while Simon sits out to take notes. Simon sits in large leather chair adjacent to the door.
Nothing is gained from table tipping so team attempt glass divination. Still no results or movement even though they call out for Karl from earlier vigil.
Julie suggests they go and watch the other teams who seem to be having some success in the next room. Rachel and Eileen agree as they feel the room is very still and ‘dead’
Rachel and Julie try to get Simons attention to see what he thinks but he seems to be in a world of his own.
Rachel approaches him and sees Simon is trying automatic handwriting. There are lots of scribbling but Simon seems to be distressed, in pain and shaking.
Team decide enough is enough and get Simon out into the fresh air. He continues shaking for a good ten minutes and is looking around like he does not know what is happening or where he is. Gradually he speaks and returns to normal after about 10 minutes.
Vigil 3 – Back into Murder Mystery Rm
Team wants to get more info from the apparent spirit contacted earlier so go back in to see if they can get any more info through the Ouija board from Karl. During the Ouija Rachel and Steve take turns sitting in the leather chair from the other room that Simon had been sat in. They report nothing unusual.
Julie tries to set up Dictaphone recording but Dictaphone dies and so Rachel lends her some new batteries and within seconds they die too. Note – since being home Julie has tested the Dictaphone and it works perfectly.
No further results were gained and so team decides to take one last trip down to the tunnels.
Eileen and Ross are sure they hear footsteps behind them. Some members of the team feel like they are being followed in the tunnels but nothing else is reported.
Team 2
Vigil 1
9.30pm North Caponier – All team smell strong aroma of wood smoke
9.40pm Wayne experiences chest pain
9.45pm Rab, Sheila and Dave hear a deep groan
10.00pm Alison senses a figure crouching by the window
10.05pm Alison, Wayne and Rab smell the wood smoke again
10.10pm Wayne gets a pain in his back
Vigil 2
Murder Mystery Rm Average temp 13, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations
10.56pm Rab feels something brush the top of his head and both Rab and Wayne feel a cold spot
10.59pm Rab again feels brush on the top of his head
11.05pm Wayne observes the team is generally upbeat
11.10pm Team conduct Ouija, following results gained –
M B L
Foreign Name? Yes
Male? Yes
French? No
Playing a game with us? Yes
What year were you born? 28
17
1728? Yes
N C L
Are these your initials? Yes
Are you amused? Yes
Are you connected to anyone? Yes
Who?
Sandy? Yes
Have you stopped playing now? Yes
D X D
Dexter? Yes
Are you playing another game? No
Dexter? Yes
Soldier? Yes
Did you use a catapult? Yes
With fireballs? No
Cannons? Yes
Did you defend your territory? Yes
Afghanistan? Yes
Were you Scottish? Yes
You are in England now, do you know that? Yes
Are you a spy? No
Campbell?
Royal Stuart? Yes
Is Sandy part of your line? Yes
Blyth? No
Gardner? No
Rutter? Yes
You are related to Sandy? Yes
Where are you from?
F A K
Falkirk? Yes
What year did Sandy’s Uncle Sandy die? 1969 (confirmed by Sandy)
Where is he buried?
F N A I
Fraserburgh? Yes
Sandy takes his finger off the glass
Are you Grandad? No
Are you a great Uncle? Glass twists
C T A P
Captain? Yes
Are you against Mclaren? No
Do your prefer women talkers? Yes
Are you still in Scotland? Yes
Fraserburgh? Yes
Sandy says “see ya”
Is there anyone else in the room? Yes
Are you related to Dexter? No
Male? Yes
William? No
Related to anyone here? Yes
Point to that person – No
Wayne? No
Yes
Dexter again? No
Yes
Sandy again? Yes
I A
Ian? No
Third letter? No
Can you understand? Yes
Scottish? Yes
J? Yes
James? Yes
When did you die? 2005 (This was confirmed by Sandy)
Related? Yes
Pover? No
Someone related to someone that worked here? Yes
E G G L B O P
E H N B I T
Englebert? No
Inglesby? No
Edinburgh? No
What year did you work here? 1935
Military? No
Tramp? No
Mason? Yes
Did you help to build the tunnels? Yes
Freemasons? Yes
Team say goodbye to James
Anyone resident at the fort? Yes
James returns
Anyone else? Yes
James and Dexter present? Yes
Connection to the fort? No
Team establish that spirit wants them to relocate to the next room to talk
James? No response
Move to other end of the room
James? Yes
What is your first initial? H
And the second? A – team see a spark of light from the far end of the room
And the next? O
Harold? Yes
English? Yes
Surname? Q Yes
Harold Q? No
Harold Robinson? No
Walker? No
Harold Wilson? Yes
Can you make a noise? No
Connected with head? No
Chest? Yes
Both Rab and Dave feel a breeze on their heads
Are you drunk? Yes
Dave reports having a headache
Do we have a female here? Y
S B H
V
Vera? No
Victoria? No
Veronica? No
Violet? No
Virginia? Yes
British? No
French? No
German? No
American? Yes
What is the year? 1830
Are you connected to the fort? Yes
Did you marry? No
Do you have children? Yes
Daughter? Yes
How old is she? 7
What is your surname? F
Fuller? No
Francis? No
Fitzgerald? No
Fairbanks? No
Faulkener? No
Fletcher? No
Farmer? No
Fairchild? Yes
Are you tired? No
H
What is your fathers name? W
William? Yes
William Fairchild? Yes
Mothers name? R
Rebecca? No
Ruth? Yes
James are you playing? No
Do you feel a link with Sandy? Yes
Does he remind you of someone? Yes
Does he look like your father? Yes
Do you have any brothers? No
Sisters? Yes
How many? 3
So you are 1 of 3? Yes
Janice? Yes
Session ended
Vigil 3
East tunnel
Sheila hears a male voice
Rab hears a metallic click from the stairway
No other notes received for this vigil
Team 3
Vigil 1
9.20pm East tunnel temp 11, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations
9.39pm 2 knocks heard by team in response to calling out
9.42pm Rumbling heard by team (like distant gunfire)
9.45pm Amanda smells a clean fresh aroma
9.49pm Kerry and Maria smell a very strong soapy smell
9.51pm Suzanne sees a flash against the wooden door
9.55pm Team move to room off of the north tunnel
9.59pm Team notice very strong smell of wood smoke and all hear footsteps overhead
Vigil 2
11.00pm Rooms off of the north tunnel, temp 10, EMF 00.1 – 00.2, no fluctuations
11.10pm Amanda can smell a sickly sweet smell
11.15pm Jeff feels a sudden cold draught and picks up the name John Talbot. He also smells the wood smoke smell and imagines opium smoking in this area
11.35pm Maria feels someone stood to her left and also heard a breath sound
Group Séance
Second Murder Mystery Rm
Team attempt glass divination and although the glass does move and quite strongly the team feels they are being played with as nothing that they get makes sense.
Team attempt table tipping but with no results
Vigil 3
Team are due to be in the Murder Mystery rooms again but kindly agree to go to the stables & tunnels so team 1 are able to use the rooms to try and make contact with an apparent spirit they met in their earlier.
Down the West tunnel Maria and Amanda hear voices but can not make out where exactly they are coming from.
Jeff’s camera battery dies unexpectedly in the stables area
When team 1 are done with the Murder Mystery Rm team 3 move back to their original vigil area.
Jeff’s camera regains full battery when they enter the room
2.05am Team decide to conduct a glass divination in middle room. Glass moves slightly but would not confirm whether male or female
2.15am Team move to main Murder Mystery Rm and conduct a glass divination with good results –
Glass moves and starts twisting
Male
He was here before the fort was here
20 years old when he passed
Was not aware that he was dead
He could see the team clearly
He was not a farmer
He works with horses
He likes working with horses
His name begins with S
His name is Séamus
He is Irish
His family is still in Ireland
He has been in England a long time
He came to England as a small boy
Jeff asks if Séamus knows him and the glass indicates yes, they have in fact met before
Jeff and Séamus worked at the fort together
Séamus believes Jeff is his brother
Could not confirm a date
The glass then stopped moving and the team believe Séamus has gone but then the glass starts moving again
The glass would not answer any questions and the team could make little sense of it
The team did not feel it was Séamus as the glass was moving very differently.
Personal Reports
Julie Harwood
What a great location and one I have looked forward to investigating since starting the group. It was like Coalhouse fort but right on our doorstep!
I was in team 1 with Steve, Rachel, Simon, Ross & Eileen.
Our first vigil was in the Murder Mystery rooms. I felt this could be a quiet vigil but proved to be a very interesting one. At one point as Simon caught a large light anomaly behind my chair a loud knock was heard coming from behind me. This room seemed to deliver various knocks and bangs regularly but even though we rushed to areas to find explanations, we rarely did. We decided to try a glass divination in this room and this, even though only a short session was great. The glass twisted and turned and on watching the footage back it is obvious to see none of us round that table at the time had any idea as to the strange movements it was actually making. At one point it moves just as consistently with only 2 peoples fingers on it (and the fingers were on their side at the time). We gained information that it was a German high ranking soldier called Karl who had something or some connection to U Boats. Simon tried to speak German to him and this seemed to create a positive response from the glass. I just wish we had had a German dictionary on hand as it would have been really useful.
Our second vigil was in the East tunnel. After a walk to the very end we all settled down on the wood on the floor. After seconds of turning the torch off we all heard a loud clunk click and immediately switched the torches back on. As we did we could see the door at the end of the corridor (the door we had checked was latched shut at the start of the vigil) was now swinging open. What invisible source had unlatched that door?? We said just after that if that we been a less steely group of investigators we would have been out of there in a shot but we resisted legging it and went to investigate. No one was behind the door and so how and why it opened is still a mystery. After this the men went behind the door and the 3 women stayed in the tunnel. We closed the door after them and an interesting thing to note is that we did not latch it (just closed it to) and that door did not budge an inch for the rest of the vigil. We all called out and we could feel a strong breeze around our legs and at one point Rachel was sure she saw movement coming from near an old chair in the tunnel. We could also hear what sounded like cannon fire but we later discovered this was one of the horses stabled in the adjoining tunnel.
For our third vigil we went back to the Murder mystery rooms. We went to the kitchen end and tried to contact Karl again with the glass. We had not luck and were just discussing leaving for another area when we saw that Simon who was taking notes was just staring into thin air. We called him and eventually Rachel (his partner) had to go over to him. He seemed in a trance like state, which was quite creepy, as Simon is not like that normally. He had tried automatic handwriting and was now somewhere else completely. He complained of stabbing pains in his chest and stomach also. The flash of my camera bought him round and we took him outside to get some air. He was very disorientated but recovered after about 10 minutes. We tried one last time to contact Karl in the same room we had earlier but nothing was gained. We even tried table tipping with a wheeled table that we had found but again with no results. Various people (from all teams) tried sitting in the chair that Simon had sat in and reported similar feelings to him. I am very sceptical of these after feelings as the power of suggestion is very prevalent and I wonder if they would have felt the same pains if we had sat them in any chair and told them this is where Simon was sat. Its not I don’t trust the people concerned but I think that if something is put in your mind ie “This chair will give you pain” then you will feel pain. After this vigil some of the team decided to go back down into the tunnels. I was extremely tired (which to be honest is unlike me) and due to the fact I was nearly falling asleep in the last vigil decided to wake myself up by staying in the team room on my own and clearing up.
Thank you to Dave for all your help on the night and to The Peter Ashley activity centre for allowing us an investigation of their wonderful fort. We will be back!
Maria Street
I have driven past this location on many an occasion and it has always sent a shiver down my spine, so it was exciting to actually investigate the place. I travelled with Julie and we followed Ross to the site. On arrival we did the usual meet and greet and went inside to set up. Our friendly tour guide, Dave, who conducted the walk round, greeted us. After doing the baselines with Jeff and Ross, we had a short break and then started the vigils. I was in Team 3 with Amanda, Jeff, Mark P, and guests, Suzanne, Shane and Kerry. We started in the East Capioner, a tunnel, in which we were warned, housed a spirit who was not very friendly towards women. This was like throwing down the gauntlet to us and we immediately split the team. The women sat right down the end of the tunnel and the men stayed at the end. We called out but did not get any response so we decided to make our way round to the lower floor of the North Capioner. It was as we were leaving the East Tunnel and walking down the ‘D’ tunnel, I picked up on the presence of a nurse. I had no idea what she was doing down in the tunnels but I just felt that she was just bustling along, going on with her business. She was not aware of us at all. I got the impression she was more of a Ward Sister or at least in authority in some way. On reaching the North Caponier we all settled down and listened out for noise. We could hear a loud rumbling noise, which was quite frequent, but we could not determine where it was coming from. A few orbs were caught on camera and noises were heard coming from down the tunnel. A couple of the team went to investigate but could not find where they were coming from. The strongest phenomenon was a strong smell of wood smoke and Amanda could also sense the smell of burnt flesh, which was later verified. It was also noticeably colder and we were glad to get back.
After the break we went back to this location to investigate further. I sat with the video camera but got very cold. It was interesting to note that it had not felt this cold only an hour earlier and it wasn’t particularly cold outside but I was absolutely freezing. It was remarked that the smell of smoke was stronger behind me and I was so cold that it was a while before I could move to check this for myself. We went on to the Upper Floors where the only noises I could hear was a deep sigh, which Mark P verified to be a bat that had just flown past my ear. We turned out all the lights and it was pitch. You could not see in front of your face. We could not hear anything else however. The smell of smoke was back and very strong and although we noticed it was warmer when we first came to the Upper Floors, the temperature soon dropped dramatically again.
Our next vigil was up in the Murder Mystery Rooms. The whole team was here, but as the rooms were split into three, so did we. Our team sat in the middle room where we conducted a Ouija experiment. Although the glass moved quite forcibly at times it did not make any sense and we felt that we were being played with.
We stopped for a break and then went in to one of the other tunnels, which housed a horse so we had to be careful not to confuse any sound with the noise of the animal. We made our way right to the room at the end and a few of the team felt very uneasy just walking up the tunnel. I personally could feel nothing and I continued like that throughout this vigil. We called out but it was quiet. After a while here we made our way back up to the Murder Mystery Room, this time starting in the back room. This was quite uneventful so we returned to the middle room and tried a glass experiment. This time we had a little more success. Jeff picked up on a stable boy called Séamus who was connected to a ‘John’, believed to be his boss. We didn’t get a lot further than this and the night came to an end.
I would like to thank Dave for his hospitality and his guests for their enthusiasm. It is always a pleasure to investigate a site where the host and any guests are interested in what we do and this was definitely one of those times.
Sandy Rutter
Eileen Simon Rachel and I all arrived about 19.00. I took 1 look at the fort and thought yes! It was again fantastic, as museum of army flying was. Some of the team arrived after us and there was some of the team there already. Dave our tour guide introduced himself to the team and we introduced to ourselves to him and the people who were there already with him. it was brilliant inside the fort and before we started our vigils we went on the tour with Dave and his friends and daughter Jennifer. First we went down the North tunnel. It was long and wide just like Coalhouse fort. You couldn’t see your hand in front of you, it was that dark.
Vigil 1
Team- Rab, Sandy, Wayne, Alison, Sheila, Dave & Jennifer
We all started down the North Tunnel. We got to the bottom and as usual took a few snaps and found some very good orbs on the pics. We walked about a bit and Wayne went into another part of the Tunnel. He felt a pain in his heart area. It was unexplainable as to why he was getting a pain there because as he came out of that area he was fine. He went back in to the same area and again the same thing happened so we left that area and went up the stairs to another part of the Tunnel. We caught a few orbs here too and as the team was walking about I decided to sit on the steps leading to the roof of the fort. It was really cold but I just put it down to because of the roof entrance. Dave and I decided to go up there. It was bigger than I originally thought. Then the rest of the team followed us after about 10 minutes or so. That was it for this area.
Vigil 2
Same team
We were in the murder mystery rooms now. We took a few pictures and we settled down to a séance. We made up ouiji board using a round table from the other room and letters and numbers from our team kit. Wayne was filming. Round the table was Rab Jennifer Sheila Alison Dave and Myself. We made contact with a spirit who was illiterate as he couldn’t spell. As we asked for the initials of his name we got a DXT. Then I came up with the name Dexter and I said Dexter is that your name the glass went to yes. We all introduced ourselves to Dexter as he introduced himself to us. Alison asked if one of us was related to him and he said that he was. Alison asked who and the glass went straight to me. I asked him a question only I knew the answer to. I asked him that if I was related to him what year did my Uncle Sandy die and the glass moved to 1969. That was right he did die on 22nd December 1969. I have always said he sees me but I don’t see him. That took me back a bit, as I never knew of an Uncle Dexter that was around in 1732. We asked if there was someone else there that would like to make contact with us. There was and we again asked them to spell out their name. We established it was a man again. We asked him for the first letter of his first name he came up with the letter J then A then M and Rab I think it was, said James and he said it was. Again we asked a few questions and the answers were sometimes yes and sometimes no and again Alison asked if James was related to one of us and he said yes. We asked who again and the glass went straight to me again. I did have an uncle James and so I asked when did you die and he came up with 2005 which was correct. To tell you truth I didn’t like it 1 bit as you dont expect it to happen to you. Then we closed the glass and we said we would speak to James again in the next room. The funny thing is when I took my finger off the glass and the team asked a question the glass wouldn’t move but when I placed my finger back on the glass it moved so some how the spirits where going through me. The rest of the team came through as we didn’t realise the time as we ran over so we closed the seance and left.
Vigil 3
Same Team
We all went to feed the horses apples and we went down the tunnel near the stables. There were 2 white horses and we went further down the tunnel. Alison started to get a bit jittery for some reason but that was it for down there. Then we went down to the east tunnel. We went down in to the training area where the big double doors where and it was really weird down here. I got a couple of orbs then me and Sheila and Rab started to walk up the tunnel and we heard footsteps and we went a little further. Rab threw a stone see if something would throw it back but it didn’t unfortunately. By now we were near the entrance and the other 4 was still at the bottom so me Sheila and Rab decided to go down the West tunnel and we spent 15 minutes down here before we had to go back. We decided to go up the spiral staircase were I sensed something behind me.
It was a very good investigation and I can’t wait to go back. Special thanks to Dave and his Daughter Jennifer for showing us around and keeping us on the right track.
Jeff Aldridge
This investigation started out as promising and from my point of view did not disappoint. Right from the initial walk round and base line testing, I felt as if we were being watched, in fact when doing the base lines in the stable area Maria, Ross and I were walking along through the long corridor where the horse stalls are and I was convinced that someone was walking a short distance behind me and I heard heavy breathing. Needless to say I made sure I was walking closer to the others for the rest of the tests, because I felt this so strongly and was a little un-nerved by it.
After our initial break, Team 3, Maria, Amanda, Suzanne, Kerry, Mark, Shane and I made our way to the East Tunnels. After walking to the far end where timber was being stored on the floor, there was a doorway through to another area, which is a little unsafe, so it was decided that the door should be closed to prevent distraction. The ladies stayed in this area for their vigil as previous reports say that females are more affected in this area than males so it was decided that the men should retire to further back along the tunnel. Mark, Shane and I held our vigil about halfway along and settled down in complete darkness. After a short while Shane felt something touch his head, I had an icy cold draught on the right side of my neck and picked up the name of Alfred. Sometime later Amanda joined us and stood to my left. It wasn’t long before she felt something or someone to her left, again I felt an icy cold draught on my neck followed by a horrendous pain in my back and left leg, and felt like I was being pushed from the right, Shane also felt something touch his head again. The temperature in this area seemed to turn icy cold.
After a short break we made our way to the North Tunnels magazine area, which was full of the smell of wood smoke, which appeared to become thick at times. In a short while Amanda felt that there was someone standing near to one of the windows and went and stood there, she said she could, as well as the smell of the wood smoke, perceive a sweet sickly smell, reminiscent of burning flesh. I was sat on an old chair and heard a couple of clicks behind me and picked up on the name of John Talbot, followed a little later by an impression of someone smoking opium. We then moved further on to another area, which opened up to a sort of room and ahead of us was a small staircase at the top of which, was some hay. Here some of us felt cold draughts and Mark caught what appear to be two bright orange streaks flying past the Camcorder. Kelly and I sat on the small staircase, Amanda sat in an old chair and Maria, Suzanne, Mark and Shane stood in the tunnel opposite us. Maria suddenly asked who was standing to her left, there was nobody there, but she was convinced that someone had been standing right next to her because she could hear him breathing. This area again felt as if the temperature had suddenly dropped.
The next vigil was in the Murder Mystery Rooms (a suite of three rooms) we decided on the middle room for our investigation and it was agreed that as the table was set up as a Ouija we should use it. Everyone was involved except for Mark who operated the Camcorder. The glass started to move almost immediately and various questions were asked, but only random letters were selected and no sense was made of any of the replies given. The question “is somebody at this table that you do not wish to speak to?” was asked and the glass travelled to Shane who left the circle, but no significance can be given to this as the answer to subsequent questions were also gibberish. After quite some time it was decided to try some table tipping, but again nothing happened. It seemed as if our communicator had got his fun and left.
The final vigil for team 3 started in the stables area and was something I was not looking forward to, due to my earlier experience, but this area now seemed quiet and still. We made our way to the far end of the passage, past the horse stalls and settled in the room at the far end. Nothing of any consequence was felt in this room and after a while it was decided to go to the far room of the Murder Mystery Rooms, this room felt completely devoid of any activity altogether, so we moved to the first room of the three. Here we tried Glass Divination involving the whole team except Amanda who took notes, the glass started to move almost straight away and after we all gave our names we invited our communicator to move the glass to Shane for “No” answers and to Mark for “Yes” answers. We were able to establish that we were talking to a 20 year old male who apparently worked in the stables. Some time later I picked up on the name Sean and asked if this was his name, the answer “No” so we asked if he could give us the first letter of his name if we called out the alphabet. We got a positive yes for the letter “S” and I picked up the name Séamus (Shamus) and a definite Irish connection. Afterwards all questions with a “Yes” response made the glass come nearer to me (I was sat next to Mark), so questions were asked as to whether he knew me to which he responded that I was his brother. This seems pretty strange to me, as with this sort of thing it cannot be totally condemned or verified and makes it all very frustrating. Things were a little bit confusing from here on because it appears that he did not know or want to know that he had passed over. Amanda suggested that he might be a little bit confused or upset at this revelation, hence the abrupt end to this communication. Sadly it was time for us to pack up and leave, but as we were leaving the room I had the strong sense of the name O’Leary.
For me this was a great location and hopefully I will be able to return in future for more investigation, as now I have more questions than ever. Sincere thanks to Dave for the initial tour and his support during the investigation and to his daughter Jennifer for accompanying one of the teams and to Kerry and Shane for accompanying our team on a very fascinating evening.
Rab Gardner
For this investigation my steely-eyed team consisted of Sandy, Alison, Wayne, Sheila and our hosts Dave and Jennifer.
Vigil 1: North Tunnels.
We started this Vigil in the North Caponier. On entering we all experienced a smell of wood smoke. As I moved around it seemed strongest between the two magazines (rooms marked SS and CS) on the lower gallery. Moving up onto the upper gallery where many of the windows are without glass, I was hoping that the wood smoke smell was coming from outside, but it was absent.
From the upper gallery stairs led to the upper moat where we could look down on the Caponier. Standing outside and looking along the Forts walls there was no sight or smell of any bonfire. Heading back downstairs I briefly picked up the wood smoke smell again at the top of the stairs. As I got to the lower gallery, it was there again. It was quite thick and I would have expected to see smoke, but there was none.
Apart from that and the bats, there were no other light, temp or EMF anomalies.
Vigil 2: Murder Mystery Rooms/Stables.
For this Vigil we had a choice between the western demi-Caponier (dark creepy tunnel) or the Murder mystery room and stable block. No contest, the stable block is a very long corridor with ‘rooms’ for horses. At the western end there are 2 rooms in line with each other and for the first time that night there was a feeling of not being alone. Other team members experienced feelings and sensations (see individual reports) but I saw a blue white orb above the door we had just walked through – no change to the EMF meter however and no temp anomalies.
Moving on, we then entered the main fore building and the Murder Mystery rooms. Of these 3 rooms, we decided to carry out glass divination in the middle ‘bar’ room. It wasn’t long before we were rewarded by the glass moving and it connected with one of the team members (see personal report). In fact a total of three spirits connected with the team member and using the letters around the table, they were able to verify a number of personal details of that individual. After thanking them we tried to connect to anything else but to no avail. We then moved to the next large room and tried again. This time we had a little girl called Virginia Fairbanks speak to us and she talked to us about herself and her father William. A very rewarding experience overall. On a personal note, however, every time I do glass divination I always forget to check the EMF meter.
Vigil 3: East & West Demi Caponiers.
Back down the tunnels to the eastern Caponier. Dave played the Amazing Grace song from his laptop and there did seem to be a slight change to the atmosphere. Sheila and Sandy moved back up the tunnel a bit and I followed, positive that I had heard something further up. I asked Dave to turn the music off and just after that I could here a voice up the tunnel towards the spiral staircase and just after that I could here a metallic clang from that direction. It sounded like one of the gates.
By this time I was next to Sheila and Sandy and we went towards the stairwell, but detected nothing. The three of us then went down the western Caponier and sat in silence for a while. I tried calling out but there was no visible or audible response. As the end approached, we checked out the adjacent rooms but only found bats again – not a bad thing.
This was a good investigation that proved to me, that not all dark creepy tunnels are indeed that. Throughout the whole investigation, the tunnels would feel different from one vigil to the next. Sometimes it really did feel like someone was following me, but I still felt comfortable down there and at times peaceful.
Wayne Blyth
Myself, Alison and Mark Pettet arrived extremely early so were able to see this imposing location still in daylight. After taking several pictures and video shots, we were met by Len, an extremely informed man, who proceeded to tell us snippets of the fort's past.
Eventually the rest of the group joined us and we stepped inside the fort to start our investigation.
After our set up, tour, and briefing, it was off to our first vigils.
Vigil 1:
Guided by Jenny and Dave, Rab, Sheila, Alison and myself headed to the tunnels. A very ominous place to be as it is so dark that even if you put your hand in front of your face you can see nothing. We settled in to our task. Apart from the obvious feelings of fear and anxiousness because of the dark, I can’t report anything in this vigil of note.
Vigil 2:
This was to be more significant. When we settled, we started to experience cold spots and significantly for me, in one particular archway, I had a sharp pain suddenly appear in the left side of my chest. On walking out of the area, the feeling disappeared. To test it further, I again walked into the same spot and again the feeling reappeared. This happened about 6 or 7 times and several times I actually found it very difficult to breathe. For the sake of my health we decided to venture out of the area and headed up to the moat area. Again unfortunately, although a fascinating place to be in the dead of night, nothing I am aware of occurred here.
Vigil 3:
For vigil 3 Rab (the team leader) asked the team where we would like to go next. Unanimously, the murder mystery room was voted for. This room proved to be extremely active. While I filmed, the rest of the team set about a glass divination experiment. Suffice to say that so much information was gleaned that I used 4 pages of A4 paper to write down the responses. Sandy appeared to be contacted by his distant relatives. I know that sometimes the glass either had only one finger on it or everyone was using their upturned little fingers as contact. There were so many responses that we decided to continue the vigil through the scheduled break. Eventually, it was time to start the next vigil but we carried on for a while.
Not being a fan of horses, I stayed behind while my team went off to the stables area. While in the team room, I saw Julie's team standing outside after having experienced something in the murder mystery room. I saw that Simon was in an agitated state, and was told what had happened. I shall leave that to their respective reports.
After hearing what Simon endured, I decided to try the same location. I sat in the old leather chair and after a few minutes experienced what I can only describe as a stabbing sensation in my left side just under my ribs. I still cannot explain it.
Last vigil:
We all headed off back to the tunnels. On the journey, my heart nearly left my body as Dave, our guide, decided to bring along his laptop and proceeded to play "The Last Post". I had not been expecting this, and was relieved to find it was just a recording. Myself, Alison, Jenny and Dave all loitered within one of the tunnels. We were joined several times by the resident bats, but this did not seem to put anyone off. As we sat quietly, Dave again played more music and there appeared to be a few cold spots. At one point, I got the feeling of anger and told my team that I just wanted to tell them to get out. Dave then started telling us what had been reported in the area, but I dont know if anyone experienced anything of the like that night. I believe though that Alison was touched in the tunnel, but would prefer to let her tell her own story.
On our way back we decided to visit the "D" tunnel. Again this was an extremely dark area and very deceiving as the acoustics made it seem as though someone was talking right beside you, when in fact, they were halfway down the tunnel on their way back to the team room
Conclusion
A fantastic location and one I would not hesitate to return to. Paranormal? Undecided. It would be very interesting to read everyone else’s reports and decide whether a return visit is required. I believe it is.
Thank you so much to Len, Dave and Jenny for being the perfect guides and to Steve Gilbert for his choices and efforts.
Alison Blyth
My first impressions of the fort as we arrived was that the building had so much history and we are fortunate a building like this had survived and was in tact as we were so close to the coast, an area which was badly effected by the second world war.
The view from the car park was fantastic as you could see all the way to the sea, an ideal place for a look out, an ideal place for a fort used specifically to protect the south coast from invaders.
After a walk about, our first vigil commenced in the north tunnels. The temperature was cold but not uncomfortable, but what fascinated me about this area was the strong smell of gunpowder. Usually, if a building like this was in regular use for activities which would be using these materials on a weekly basis, I would pass these smells as normal but in this instance it wasn't and the smell would seem to come and go as quickly as it hit the back of your nose and throat so I would say that this was residue energy, way of letting us know what was felt and smelt on a regular basis, the conditions in which these soldiers were forced to become accustomed to. As the area was quite vast and had holding areas for ammunition and separate areas for 'fighting' we decided to get into groups of two to cover the areas. I stood in the area at the end of the tunnel where 'slits' were used for firing in the walls, two each side with the cannons being fired in the centre. I felt the mixture of feelings that I suspect would have been felt under these circumstances. The feeling of a team acting as one organising the cannon, but also the fear of being shot and for some reason I had a bad headache in this area. What struck me as very strange was I kept getting a strong smell of freshly washed linen, a sweet almost sickly smell which I cannot explain as it would come when I was on my own and then again when the group were together.
We wandered outside along the vast walls. The smell of burning at times was overwhelming and considering that fires are not allowed in this area puzzled me and was something I couldn't explain. As we came back into the area to finish this vigil, as Wayne was walking through the corridor in the direction of the stairs which took us to the upper levels, he felt a crushing sensation in his chest which disappeared when he moved away from the area. He tried this several times and each time that he stood in the area he would feel the same pain.
After a break, our next vigil was in the Murder Mystery rooms. We called out but didn't get a response so experimented with glass divination. Please refer to the notes for this vigil as at least four pages of notes were taken.
As we overrun into the next vigil and as the other team needed this area to start their vigil we decided to wander down to the stables.
At first this was pleasant as we fed the horses but I felt for some reason I needed to keep my guard up. I thought Wayne had followed us in, as I believed he was behind me as I could sense someone there. What I failed to realise until we got further into this area and I shone the torch behind me was that Wayne had stayed at the 'Hub' and was not behind me at all. My comfort zone of thinking that my husband was walking behind suddenly disappeared and I felt very uncomfortable. I felt a man, a smug individual seem to feed on my apprehension of realising that it was him behind me. I called out after telling Dave what I thought and felt annoyed with this man as I was given some graphic images of what he would like to do to me. I am sorry but I do not feel that they are appropriate to write in my report but I will say that he was a predator and like to lure young women down into this area and rape and murder them. Generally prostitutes but none the less they were tortured to feed his 'habit' and he got a kick from the pain he had inflicted onto them. It made me angry to the extent that I couldn't stay in this area for much longer.
My final area to investigate was the east tunnel .The team split into two. My team consisted of Jen, Dave, Wayne and myself. We sat quietly whilst Dave set up the song, the last post to see if we could get a reaction. Other than feeling that we were not alone I did not pick up on anything really but that maybe because the area was quite cold. Jen did feel very uneasy and Wayne felt very angry for some reason in this area. We moved on to the semi circle in the tunnels and walked slowly to get to the spiral staircase. We did see a thick mist in front of us which I cannot explain and the acoustics did give me a sense of disorientation, but nothing concrete was experienced by me unfortunately.
All in all a fantastic evening and I would like to thank Dave and Jen for making us feel so welcome. It was a pleasure working with you, and I hope that we can do it again in the near future.
Amanda Horley
Although I hadn’t visited Widley before, I had visited the other two forts on Portsdown Hill (during daylight) so had some idea what the layout and atmosphere would be. It was indeed an imposing place, although surprisingly the tunnels seemed a lot less eerie in the dark!
During the walkround I was very aware of an overpowering smell of wood smoke in the north tunnels that did not appear to be present anywhere else in the Fort or other tunnels. There are no houses nearby other than the two flats occupied by the caretakers, and there appeared to be no bonfires nearby, so it did not appear to come from an obvious source.
Our first vigil started in the East tunnel and we split into two groups, with the women sitting right down the tunnel and the men further up it. I was aware of a very feminine perfume smell, but other than that it was quite quiet. I moved further up the tunnel towards where the men were, and the perfume smell was no longer present. I checked with the others in our group, and as usual, no-one was wearing anything scented. After a time we decided to move towards the north tunnel and on leaving the east tunnel there was a strong chewing gum smell that I hadn’t noticed on the way in.
The rooms at the end of the north tunnel again smelt very strongly of wood smoke which seemed stronger in some areas than others. Underlying this was another sweet slightly pungent smell, but the wood smoke was so strong that it was difficult to identify it. At one point I felt that there was a man standing near one of the windows, but could sense nothing further.
Whilst returning to the team rooms, the main tunnel had a smell similar to polish or cleaner to it that again we hadn’t noticed previously. I checked the floor, but it wasn’t from that.
Our second vigil was initially back in the lower rooms of the north tunnel which again smelt very strongly of the wood smoke, but there was little else I could pick up on there. We then moved up to the upper rooms, where the wood smoke smell was not quite as strong, but was still present. Again I was aware of a sickly sweet smell beneath it, but I still couldn’t identify exactly what it was. There were a lot of bats flying around this area, which proved interesting, and, at times a little disturbing to those not used to hearing them around, but I didn’t really pick up on anything else here.
Next the three groups split between the three rooms in the fort that are used for “murder mystery” weekends. We tried some glass divination in room 2 and although we did appear to pick up on somebody, they seemed to move the glass randomly to different letters and were not keen to communicate properly with us. Unfortunately the table was quite sticky in places, which did cause problems with the divination.
We next visited the stable area, which for me was very quiet.
Our final vigils were back in the "murder mystery" rooms and we tried glass divinations in both rooms 1 and 3. Again there appeared to be someone present, but they were not particularly co-operative.
All in all, it was an interesting night, as for me it was dominated by a variety of smells and scents that didn’t appear to have any obvious explanations. However I didn’t really pick up on any specific spirits or energies.
Ross Richardson
The investigation at fort Widley was really good. The fort was in such great condition with its white tunnels splitting off everywhere. Our team for the night was Julie (team leader) Steve, Eileen, Simon and Rachel. We picked up a few noises and had a glass divination when we picked up on a German officer from WW1 who was bombed on a U-boat. His name was Karl and he was 26 years old. The most scary moment on the night was when we were in the east tunnel and a door which was closed, suddenly opened very fast. Steve, Simon & I had checked the door before and it wasn’t easy to open like that. We also saw bats flying through the tunnel and picked up on some orbs but there was a lot of dust around. Later we tried some table tipping but there was no response. Simon was sat in a chair and did some automatic writing but we were worried as he was not responding to us and he seemed to be taken over by something. We tried to bring him around but he was very shaken and said he had chest pains as if he had been stabbed. Simon went outside for some fresh air and was shaking but soon felt better. All in all it was a great night with lots of things going on and would like to visit it again sometime.
Steve Gilbert
Fort Widley - The views of Portsmouth from the entrance to the Fort are as impressive as you can get this side of the Spinnaker Tower.
This is the first building of its type that I have investigated so far and one of the most eagerly awaited.
From the first walkround it was clear that the depth and complexity of the 3 tunnels made it more than atmospheric for a ghost hunt.
That said the first of our teams’ vigils was in the "murder mystery room" and involved an interesting seance at the end.
After this we relocated to the east tunnels and it began with one of the strangest occurrences for me to date - that is the door separating the end of the tunnel with the upper derelict parts, suddenly and without warning unlatched and opened by itself. I was actually nearest the door. It was so dark I didn’t notice it had moved straightaway. The start of things to come? Well - not really as it turned out but on its own an unexplainable occurrence that was enough to make you a little more guarded when going on further to the other tunnels. Vigils 3 and 4 also had there moments of freakiness particularly for Simon and the old chair, as I’m sure his report will indicate. I would particularly like to go back at a later date and spend some more time in the tunnels and try some different experiments if possible as I now know there has been some frequent and particular paranormal activity reported in certain areas. Many thanks to everyone at Peter Ashley for allowing our visit and to Dave for his guidance. I Look forward to going back soon for some more "door opening experiences"
Rachel Steadman
When we first arrived at the fort it was already getting dark, which adds to the atmosphere. From the car park the fort looked little more than warehouses ( but it wasn’t built to look pretty)
The walk around was interesting with just enough information to get you interested in the history and reported hauntings but gave nothing away.
I was on team 1, with Julie (team leader), Ross, Steve, Eileen & Simon.
Vigil 1 Murder mystery room
We all settled ourselves at various points around the room, taking temperature readings, EMF and photos. Roughly 12 minutes into the vigil a loud bang was heard, near to Julie’s chair, we do not know the cause of this noise, as there was nothing to make the noise. Shortly after this, again on the video the sound of something else falling on the floor can be heard but we could not find anything on the floor. During this time we also caught light anomalies on camcorder and again the sound of something falling onto the floor but again nothing was found. The camcorder also picked up a strange sound similar to radio interference. 30 minutes into this vigil we tried glass divination, Julie, Eileen, Steve, Ross and myself sat around a table while Simon videoed. Almost straight away the glass started to move, and continued to do so for roughly 10 minutes, during this time we had positive answers to various questions and we discovered it was the spirit of a high ranking German, from WW1, who was a test pilot on a U-boat,
He died at the fort in 1914 aged 26. The name Karl also came out, whether any of this information is correct I am unsure as my military history is terrible. The glass moved very definitely and even tilted and almost jumped on a couple of occasions, all of which was caught on the video camera.
Vigil 2 The East Tunnel
The tunnels of Fort Widley are fantastic, although very long and very, very dark (you can’t see your hand in front of your face) even a mag light hardly made any difference. When we reached the end of the tunnel we looked around for a while and chatted a little as we settled in for the hour. As we were doing this a loud metallic clunk was heard by the large double wooden doors, as we all turned to look. One of the doors swung open quite quickly, we all froze starring at the door, (a less experienced team would of run like sprinters out of there,) but there was nobody in the room behind the door as Ross and Steve checked straight away. We composed ourselves and tried to see how easily the door came open, although we found with the latch across it would not open even when we banged on the door and jumped around. After we calmed down we sat watching the door and the far end of the tunnel. The men went into the room behind the door, while the 3 ladies sat in the tunnel, while it was just the ladies, I heard a noise which sounded like the wood in front of us moving, neither Julie or Eileen had moved (we were practically sitting on each others knees). Shortly after I heard and sensed movement by an old chair slightly farther up the tunnel, on investigation it appeared that the chair had been moved but I would like to check more of the photos to try to confirm this. Shortly after the fellas re-joined us we headed back to the team room. While we were in the tunnels we heard a few times what sounded like cannon fire, we found out later that it was the horse in the stables.
Vigil 3 The murder mystery rooms
For our final vigil we went back to the murder mystery rooms as the first time we stayed in the main room and had a great glass divination. We headed straight for the kitchen end of the rooms and most of us sat around the table apart from Simon who had found a comfy chair in the corner, so offered to take notes. We had no luck again with the glass so sat listening to the other team in the next room. We discussed packing up, everyone but Simon agreed and Simon was sat looking down at his notes, I called to him a few times but got no answer so Julie spoke to him, he looked up but starred blankly at us. I went over to him, he’d tried automatic writing, and seemed to be in a trance state, as he did not speak or even acknowledge us until Julie took a photo of him. The flash brought him round but he had no idea what had happened or how long he had been out. He complained of a sharp pain in his stomach, as if he had been stabbed. We took him outside to calm down as he was shaking, after about 5 minutes he was fine. We headed back into the murder mystery rooms to try table tipping in the main room (as we had found a table on wheels) but had no luck.
Vigil 4 the tunnels
As we had 20 minutes left, 5 of us decided to head back down into the tunnels, Julie stayed in the team room, as she felt incredibly tired, which is very unusual in all the time I’ve known Julie she’s always the first there and last to leave and never complains of being tired. I have never known her fall asleep, which she nearly did in the last vigil. We had no clear destination in the tunnels so just quietly wandered around on the off chance we would catch a little more. Although the only thing we got were some very good pictures of the colony of bats that have made there home in Fort Widley.
All in all what a fantastic night, things started to happen pretty much as soon as we arrived. It was a creepy location, and I noticed the team stayed together for most of the night, although we spaced ourselves out in the upstairs rooms we all stayed close when we got into the tunnels which is unusual. This was the best glass divination I have ever taken part in, due to the amount of movement and the duration of movement. I am really looking forward to seeing if Sandy can confirm any of the information we got. It may not have been the prettiest location I’ve ever been to, but it’s one I would definitely go back to.
Thank you to Fort Widley and the staff for allowing us to investigate.
Simon Steadman
Well what can I say, Fort Widley is one of the most atmospheric locations I have been to for a while.
I knew nothing of the place or the hauntings associated with it so I was really looking forward to the night. The only thing I was a little wary of was the tunnels, as some of the team know, they scare me silly.
After the lit walk around (which was incredibly informative) we began.
Vigil 1 murder mystery rooms
Julie (team leader), Rachel, Eileen, Ross, Steve and myself.
I wasn’t expecting much to happen in these rooms, how wrong I was.
We had only just settled down when there came a loud bang from behind Julie. This was caught on tape. While trying some table tipping we experienced numerous clicks, thuds and bumps all without any real explanation. We then tried some glass divination with great results as the glass seemed to be responding to questions asked by the entire group. During this the name Karl popped into my head and as I said it the glass seemed to respond by moving towards me. We tried more questions and the glass responded. The information we found was that a German U-boat test pilot had been torpedoed during the 1st world war. I tried to introduce myself in German (very badly) it again seemed to respond and during the experiment the glass actually tipped up three times and reviewing the footage shows that the glass was moving in a very unusual way as it was twisting and moving in circles at the same time.
All in all I was very impressed with this vigil and the divination.
Vigil 2 east tunnel
Well the tunnels held some trepidation for me, as I’m not much for places where you cant see the exits. We had only just got settled at the end of the tunnel, turned the lights off when the large wooden door latch snapped open with a very definite snap as we turned a torch on and trained the camcorder towards the noise the large door swung open. We were almost ready to run but we resisted and checked the door and to be honest I can find no logical explanation for what made the latch move or made the door open. To me this is possibly one of the most paranormal happenings I have ever witnessed.
After we all calmed down we decided to split into two smaller groups with the girls left in the tunnel while myself, Ross and Steve ventured further into the rooms beyond. These rooms are used by the emergency services for crisis training they looked like something from the Blair witch but after a few minutes lost all atmospheres and felt normal. On review of the footage a few ‘orbs’ were caught but I am a little sceptical due to dust and insects. For the last 30 minutes we split into smaller groups. Eileen Ross and myself ventured down the west tunnel and had the feeling that we were being watched and followed, this could have been due to some form of infrasound occurring in the tunnel but apart from a few small noises nothing else happened.
One observation I had was that even though the team consisted of seasoned ghost hunters we all seemed to huddle together, it would be interesting to see if this happened to the other teams.
Vigil 3 murder mystery rooms
I haven’t really got much to say about this vigil. We all sat down and as the rest of the team started to try glass divination I thought I’d try some automatic writing. I am usually quite sceptical about this but after a few minutes I seemed to be somewhere else and didn’t feel right. The next thing I remember was someone calling my name and a flash, which I now know to be a camera. I felt stabbing pains in my stomach and when I recovered from my shaking fit had a look at the papers and to my amazement I could make out some words. I’m not too sure if they made sense or not but I was impressed with the psychological effects that this experiment had on me although I don’t think I’ll be trying it again alone.
Vigil 4 murder mystery rooms/the tunnels
We tried some more glass divination/table tipping in the murder mystery room again but we had no luck, Julie was experiencing severe tiredness (which is unusual for her) so the rest of us decided to try the tunnels again there was sense of presence again but little other evidence was captured.
I have to say this investigation was one of the best I’ve been on. The location and staff were fantastic and it’s a place that I will remember for years to come. I would love the opportunity of going back for another night.