The Ghosts of Winsley Hall

October 22 2016

Sometimes, you find that locations that you had arranged to visit fall through for no fault of your own. Tonight was one of those times. However; not all was lost as we were able to secure another location at short notice.

The location, though not your obvious haunted building, turned out to be surprisingly active.

We only had a small team for the evening. And once everyone had arrived, we quickly set up our first experiment. We decided to try table tipping first as this one is a good at getting everyone focused and concentrating. We sat around a table (quietly) and attempted to call out. We each took turns to call out. As per usual, nothing much happens. We notice however; the lighting kept dipping. We break to try the switches and see if they are faulty. They do not seem to be so we go back to the table and carry on calling out while keeping an eye on what the lighting does.

We soon start to hear the familiar creaks and taps that you get when the energy seems to be building. The activity seems to be stronger while Pete is calling out so we encourage him to continue. We eventually get definite taps and even movement from the table in response to Pete’s questions. The table even starts to move, almost dragging itself across the floor. First it goes nearer the door then puts itself back to where it was when asked. We seem to be communicating with a very ancient spirit, possibly from the Anglo-Saxon period. This goes on for almost 15 – 20 minutes of very strong activity before the energy dissipates.

We attempt to call out to see if we can get another spirit contact us. We do seem to get some vague and weak responses. Nothing as strong as the spirit we were communicating with previously. As we do not seem to be getting very far, (and it being very cold), we stop for a break.

After our break, (and a team effort at sorting out the heating), we move towards the stage area of the hall. We attempt to call out again. This time I sit out of the circle and film as does Matt.

We again experience taps and movement from the table and it seems our Anglo-Saxon friend has returned. However; along with the table activity, we also experience Apports.*

This phenomenon continues for 25-30 minutes during our second séance. With each Apport, we find a small white similar sized stone in the area of where the Apport materialisation was heard. We check the immediate area to make sure this isn’t debris falling from the ceiling. The ceiling is plaster and wood, not stone. We continue to search for similar material that the stones may have originated from. We were unable to identify any particularly obvious source.

As the evening was dry (albeit cold), we go for a small walk with the team to see if anyone can pick up on a known ghost sighting in the lane nearby. This experiment was just a bit of fun to see if anyone could demonstrate their psychic skills. Nobody managed to pick up on the sighting, though it was very cold so I will blame that on causing too much of a distraction!! The known reported sighting is a ghostly horse drawn carriage which sweeps along the lane from Winsley Chase towards Winsley Manor. Also, just the horses hooves and coach wheels are heard.

As it is now getting late, we decide to call it a night.

I would like to thank my lovely team for making the evening a great success and giving up their Saturday night to come spend an evening with the Ghosts of Winsley Hall.

*According to parapsychologists and spiritualists, an apport is the paranormal transference of an article from one place to another or an appearance of an article from an unknown source that is often associated with poltergeist activity or spiritualistic séances. (Taken from Wikipedia.)