Westview Nursery

Saturday 9th February 2014

Tonight’s investigation was supposed to be at a location in the centre of Bradford on Avon. Due to the recent heavy flooding (that was particularly bad at the Christmas period) our intended location was being refurbished (after suffering extensive water damage). We were, however, given permission to investigate the owners other business, also in Bradford on Avon (which also just so happens to be haunted) instead.

The last time we were at this location was back in 2010. During that investigation we witnessed heavy footsteps on the floor above us while we were packing up in the kitchen area. With this in mind we decided that we would focus some of the investigation in the kitchen area as a whole team.

There are 3 floors to this glorious 18th Century Georgian building (4 if you include the cellar with its much worn steps).

As we had a large area to cover, we decided to split into 2 groups. Group 1 (Dave, Andrew, Tony, Maria and I) stayed on the ground and lower floor and group 2 (Matt, Ben, Loretta and Caz) covered the upstairs area.

We settled in one of the rooms on the ground floor and started to call out. It can take time for energy to build at the start of an investigation so it’s not unusual to be sat in the dark and have absolutely no responses of any kind. The room felt normal (though there was a howling wind outside at the time). I called out again and asked for any spirit people to show themselves in light form. To my amazement I see a light anomaly on my night vision camera. I call out again to see if I can encourage any spirit activity and we do hear a tapping noise. We call out again but do not get a response for a while.

Dave sees a light anomaly on his camera. We talk among ourselves and it is here that I notice that I have captured data noise on the camera footage. (This is not a normal occurrence.) Dave suggests that he and Andrew should go into the room opposite. They go into that room and Maria, Tony and I stay in where we are. I am just about to call out again when I see a very large light anomaly fly from the room Dave and Andrew have just gone in and it travels into our room. We feel as if there is an energy building in the room. We call out again and this time we get a tap in response and it sounds like it has come from the corner in which Maria is sat next too. We hear a noise like a small rubber ball is bounced in the same corner. We discuss with Tony that we were told at our last visit that marbles are heard being rolled across the tiled floor in the hall. I capture another light anomaly on the camera. Maria calls out but we do not get any more responses.

Dave suggests we try the cellar and we all agree this is a good idea.

Cellar

I start in here by taking some pictures. Maria remembers that the last time we were in here she captured a strange light anomaly on camera. Dave says he isn’t sensing anything at present and Maria agrees. She feels so comfortable down here she says she could quite happily spend the night down here by herself. I call out. Dave sees a black shadow by me. (I say please don’t say that but it turns out to be a bin bag.) We chat among ourselves for a while. Andrew hears something upstairs but can’t be sure it wasn’t someone from team 2.

Dave captures some light anomalies on his camera but I do not see them on mine. (This is not unusual.) Andrew pointed out that Dave’s camera is a full spectrum camera where my camera is infra-red. We decide to try out the ghost box.

A Ghost box is a device used to supposedly communicate with the dead. Ghost boxes are simple radios with a scanning function allowing them to search airwaves until they find a station to stop on.

Dave tries out a new app on his phone called the ghost detector. It is using the same principles as a ghost box. He gives me his camera to hold while he is setting up his phone. I can see light anomalies frequently on his camera but do not see them on mine. I find this fascinating.

I call out. The ghost app says David then Tom. I ask if we have Tom with us and we hear the word Quiet. We say we are listening and the ghost app says Joseph. (Who is Joseph?). We then hear the words gloves, video tape, freeway, bible, waves and the name Ruth. It then says Ben and the word burning. The next word is rifles. (We were talking about the rifles museum earlier). We get the word Fire then Hose then gas.

Dave asks a few questions but we do not get a response. The ghost app then says hose and ground. This is followed by video tape again.

(Some of the others from team 2 come down to ask if they can borrow Andrews’s spirit board.)

We decide that we want to try Andrews’s ghost box so he goes off to get it for us.

Maria calls out. Just as she does this I capture a light anomaly on camera. She keeps calling out. We ask various questions and get responses on the Ghost app that Dave has but it doesn’t really make any sense. Maria feels energy build in the cellar and we all sense the subtle change. I ask “can you say your name?” We hear the reply not really on the ghost box. “And why not?” Maria asks. We do not get a response. We don’t really get any responses from the ghost box until we ask if the spirits want us to leave. We hear the word don’t.

We decide that now is a good time to relocate after a short break.

Kitchen

Team 2 joins us as advise us that they have not witnessed any paranormal activity upstairs. We think now is a good time to group together and conduct a table tipping experiment in the kitchen.

Table-turning or table-tipping is a type of séance in which participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations. The table was purportedly made to serve as a means of communicating with the spirits.

Just as we start Maria’s camera makes a funny noise. We pause while she goes to sort the camera out and it is here while watching the footage back that I capture a male EVP.

Electronic voice phenomenon, EVP, refers to the belief that spirits can communicate from "beyond" on electronic audio recording equipment. Practitioners often set up a recording device in a room where they believe ghosts reside, and then ask various questions while recording.

It is hard to hear what is said but the voice sounds male and it either says “The ghost heard” or “That’s absurd”. Just as you hear that you also see a very bright light anomaly on the video footage. I call out encouraging the energy to build and we soon hear a tap on the table in response. It is a very light tap. We as are you in the room with us. We get another light tap on the table. We ask a few more questions but we hear nothing. I say not to be frightened and say we are not there to harm the spirits in anyway. We ask if the spirit is male or female. Nothing is heard. I then ask if the spirit is a girl. Nothing again. Are you a little boy? Tap. Did you used to live here? (Nothing.) Are you the little boy that rolls the marbles in the hall? We hear a small tap on the table. We ask if the spirit can do that for us. We pause but hear nothing. We then ask if we could hear the spirit boy run around upstairs. We get a tap in response. (We get nothing more for a few minutes.) I ask if the spirit is still with us. We hear a tap. We ask if the spirit can tap out how many spirits are with him. We hear nothing. “Is it just you?” We ask. Tap. I ask if the spirit can try to move the table for us. We soon start to feel the table shuddering like someone is trying to lift it. We encourage the spirit boy saying that he is doing really well. (We hear footsteps above us). The table starts to creek. Caz exclaims that her hand is starting to tingle.

We ask out again. Do you come to play with the children at the nursery? Tap. Do they see you? (Nothing.) Maria then asks out again and the table tries to move. We hear the table creaking as it if it shifting slightly and Maria says she felt the table lift ever so slightly at her end. We then all feel the table lift on one side. We all say how amazing that is and thank the spirit boy for trying so hard. On the video footage you can see a very faint light anomaly.

Matt sees a shadow go up the stairs and when he says this Maria says she is expecting that to happen. Dave then says he hears a growl. On the video footage you can hear a really croaky voice say why which is the 2nd EVP we capture. Dave’s back is hurting so he swaps places with Caz so he can sit down. At this point you see a very bright light anomaly on camera and this is followed by a very loud tap on the table. We all say that we can feel the energy changing and this is giving off a more assertive feel to it. I ask for the spirit to move the table and before I have finished my sentence the table suddenly shifts position which takes us all by surprise.

Maria asks if the spirit is happy for us to be here. We do not get a response. (Oh dear). I say I feel that they are not happy at all. Maria continues to ask out and asks the spirit if it wants us to go. (Nothing.) We talk among ourselves for a bit. I decide to ask a few questions to see if I can get any EVP responses when I listen to the tape back at a later date. I ask the spirit what is their name. Maria decides she would like to record this on her Digital voice recorder so she goes to get it. Once she has got the recorder I start again. What is your name? Did you used to live here? Are you happy that we are here tonight? The table moves while I ask that and on the video footage you can hear a very low male groan. Do you want us to leave? Is that your son we were talking too earlier? Can we hear your footsteps? Maria plays back the recording but we don’t hear anything EVP responses on it. Matt then says maybe the spirit adult is here to protect the spirit boy. As soon as he says that the table moves. (Called it!!). Matt sees a shadow on the stairs. Loretta asks the spirit why he is protecting the little boy from us. (we all feel this is a male presence.) She adds that we are not going to hurt him. The table shifts then we hear a knock. Maria asks again if the spirit wants us to leave. The table moves. I say to the spirit that it he wants us to leave then he is going to have to make us go. The table moves towards the door. I say that the spirit is not going to get us go to by leading us out by the table. For a start the table will not fit through the door. You hear a creaking noise and Matt realises that the door has shut a little. Maria confirms that as she could see out into the hall before. We ask for the door to be opened again. (I capture a light anomaly on camera.) We assure the spirit that we are not there to harm any of them and that we are not going to try moving them on. Loretta adds that we are just there to talk to them. I ask if the spirit could try slamming a door upstairs. (We do hear a strange noise which sound up on camera also, however I am at a loss how to describe it.) Matt says he has seen a light anomaly with his naked eye.

We talk among ourselves again for a bit. We hear footsteps upstairs which you can hear faintly on the video footage. I capture a light anomaly on camera. The table then moves. Tony and Ben ask for the spirit to tap on the table. Maria moves over a little and says she has cleared a space for the spirit to come and stand with us. Maria invites the spirit to come and join us. (The kitchen door creeks) Are you with us now? Maria asks. Can we speak to the little boy again? Or even your wife? We do not get a response so we start to chat again. The table starts to make a creaking noise. Maria hears movement upstairs. Can we hear your footsteps? We do then hear movement upstairs that is captured clearly on the video footage.

Ben suggests we use the spirit board to see if it is easier for the spirits to communicate with us. (We do sometimes use the board if we do not have a medium present. There is a lot of controversy around the use of boards, however, if used sensibly and a proper psychic protection exercise is carried out before hand, they are perfectly safe to use).

We set up the board on the table and I take the team through a visualisation exercise. Once we are ready to begin we call out. We notice that there is still taps and creeks coming from the table. The planchette moves. Maria asks if the spirit was a religious person. It moves to yes. She asks if the spirit was clergy. It moves to no. We ask if they were Christian with strong beliefs. It goes to yes. We ask if the spirit does not approve of the spirit board and the planchette goes almost off the board. It then spells out bad. We ask the spirit to spell out their name. It goes to the word no. We ask if the spirit is cross with us and it moves to yes. We ask why and it spells out child. We confirm with the spirit that he is cross with us for speaking to the child. We hear a tap on the table. We ask why we cannot talk to the child. The planchette goes to no. We ask why again and it spells out bad. We ask who is bad. We get the word Awkward spelt out. Maria asks if it is awkward for the child and it goes to the word yes. It then spells out god forbid.

We ask if the spirit thinks we are bad people and thankfully it goes to the word no. We talk among ourselves for a bit and Caz makes a joke about locking the child up in the attic. The planchette moves very forcefully over to the word no. Caz apologises. Ben asks if the spirit loved the child and it goes over to the word yes. We ask how old the spirit is. The spirit goes over to 1770 that is marked on the board. We hear a creaking noise. It is not the fridge which we first thought it might be. The energy then dies down for a bit.

I have to change my tape and just as the new tape starts up I can hear the data noise on it again. The board has spelt out the word investigator while I have been setting up my camera. While we were talking among ourselves I had been talking about a book I had just read. It was a book on the Borley Rectory Haunting and it was a fictional story based on the great Harry Price (ghost hunter). The board then spells the name Harry. I say that I think we have a passing spirit (that can happen sometimes) as the energy feels very different and almost mischievous. We ask a few questions but the spirit does not spell anything legible. It then spells out Harry again then the word fire. We ask if the spirit can tell us the name of the gentleman that we had been talking too. (NO.) We hear the table start to tap again and we talk among ourselves for a bit. The energy seems to be dying away again so we decide to go back to the table tipping.

I hear footsteps in the hall though this does not sound up on the footage. Maria invites the little boy in with us. We have a small debate that maybe it may even be the mother that I have heard when Maria suddenly exclaims that she just felt a spirit pass by her. I had been leaning against the sink unit (which is solid) and I feel it shudder. As I say this Tony says he just felt the drawer move on the side of the table. Everyone looks and the drawer is open. Ben asks if the drawer had been opened and Andrew says no. He then closes it again. We call out and almost immediately Tony says the draw is out again. Andrew is shocked and says he has just shut it. They invite me down to that part of the room so I can see it on camera. I say that it won’t do that again while I have my camera on it (which is normally what happens). Maria calls out and asks if the spirits can open the draw and to my amazement the drawer opens. You can hear the shock in my voice and I nearly physically drop my camera. Tony closes the drawer and we ask for the spirit to repeat what they have just done. Once again the drawer opens. Maria said she can feel it happening through the table.

Matt wants to try to see if you can open the drawer without anyone noticing. He is satisfied that this can’t be done. We are excitedly talking about what we had just seen (as this is the best evidence we have witnessed to date) when Maria hears a scuttling noise in the hall like dog claws on the tiles. Dave and Caz go to investigate. Dave cannot believe it when he finds an old marble in the room we started off in. He rolls it along the floor and Maria confirms this is what she had just heard. We are shocked. Maria points out that we did ask for the boy to roll a marble along the floor for us.

We decide now that it would be a good time to swap areas.

We go upstairs to the very top floor. We try calling out but do not get very much. During our last visit both teams witnessed a partial apparition on the top level but at different times. We did not experience this again at this investigation though I did capture a few light anomalies on the 3rd floor.

As it was getting very late we decide to call it a night.

During this investigation we managed to capture some very clear EVP evidence and light anomalies with our digital equipment. We had great success with our table tipping experiment and also with the use of the spirit board. We had reasonable success with the Ghost box. We also personally experiences audible footsteps upstairs and heard other undecipherable noises.

I would like to thank the owners of Westview Nursery for the permission for this very successful investigation. I would also like to thank all of the team who gave up their Saturday to come along and make this a very enjoyable evening.