Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Private Day Nursery Croydon
29th September 2006 - 7pm-1:30am
Attending Investigators:
Kerry Price, Julie Harwood, Steve Crouch, Steve Gilbert, Mandy Bradley, Brian Ward, David Ireland
Paul Wayman- Guest Medium + his wife Penny
Staff Attending: Lindsey, Michelle, David + 2
Timetable
7:15pm- Mandy and Kerry arrive. Greet staff , look around and start baseline tests
7.30pm- D&H investigators arrive, meet & greet
7.45pm- Set up experiments and equipment.
8.15pm- Break
8:30pm- Steve C arrives
8:45pm- Vigil 1
9.45pm- Break
10pm- Medium arrives, meet & greet
10:15pm- All tour property with medium
11pm-Break
11:15pm- Vigil 2 inc Paul
12:15am- Break
12:45am- Séance
1:30am - Clear up and finish
Locked Off Equipment & Experiments
Locked off camera at bottom of loft stairs looking up
Locked off camera and EVP & dictaphone in baby sleep room
Trigger object in play room with locked off camera.
Dictaphone in garage
Dictaphone in loft
Ouija
Glass Divination
Teams for Vigils
Team 1:
Kerry(team leader)
Steve Crouch
Abbie
Julie
Mandy
2 staff
Team 2:
David
Brian
Steve Gilbert (team leader)
1 staff
Paul and Penny for vigil 2
Active Areas:
All areas are active however the main places are
The Loft
Baby sleep room
Areas to cover
Ground floor and Garage
1st floor and baby sleep room
Loft
On your vigils please be prepared to split into smaller groups to cover as much ground as possible during the hour alloted without disturbing
the other group
Vigil 1:
Team 1- 1st Floor
Team 2- Ground Floor
Vigil 2;
Team 1- Ground Floor
Team 2- 1st Floor
Baseline Tests
Room Name
Loft EMF- 0 TEMP- Fluctuating between 33-37c and then to 27c Sleep EMF- 0 TEMP 36c
Starfish EMF- 0 TEMP 37-45c. Corner opp door 45 down to 43c
Turtle EMF- 0 TEMP 37-45c
Toilet EMF-0 TEMP 42c
Stairs EMF- 0 TEMP 43.5c
Office EMF- 0 TEMP 44c
Goldfish EMF- 0 TEMP 46c
Dolphin EMF- 0 TEMP 43-44c
Concert EMF- 0 TEMP 35-38.5c
Kitchen EMF- 0 TEMP 39-40c
Garage EMF- 0 TEMP 29-30.5c
Vigil Notes
Team 1a
Turtle Room
TEMP 18.5c by Kerry, 22 near door and 19-20.5c all around
8:55pm- Julie sees movement in corner
9:05pm- Knife which was picked up earlier has moved, compare with
previous photo. Confirmed.
9:10pm- Shadow in ceiling appears to change shape seen by Kerry. No-
one is moving changes shape and then gets smaller after about
1 minute.
9:15pm- All hear heavy creaking behind Julie
- Dave feels draught .TEMP 19 rising to 21c.
- Loud knock on table behind Mandy, TEMP 84c!
9:20pm- Move to Starfish Room
- Mandy smells wood smoke, confirmed by Dave.
- All conduct ouija, knock heard behind Julie
9:40pm- Move to sleep room, horrible atmosphere.
9:50pm- Creaking heard in hallway under loft
NOTES WERE NOT TAKEN DURING THE NEXT PART OF THE INVESTIGATION HOWEVER THEY ARE COVERED IN PAUL’S WALK AROUND AND THE REPORTS.
Garage
11:30pm- Kerry feels that someone has smashed her ribs and tied her
Ankles.
11:35pm- Growling heard by all
11:40pm- Footsteps heard.
11:41pm- Growling heard again.
11:45pm- Low talking heard, Kerry think that it said ‘come’.
ALL FEEL TERRIFIED
11:50pm- 5th attempt to hold a vigil in the garage, feel 2 spirits( 1 male
1 female), the male stopping the woman from speaking.
Team 2
Garage
Brian & David feel as though an energy keeps moving rapidly.
David can see a little girl poking her head through the climbing frame and can sense the name Annabelle.
David can hear footsteps by the tree in the garden.
Long Room
Clicking heard outside the door, could be other team.
David still picking up on shifting energies.
David and Brian both have headaches and David feels sick,
David picked up on the illness scarlet fever.
David hears a male whisper the word ‘go’.
Team 2a
9pm- Long Room TEMP 21.7c
9:30pm- Garage 20.1c
9:40pm- Steve G feels that there is a cable running across the entrance
to the garage stopping him getting in.
9.45pm- Rejoin rest of team in long room
- Breezes felt. Steve feels headache and sickness. Girls reported a
strange breeze that made them shiver
11:30pm- Office TEMP 19.9c
11:40pm- Starfish Room TEMP 20.5c.
11:41pm- Attempt table tipping. No response.
11:55pm- Sleep Room TEMP 21.7c. Light flashes seen on back wall.
12.55pm- Loft TEMP 21.8c
Paul's Walk Around
Downstairs Long/Play Room
Paul picks up on a dark haired female who owned or felt they owned the property. He feels her presence from the right of the window to the corner of that half of room.
Paul- Has there been anything thrown or moved in this area?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul said that it is because of this spirit.
Have things disappeared from this room and turned up somewhere else?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul feels that this spirit is playing games but feels malicious.
Paul picks up on sweet smell.
All move to other end of room.
Paul says that he feels watched from the other end of the room and that the area feels unpleasant.
Doesn’t pick up on anyone at present but feels that this was a room used for eating.
Picks up on a rotten/sweet smell which smells horrible.
Paul senses someone being picked up and also that hair was being pulled but feels that it is connected with upstairs. He also says that he believes that people are aware of temperature changes in the area that he is standing.
1ST Floor Landing
Paul feels that someone stands at the top of the stairs looking over the corner of the banisters. It is a male.
Paul- When you are downstairs you get the feeling that you want to look up and expect or do see someone there or a feeling of being watched from that area?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul- Is pacing heard in this area?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul feels that there are 2 spirits 1 male and 1 female, he also believes there is a connection to the loft space. He feels that someone ( male) took his life here and that he is angry. He doesn’t want people here.
Paul-Have people been pushed here?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul feels that the name of the spirit is Edward or something beginning with Ed.
Baby Sleep Room
Paul feels uncomfortable in this room, he picked up on a noise earlier which sounded like a cat cry or a screech coming from this room.
Paul- Has something been moved in this area, something related with the children?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul-Has talking been heard
Lindsey-Yes
Paul is drawn to the corner opposite the door.
Paul-Is this area active?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul picks up on murmuring in this room and feels that a violent argument took place and feels energy start to build in the corner.
Paul-Does this area seem dimmer sometimes?
Lindsey- Kind of.
Paul feels the energy is moving towards the window.
Paul- Have you heard movement up here from downstairs?
Lindsey-Yes
Turtle Room
Paul- Has someone been seen looking out of this window?
Lindsey-Not this window
Paul-Has a woman been seen here?
Lindsey-Not quite
Is the window that she looks out from on this side of the building?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul- Does a sweet smell like perfume or flowers happen in this room?
Lindsey-Yes
Orb appears on camcorder from bottom right to top left of screen, Paul feels icy cold.
Paul feels that someone may have jumped from the window a long time ago in the buildings history.
Paul sees light opposite him by window and feels drawn to that area.
Paul- Has something been moved in this room also?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul feels that it is connected to the activity downstairs. Paul feels like his arm has been grabbed and David (guest) confirms that he felt the same, Mandy says that Kerry felt the same thing earlier.
Office
Paul feels that this is the room where the face has been seen at the window and points to the corner window.
Lindsey-Yes
Paul says that it feels sad in this room, a sense of loss like a feeling of waiting for someone’s return.
Paul- Do electrical things in this room switch on/off
Lindsey-Sometimes
Lindsey then notices a computer on, which had been turned off earlier.
Paul- Do the lights go on and off in this room or flicker?
Lindsey- Not in this room as far as I am aware
Paul feels that there are 2 spirits connected with this room 1 sad and 1 mischievous.
Paul- Do people feel like they have been touched here?
Lindsey-Yes
Orb bottom right of camcorder
Paul feels that he has been followed and feels a spirit to his left and pressure on his arm.
Paul- Have a female and a tall thin man been seen at the window?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul- Is he dark haired?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul- Does he where a hat?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul feels that this male spirit is responsible for the electrical items being switched on/off in the whole site not just this room. He also feels that this spirit man doesn’t go very far back in time. His appearance would appear to be normal although a little shabby although this man would have been quite vain and wouldn’t be aware of that. He also feels that tragedy happened around this man.
Paul asks which rooms were next to cover.
Mandy answers the attic at which point 2 orbs caught on camcorder from Paul to bottom right of camcorder.
Starfish Room
Paul starts to feel a stomach ache and is confused by it.
Paul- Has pacing been picked up in this room from downstairs?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul- Do you feel agitated in this room as though you can’t settle?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul says that something bad has happened in this room at which point something is heard landing on the floor between Paul and Mandy. Also picked up by others, something small like a pebble cause could not be found.
Paul picks up on energy to his left and feels that it is female, he adds that this is not the most depressing room in the house but feels like you couldn’t stay in it for long.
Paul- Do you feel that you are not welcome in this room when you come in here?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul- Do you get pushed in here?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul- Are the stairs and in here the places where most of the pushing happens?
Lindsey-Yes
Loft
Immediately on entering the loft Paul gets the feeling as though he is being strangled and asks if this makes any sense.
Lindsey-Yes
Orbs on camcorder
Paul feels that it is a male energy and that something bad has happened in here, a very bad and unhappy experience.
Orbs on camcorder
Paul- Did someone die of strangulation here?
Lindsey-Yes
Paul feels that it was in the spot that he is standing in and also picks up that there was a fire at one time in the building.
Paul feels a touch on his head.
Paul-Do you feel your head being touched here.
Lindsey-Yes
Camcorder goes out of focus.
Paul- I feel that the energy is noticed where I am standing and in the area over there( pointing behind the loft hatch).
Lindsey-Yes
personal reports
Kerry Price
Some weeks ago Southern Paranormal were contacted by a member of staff Lindsey Wilkes who asked if we could arrange for clearance/rescue work to be done at the Nursery.
Activity had been happening in the nursery since a loft was opened up for extra storage.
Through Lindsey’s own investigations she learnt that a clearance had been done on the property in the past however the medium could not clear the property but managed to contain the activity in the loft area. Unfortunately this information was not passed down to the following tenants and as a result activity started again.
There are many, many incidents recorded at the nursery some of which being faces at the window, adults voice heard in the baby sleep room, poltergeist activity, cold spots etc.
Lindsey had also managed to find out that a girl had died of strangulation and two other adults had died in the property and also that the building was originally the lodge house for a far larger building nearby.
We contacted the medium Paul Wayman for advise on the matter. He agreed to do some rescue work at the site and so a date was arranged.
Paul had also kindly agreed to hold a walk around with attending investigators and staff and to conduct a séance.
I always look forward to Paul attending as he always manages to piece together the parts of the puzzle and is always spot on with the information that he gives us, I knew it would be a good night.
On entering the building, I couldn’t believe how the light just seemed to be swallowed up even though there were many light fittings around. I also noticed that the headache I had managed to shake off earlier had returned and I also had a neck ache, this stayed with me for most of the night.
Myself and Mandy met up with Lindsey, Michelle and David and were shown around the building so that we could conduct baseline tests and work out where the locked off experiments would go.
On walking around I couldn’t believe how oppressive and depressing the building seemed and was completely opposed to the atmosphere that you would expect to find in a nursery.
As we walked up the stairs I was aware that there was a girl on the stairs (young teenager) wearing a white night or slip dress. I didn’t get any features etc but, was just aware that she was there. It was only a momentary image. Lindsey added that was the spot that she had dreamt the girl in. We next looked around the loft which didn’t throw up any EMF readings but had temperature variations .It felt odd up there as though you were being watched the worst areas being behind the loft hatch and opposite it. The baby sleep room had a horrible atmosphere and again felt as though someone was there; in fact there wasn’t one room in the whole building that I felt comfortable in. I couldn’t say why other than the atmosphere. I would be glad when more investigators arrived.
When the rest of the team for the night arrived, we split into 2 groups. Team 1, my team went to the 1st floor and Team 2 to the ground floor.
We started off in the office .Even though I felt uncomfortable in there nothing was picked up on so we decided to head for the turtle room.
This room was odd, there were a few incidences in this room that seemed odd.
A knife which had been placed in a particular position had moved, this was checked by a photo that was taken earlier. I could see a huge shadow in the ceiling which I could not put down to anyone or anything in the room and which wasn’t caused by any of the mobiles on the ceiling. The floor behind where Julie was standing was creaking so much that it sounded to me that someone was trying to take the floorboards up. Also, the table behind where Mandy was sitting moved which she was not leaning on as she was sitting in a chair. David also felt a cold breeze around him.
Next we went to the Starfish room. On entering Mandy could smell wood smoke and David wood. Mandy thought that this smell was attributed to the fire that would once have been there. We tried automatic writing planchette and ouija experiments in this room. We didn’t get much response to these but would like to say that the ouija moved to the letter W on a few occasions. The planchette that was left in the room also seemed to have written the letter W. This may be a coincidence and may also be the most obvious letter spelt out while attempting the planchette ( constant up and down movement caused by slight movements of the fingers), I still find this interesting evidence.
We also held a short vigil in the baby sleep room, this room was full of experiments including EVP. The room felt oppressive and also as though you were being watched, the most interesting incident was when we were calling out. There seemed to be quite a few noises on the landing in the area of the loft. I found this unsettling.
When Paul and his wife Penny arrived, Paul was kind enough to conduct a walk around with the staff and investigators. Please read transcript of Paul’s walk around.
Vigil 2 was odd, very odd.
I thought that I coped quite well with fear, although there have been a couple of occasions where I haven’t. This was to be one of them.
Our group split up to make sure that we covered all areas. Myself, Abbie and Julie decided to hold a vigil in the garage area of the nursery. I had been told that a medium had visited the nursery and said that there was a girl buried in the garage, I also knew that there was a Saxon burial ground in the area. I know that this information didn’t help my calmness.
The 1st thing that struck me when I had entered the garage earlier in the evening was that I could smell horses, it was strange when asked that Lindsey told me that it had once been a stable. Maybe the smell just stays and was not in any way paranormal activity. Also, I knew that I did not like the far left corner and that I did not want to stand past the doorway that led to the back door. We stood and called out, we could hear some strange noises taps etc Myself, Abbie and Julie.
For some reason we all became very scared, I can’t remember who said it first probably me but, we all felt the same.
I leaned on the doorpost that led to the back door, as soon as I did I had a sharp pain in my left ribs which took my breath away. I had an image in my head of someone smashing my ribcage with a lump hammer. All were scared and we went to run. I fell over in a combination of haste and the feeling that my ankles were tied together. That was to be the end of calm.
We retreated into the kitchen and tried to gather ourselves, which we did and went back in. On this occasion when calling out we heard a growl, clear and distinct. Not like a dogs growl but, as though a person was making that noise. Once again we bid a hasty retreat!
On the 3rd attempt to enter the garage, myself and Abbie thought that there were 2 spirits, one male one female. The male being the more sinister. I called out to the girl although I had not entered the garage and we heard a tapping noise coming from just inside the garage, I also heard a faint word which to me sounded like come, that did not make me want to go in the garage any more than I already did! Other than the fact that I didn’t want to go in there it also felt that I couldn’t go in there was a barrier in the way.
We went back to the kitchen, a car went past and I saw a shadow between the fridge freezers in the lean-to next to the kitchen. It seemed odd it was very tight for space in that area and it would have been hard for anything to cast a shadow. On closer inspection Abbie saw that there was a door at the back of the area.
We called out a couple of times more both producing what sounded like footsteps. That was enough and we all retreated to the apparent safety of a cigarette out the front of the building.
After a minute or so, we all got the feeling that we had been followed out there. We were on edge even though we were standing next to the street in a residential area. We could hear footsteps on the grass, there was nothing there which was easy to see as we had the benefit of the street lights. We all thought that it was a male.
After our break myself, Abbie,Julie and Steve Gilbert went to conduct a vigil in the long room while Paul took a group upstairs to conduct a séance.
We attempted table tipping while an automatic writing planchette was set up on the top of the table. We did hear a few taps and were surprised to see at the end of it that there were some dots on the paper. We tried to recreate what we had been doing to see if we could lift the planchette without actually touching it, just the table but we couldn’t which I thought was interesting.
The thing which I thought was the most odd was half way through our experiment we heard lot’s of movement upstairs as though someone were moving the furniture. It calmed down after a minute or so, when asked the group who were upstairs said that they had all been sitting still as they were around a table conducting the séance. Very odd indeed.
This was the oddest investigation that I have attended, made more so by the realisation that children have to spend time in the horrible atmosphere of this place.
Mandy Bradley
Having arrived at location, I could see straight away that we were going to have a very eventful night. During the tour of the building with Kerry and members of staff, both Kerry and I could feel the presence around us, and Kerry saw a girl
standing on the staircase in long white nightdress type clothing. one of the place's on the tour was the loft...this had a very strange feeling to it, and as I stood on the top end of the ladder I could feel a constant breeze over me, which could not be explained.
Another room that did not feel right was the baby sleep room, even with the two of us in there it felt to me like I was standing on a crowded train and I really felt uncomfortable in here and just wanted to leave. We continued on the tour of the
nursery carrying out baseline test, the temperature fluctuated in all rooms and the EMF gave no readings in any rooms.
Vigil One:
After the arrival of the rest of the team we split into groups, my group started with the upstairs area of the nursery. Straight away we noticed a small knife that we believe was not on the floor of the turtle room when we were carrying out the
base lines tests. We placed the knife on the table and went on to the office....we didn't get any reaction from this room and all felt that we should go back into the turtle room. As soon as we got back in this room I could see that the knife had been moved again, which was also visible from the picture that was taken when we had placed it on the table. We stayed in this room and started calling out....we could all feel an energy building in the room which was soon followed by the table behind me moving.....which scared the life out of me!!!! Quite relieved to be leaving this room we went on to starfish room, although nothing much happened here, I have no doubt that we were not alone.
Vigil Two
We started this vigil by breaking off into smaller groups, Myself, Steve and 2 members of staff first went into the long room. Nothing much happened here but again.....we were not alone, it felt more like they just wanted to watch us rather then communicate.
Steve mentioned the name Mary, but got no reaction when asking out. Steve noticed a clock on the wall which he believed had been knocked off the wall in the past, he called out again asking if any spirits were present please make it stop, no more the 30 seconds later we could hear an alarm going of, which turned out to be the alarm on the radio's clock in the staff room??? The smaller groups changed rooms and I changed over into Kerry’s group to continue in the same room while Steve and the staff went into the garage. We used the Ouija in here in the hopes that the spirits in there would communicate with us....and they did, although whoever came through to talk...just wanted to play and waste our time, it claimed that it was a female spirit when we all agreed that it felt more male and it also called itself Evelyn but could not spell it??? With this we closed and had a break.
Séance
During the séance we used the Ouija board, we made contact with a spirit who claimed they were female by the name of Edwina, not much of anything they said made sense and Paul the medium felt that if would be better to close rather then continue with the spirit who did not want to allow anyone else to come through and speak to us.
During our time at the Nursery I think all members of the group felt or heard something that they couldn't explain,
for me...it kind of confirms that there really is more to the afterlife then most would like to believe. Many thanks to the staff who were kind enough to allow us to carry out our investigation, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, and I look forward to visiting you again in the very near future.
Brian ward
After setting up some recording and video equipment in one of the upstairs rooms in the hope of recording some evp.
Our first vigil was the bottom floor of the building David myself and guest first went to the garage area there seemed to be a very nasty smell in there cause not known.
To be quite honest with you I felt or sensed apostolatey nothing there where a few light anomalies caught on night vision but I really think this was down to us being in a dusty old garage. We decided to join Steve and guest in the downstairs play room we sat at the opposite end of the room David started calling out for a while wit h no response .Steve and guest left us to investigate the other parts of the down stairs I moved to the other end of the room and sat by the window filming the toy dog which was placed in the middle of the floor for a trigger object, David started calling out again with no responses about 20 minutes went by and I started to fill agitated and angry whether this was because nothing was happen I don’t know ask any of the group I am not normally like this on any investigation . I felt as if we where going to get any response I would have to start provoking any energy that was there.
David and myself kept this stile of calling out for a while two guest started to fell cold shivers down there backs all of a sudden I felt a icy cold blast go across my face which I did not fell before a little time after this David Steve and I all had bad head aches I asked out if there was a energy in the room giving us head aches guess what the head ache stopped at that time I felt as though someone had touched my hair as thought someone had touched my little finger it felt just like my grandson touching my finger. I mentioned this to the others and Steve said that he had felt the same sort of thing but did not say anything.
With this in mind I am sure we had a spirit child in that room I would have liked this to be confirmed but our Medium Paul Wayman said nothing about a child energy on his walk round. After a break Paul Wayman and his wife Penny joined David myself on the second vigil which was the upstairs we started in the small room at the back of the building with the baby cots in Paul and Penny sat by the window David by the door and myself by the far wall Paul started calling out for a while Paul felt nothing then he said there was a energy building up just about where I was standing coincidence I don’t know but I had a really bad pain in my back and felt very hot and sticky I really did feel very unwell I moved to the other side of the room and my back pain started to go and I felt a lot better as I said was it in my mind I don’t know. We then moved into the upstairs front play room Paul stood at the right hand side of the window and said he felt that someone was with us the strange thing was on the ceiling above our heads mobiles with names on i.e.: cat van ect. Now as Paul was feeling this energy the mobile above his head started to move as though someone was blowing on it all the rest remained still. Paul said that the energy was moving towards the door straight past me and I felt an icy breeze go past me that was not there before or after.
We then moved into another playroom upstairs to me there was again nothing felt or sensed in this room. After a short break we had a séance using a Ouija board controlled by Paul our Medium I was filming the séance which was coming up with the name Edwina to me all the rest of the answers made no sense. Paul felt that there was a male energy there not a female and thought that he was playing with us so decided to close the board down with a prayer.
All in all I thought it was a good investigation im not to sure if anything I felt was down to paranormal. But it was a great pleasure being able to work with Paul Wayman.
I would like to thank the staff of the nursery and Kerry for securing the investigation and again a big thanks to Paul and Penny.
Julie Harwood
Smaller private investigations always excite me and so when the Nursery contacted us with the stories of what they were experiencing, I passed the details to Kerry hoping she would be able to secure us an investigation there. Both of us knew as well that for this one it was probably more important that our guest medium Paul Wayman join us to offer his professional advice.
When we arrived at the property after driving four hours in virtually non stop traffic from Poole to the location my first impression of the building was that it looked far from warm and welcoming. From the outside it was an austere sight and looked wrong in its urban surroundings. Once inside my feelings changed temporarily when I saw the cheerful children’s hand painted pictures on the walls and their home made mobiles however the unwelcoming feeling soon returned as we walked around the building. It was a strange feeling and not one I think I will ever be able to put my finger on. It is not like I felt someone was there and unhappy we were too it was just the whole building felt sad and heavy, very heavy. Walking around it made you slump your shoulders and feel a little despairing and heavy headed.
We set up our equipment and headed off for our first vigil. Kerry, Mandy, David (one of the staff guests) were upstairs with some of the team above us in the attic. We had a quick look round all of the rooms before we started and in the Turtle room Mandy noticed a child’s (cutlery) knife on the floor. This confused Mandy and Kerry as they had only just done the baseline tests and were certain the knife was not there before. We decided to put the knife on the side by the television and leave it there while we went into another room. We sat in the office at first and even though Kerry and Mandy did not like this room, they did not feel anything was there and so after a couple of minutes we moved back into the turtle room. Immediately Mandy noticed the knife had shifted positions and the pictures of the knife we had taken when we put it there confirmed this. We thought this would be a good room to call out in so we settle down. We heard many strange sounds in this room especially Kerry who was sat in the corner where we had found the knife. The most impressive thing I think is when we were asking for something to be moved and the table to my right, which had a child’s chair on top of it, seemed to shift position causing a scraping sound on the floor. David also felt quite a strong cold breeze behind/around where him and Mandy were sat. Mandy could also feel this breeze on her knees.
We then decided to move into the room next door (apologies for not knowing its name) and as soon as we walked in there Mandy could smell a fire / burning wood and David said he could smell a woody smell.
Mandy and Kerry then went to get the Ouija board, which just left me and David in the room. I decided to take this chance to call out and asked if there was anyone there and if there was could they move the chair Mandy had been sitting on. I pointed the night vision camcorder at the chair and although it did not move on both the occasions I asked for the chair to be moved 2 little lights went under the chair. I could not find any other light source in the room that would cause this and so we will have to have a closer look at the footage of this.
We decided to try some automatic handwriting with the pencil planchette but unfortunately despite our calling out we did not seem to get a response. We the put this to one side and decided to try the Ouija board. It did move very slightly and seemed to go towards the letter W but nothing conclusive and I was happier putting this down to involuntary finger twitching and moving that caused the planchette to move slightly (as the movement was so minimal). However one strange thing is during the Ouija Mandy said she could hear a scratching noise and on a couple of occasions we all heard it I think. When we packed up to go for a break, the pencil planchette which Mandy had placed behind her while we did the Ouija appeared to have spelt out the letter W and a few squiggles. Now we know none of us touched that. Coincidence that it appeared to spell out the same letter as the Ouija board? Was that the scratching noise we had all heard? We may never know.
When Paul Wayman and his wife Penny arrived at 10pm they were kind enough to take the group around the house telling them what they picked up on. Considering only Kerry and I were privy to the information given to us by the staff we were amazed at how accurate Paul was in what he picked up on. One of the reasons we love working with him! After this Paul and a team stayed upstairs and Kerry Abbie and myself ventured into the garage area.
Now I am not sure how best to describe this experience. Was it paranormal or was it pure fear of the unknown. Again I am not sure we will ever know but something in that garage did not want us there and the constant bangs and taps around us in response to our calling out, left 3 (normally very brave female investigators) virtually in tears and retreating from the area on several occasions. We did not know what to do with ourselves, it was bizarre. On one of the occasions we called out and all 3 of us heard very clearly a growling noise, we just hope that either our camcorder or the Dictaphones in this area pick it up because it was amazing (although we did not think so at the time). Kerry and Abbie were picking up on a woman and a man in this area and felt the man would not let the woman communicate with us. At one point too scared to go back into the garage we called out from what we felt was the safety of the kitchen and Kerry was sure she heard a female voice say “come” however after a couple of minutes we felt we had been followed into the area. We decided enough was enough and went for some fresh air out the front of the building but even there we felt we were being followed and someone was walking around us. We could hear footsteps on the ground around us and everywhere we went to investigate it sounded like they were coming from all around us. Very very strange and very very scary.
After this vigil we conducted another Ouija board in the ground floor room and it did appear to spell out the letters EV and numbers 89. We asked several questions but could not get it to confirm anything and it seemed very reluctant to move. Paul then took some of the group into the upstairs room to conduct a séance and so myself, Abbie, Steve G and Kerry decided to stay downstairs to see if we could get a reaction while Paul was communicating above us. We decided on table tipping and all sat round a very sturdy little table placing our hands very lightly on the edge of the table. After a couple of minutes the pencil planchette which we had placed in the middle of the table started making a knocking sound and at the end of the session we surprised to see it had made lots of little dots like the pencil had been bouncing up and down. We can not explain this as we tried several times to make the planchette/pencil move on purpose but because the table was so sturdy we could not do it. It was just as we were leaving as well that I felt like something pulled / held my little finger on my left hand. Funny enough that did not scare me, I am not sure why.
All in all a very fascinating night and I can truly say I have never ever been as scared on an investigation as I was in that garage. It was pure terror as we listened to stuff being moved around us and the growling sounds coming from what seemed like cm’s away from us. A lot of experiences I can not readily explain but plenty of food for thought.
Thank you to Lindsey and the staff of the Nursery for inviting us. I hope Paul will be able to help you and that we were able to shed a little light on events.
David Ireland
For me this investigation was very different compared to others i have participated in before. I felt very confused about this building even before i stepped through the front door. I didnt feel as though the atmosphere was happy at all. it felt very oppressive and depressing. I normally write my reports in stages but i have decided to change my style just for this report. I dont feel as though enough happened to me personally for me to set it out as usual. I was also quite excited about this investigation because it was my first investigation where i would get the chance to work closely with a medium
for our first vigil i was with brian, steve and 3 guests two of which worked at the nursery. steve decided we should split into two groups to cover more area. me, brian and our guest went into the kitchen area which also led into the garage and through to the play area in the garden. i couldnt get a connection with anything in the kitchen so decided to move into the garage. I also found it very hard to get a connection with anything here but i came to the conclusion that there was a male presence as well as a female. I explained to Brian that i felt almost as though the male energy doesnt stay in one place for a long period of time. the energy shifts rapidly around the building. i sensed a little girl by the name of 'annabel' so decided to call out for her. After i had called out for her i looked out into the garden and saw what i can only describe as a little girl poking her head out of a climbing frame. needless to say this spooked me because it is only the second time that i have physically seen 'spirits'. the first time was at lyvden new bield where im happy to say julie saw it to. After i had calmed myself down i looked back out and she was still there. this time she got onto her hands and knees and started to climb down the slide. i had to move away from this area
Im happy to say that paul (our guest medium) picked up on a little girl as well. i also asked the staff and they said they thought her name was angelica!half way through vigil 2 i decided to join julie, mandy, kerry and abbie in the playroom where they were partaking in a ouija board seance. they had contacted a spirit that was claiming to be a female but it actually turned out to be a male that was "playing with them" so they decided to close the seance down
conclusion - this was a very strange building and i still cant come to a conclusion as to whether its haunted or not. we have a lot of evidence that could be both proof and natural occurences. I would personally like to say a massive thankyou to Paul our guest medium and his wife penny for the walkround he performed and for also taking part in the vigils. a thankyou to the staff for allowing us to investigate and also to kerry who kindly invited us to participate in a very interesting investigation