Tuesday, March 19, 2024 10:09

Posts Tagged ‘essex’

Royal Gunpowder Mills

Thursday, May 21st, 2020

Event Showcase: Royal Gunpowder Mills

https://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/royal-gunpowder-mills.php

History of Royal Gunpowder Mills
The Royal Gunpowder Mills, Waltham Abbey, Essex was one of three Royal Gunpowder Mills in the UK but is the only site to have survived virtually intact. The Royal Gunpowder Mills, were in operation for over 300 years.

Throughout the First World War the number of workers exceeded 6000, mostly local and female workers. After World War I production continued and crucial development work was carried out on TNT production and on the new explosive RDX.

During World War II it an important cordite production unit and for the first two years of the war was the sole producer of RDX (the explosive that was used in the Bouncing Bomb).

The Royal Gunpowder Mills finally closed on 28 July 1945.

In 1945 the establishment re-opened as a research centre.

In 1984 the South site and the Lower Island works were handed over to Royal Ordnance Plc immediately prior to its privatisation.

After various reorganisations of Governmental research, the research centre finally closed in 1991, bringing to an end 300 years of explosives production and research.

Ghost Hunting
We have been investigating the #RoyalGunpowderMills since 2017 and we have witnessed a lot of interesting paranormal occurrences. Most of what has been witnessed has been personal to the guests present. We have also done some lone vigils and EVP recording in the Spinks Gallery and some other buildings which have been successful.

Our favourite areas are; The Museum – has been really good for tech and gadgets as well as lone vigils and potential EVP’s, The Old Fire Station building which is now The Lab – has previously been good for séances, The buildings on the Mead have been really good for tech and gadgets as well as Ouija boards and Table tilting.

So far we haven’t had any video recorded during an event.

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Red Lion Hotel

Sunday, May 17th, 2020

Event Showcase: Red Lion Hotel

https://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/red-lion-hotel.php

History of Red Lion Hotel
The Brook Red Lion Hotel in Colchester, Essex is a historical Grade I listed building dating back to 1465. Located in the busy town centre of Colchester, Britain’s oldest recorded town, The Brook Red Lion Hotel in Colchester is one of the oldest inns in the area.

The Parliament Restaurant at the Red Lion Hotel was once the old Banqueting Hall, still showing its timbered beams.

There are three known ghosts – a small boy that can be seen in the Parliament restaurant occasionally and has appeared in a guest’s photograph, a ghostly monk that hangs around in reception, but the most active is Alice Millar.
Alice was a chambermaid at the hotel and was killed by a lover.
Alice has regularly been heard whispering and even talking to staff. There are recent accounts of people’s hair being pulled and a womans voice appearing on a video taken in one of the rooms, with no obvious cause.

Ghost Hunting
We have been investigating the #RedLionHotel since 2012 and we have witnessed mountains of paranormal occurrences. To list everything that has happened in the last 8 years would take a while, but some of the best experiences haven’t been recorded. On one Hen night they were sitting around a table in the Restaurant starting a Ouija board session when one of the bayonet light bulbs jumped up and out of the chandelier and landed unbroken on the table below where the ouija board was. To say that everyone screamed would be an understatement!

Our favourite areas are; Rooms 7 & 10 and the cellar, although we have has things happen in rooms; 5, 6, 9 & 11. Room 6 & 7 are good for Ouija boards, the cellar is good for séances and other activities. All the rooms are good for tech. The restaurant is good for ouija boards too. Each room has its own story and its own activity.

You can watch our videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA123A7F5AA41F7E6

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Beacon Hill Fort

Sunday, May 10th, 2020

Event Showcase: Beacon Hill Fort

https://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/beacon-hill-fort.php

History of the Beacon Hill Fort
Beacon Hill Fort in Harwich, Essex was originally three blockhouses, constructed during the reign of Henry VIII, following his visit to the town in 1543.

The site was chosen for Harwich Barracks. These were built in 1803. They subsequently housed most of the Harwich army and militia camp during almost the whole French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars era, and a naval signal station.

In 1889 work began on a totally new fort, which was completed in 1892. The fort saw use in World War One, and was re-adapted in World War Two. The Beacon Hill site also from time to time housed anti-aircraft guns and torpedo tubes.

The fort was finally decommissioned in 1956.

Uncertainty still surrounds the death of Gregory Chung whose burnt and decomposing body was found at the Beacon Hill fort at Harwich in 2000. A murder inquiry was launched but the inquest heard it was probable Mr Chung, 23, set fire to himself.

Ghost Activity
Since no-one has hosted a ghost hunt at this location, there currently aren’t any recommendations of where we would recommend or where we have witnessed activity.
However we are hopeful that at our planned event in September will go ahead and we will have activity in certain areas

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Redoubt Fort

Thursday, April 30th, 2020

Event Showcase: Harwich Redoubt Fort

https://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/harwich-redoubt-fort.php

History of Harwich Redoubt Fort
The Redoubt Fort in Harwich, Essex was constructed between 1808 and 1810 to protect the port of Harwich against the threat of Napoleonic invasion. The fort was constructed on a hill, which allowed views in all directions.

French prisoners of war were made to help construct the fort. The fort has a central parade ground. It was originally armed with ten 24 pounder cannons. In 1861 a 68 pounder cannon was added to the fort’s weapon range.

No shot was ever fired in anger at the Fort. The fort was briefly used during the Second World War to house British troops awaiting trial.

Ghostly Activity
Witnesses have reportedly seen apparitions through the windows and heard unexplained footsteps. Many visitors to the fort have also reported being touched by unseen hands in the lower casements. There have also been many other mysterious noises and apparitions seen by visitors.

The fort is well known for the apparition of a headless soldier. In 1972 a soldier was decapitated by a cable attached to a 12 ton cannon which broke under the strain. It is rumoured that this soldier now roams the fort.

Ghost Hunting
We have been investigating the #RedoubtFort since 2017 and we have witnessed lots of paranormal occurrences as we set up waiting for guests to arrive. As well as capturing interesting photos in various rooms, we often hear disembodied whistles and names being called.

Our favourite areas are; The room with all the display cases, ouija boards are good here, the room with the boat, again ouija boards and table tilting are good here. The Cells are always quite active for tech and EVP’s as is the room with the bunk beds and the very lifelike mannequin which seems to lend itself to good séance sessions.

You can watch our videos at https://youtu.be/3sSi_p5qEMQ?list=PLqWQMrZeI7VTNGFxDqITBPUGEN5PXnAC0

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Sandford Mill – 25th February 2017 – Kym

Thursday, March 30th, 2017

Sandford Mill ghost hunt 25th February 2017
Chelmsford, Essex

Area: Museum/Marconi Buildings
Kit & Human Pendulum

With each group, I explained how to use the equipment ie. Ghost Pro’s, KII’s, Dowsing Rods and Pendulums.  Once understood we all explored the area’s and used our devices to communicate with spirit.  We were also using the Ovilus, Edi, Static Detector and Bear.  In our first group, we had positive interaction with all the equipment, with the temperature increasing when the bear said ” is it getting hot in here”, the lights on the bear going off detecting spirit presence, at the same time the Edi and Static Detector would light up.  Upstairs some guests had stood their big heavy torch on a table, and the torch fell over when no-one was near.  In our last group whilst using the kit we had the spirit of a girl age 6 called Sophie.  She was drawn to the teddy, and many times lit the teddy up, especially when we asked her to step near or touch it.

Whilst doing the human pendulum, in the first group we had the spirit of Michael Andrews with us, age 26 from 1856.  He was murdered, had been pushed in the river by a supposed friend, because of jealousy, and had drowned.  Sarah (guest) whilst in the middle had a bad head pain.  We asked Michael if he had hurt his head, and he said yes.  Michael had worked here in the corn mill.  He was not too tall, shorter than James (guest) and had blond hair.  We were hearing unexplained noises/bangs around us.  And Matt (guest) was feeling coldness around him a few times.

In the second group, we had the spirit of a boy called Thomas aged under 10.  His daddy had worked here in the water mill, and he had come to work with his dad.  When he had grown up he had done a different job, had got married and had children.  He showed himself to us as the age he was when connected to this building.  He was blond with blue eyes.
In the third group Michael returned to explain why his ‘friend’ had pushed him in the river.  Michael had been dating his sister, and his friend had not been happy about it.

A fantastic night with lots of interaction with the spirits, all of us experiencing something, the guests enjoying the connections they had made.  It was great to see the guests being able to pick up on the spirits, their feelings, their names, and how they may have looked.  For me when Thomas came through as a 10-year-old boy, but had not died then, and had grown to be an adult, that was a first for me.  I love being surprised.

Kym
Paranormal Investigator
Ghost Hunt Events
http://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/

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Red Lion Hotel – 27th January 2017 – Kym

Thursday, March 30th, 2017

Red Lion Hotel ghost hunt 27th January 2017
Colchester, Essex

Area: Tudor Room
Equipment: Dowsing Rods & Pendulums, Glass Work and Human Pendulum
With my first group we started with the rods & pendulums, and all were able to communicate with various male & female spirits.  We then switched to the human pendulum and some of the spirits continued to talk with us, the first being a male who had worked here.  He had died within the last 100 years aged over 70.  He was married with children.  Louise (guest) suddenly had back pain and wanted to go into the circle next to find out why.  The spirit confirmed this was his pain when he passed.  He had fallen and hurt his back and died, it was an accident.  I felt someone touch my back, spirit confirmed that was him.  We asked spirit to tell us his name, and immediately Louise said “John” in a male voice.  When we asked her after, she had no recollection of saying that.  Louise had also seen visions; the spirit had been outside this window on a ladder cleaning when he fell.  We then tried glasswork, initially we had John for a while.  Then we had a spirit that said they knew Caroline (guest).  Asking all the obvious questions drew a blank, then Caroline remembered seeing a solid white shadow earlier in this room.  Spirit confirmed that was them, however did not give us any more information.  Then the glass started moving a lot stronger, and it felt familiar to me – this was “Alice”.  She did not wish to communicate any further, just seem to revel in moving the glass with a lot of energy around the table.  Moving the glass how we asked, and even surprising us by rotating the glass all around the edge of the round table very fast.

With my second group, we again had communication with the spirits by using the rods & pendulums, then the human pendulum.  First, we had the male spirit of Peter who had died of TB.  Then we had the spirit of Philip Robert who was in the military.  He had been very young when he joined the arm and had lied about his age.  He had fought in WW1 at the Somme.  He had returned mentally scarred from war but had recovered.  After the war, he had worked in an office in the South.  He had passed in the (1940s) forties age around 30.  Stuart (guest) suddenly had a pain in his back.  I asked spirit to make that pain stronger which it did.  Then once we had acknowledged it, we asked spirit to take the pain away, and to Stuart’s surprise it immediately went.
Again a fantastic night at the Red Lion.

Kym
Paranormal Investigator
Ghost Hunt Events
http://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/

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Red Lion Hotel – 27th January 2017 – Steve

Thursday, March 30th, 2017

Red Lion Hotel ghost hunt 27th January 2017
Colchester, Essex

It is a rare occasion when I feel threatened or intimidated by spirit, but this particular event in room 7 there was an unpleasant atmosphere. The group that I took in here for a séance started out as lacklustre in energy although the spirit was present he gave his name as Brian and that he passed away in the 1980s. He said he was a local man who often visited the Red Lion Hotel. He didn’t give any other information, but he looked to be in his early 50s. Brian could move some of the guest’s arms and push and pull people by their arms. He was able to pull most of the group to the floor in the second group.
Suddenly, the spirit showed us his true nature. I saw what I can only describe as a “dirty old man”, one of the guests looked in the same direction as I did and promptly screamed as she saw something sitting in the chair and it scared her.
As it turned out Brian was a nasty man who would bring you girls and boys back to his room at the hotel, he was never challenged or arrested for his crimes although he didn’t say how he passed away.
The atmosphere that was in this room scared me and most of the guests. No-one really wanted to spend any time in this room, many guests wanted to leave the room immediately but I wanted the spirit to react or say something on my voice recorder. (Nothing was heard from the spirit during the recording).
Whilst this was a fascinating experience for me, as I have been a professional ghost hunter for 13 years but this is probably only the second time in all those years where I too didn’t feel comfortable in a haunted bedroom.
The rest of the ghost hunt was a good night with the scrying being exciting for some of the guests as strange photos were taken in the room.
Steve
Psychic Medium
Ghost Hunt Events
http://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/

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Colchester Town Hall – 5th November 2016 – Kym

Monday, January 23rd, 2017

Colchester Town Hall ghost hunt 5th November 2016
Colchester, Essex

The town hall in Colchester is a fantastic venue, many areas to explore from the basement to council chambers and offices, to the flat on the top floor, with a lot of interaction from spirit.

I was on the top floor doing a séance circle and human pendulum, and we started of with the circle and having some gentle movement for some, a bit more energetic for others.  When we did the pendulum we were able to communicate with spirit, and found out that initially we were talking to a male spirit, then we had a 13 year old girl who was his daughter.  Her name was Sarah, and she and her mother were witches.  She was brought to Colchester to be burned at the stake, and her father was the one that started the fire.  Some people in the circle were feeling heat, others were feeling coldness.  We had asked spirit to make a noise in the room, and just as we were finishing there was a very loud bang on a table leaning up against a wall, which made many jump!

With my second group we had a little movement in the séance circle, but then switched to the pendulum.  The spirit that was with us had come with the group from the previous table tipping session.  Gareth (team) had been with that group too and had joined us.  The spirit was Charlie age 56/57 and had worked as a prison guard at the town hall.  One guest wanted to know how he passed, so I asked everyone to clear their minds, and I asked Charlie to give the last feeling/pain he had before he passed.  One guest felt a pain in their chest, and yes Charlie had passed with a heart attack.  Charlie had passed in 1923, and had fought in France in WW1.  He was married with three children, but had a fallen in love with an English nurse whilst at war.  She had died there and Charlie was heart broken.  He did come home to his family, and did tell his wife of his sadness.  The next spirit that joined us was someone from our kit session at the start of the evening.  We had the following information come through on the Ovilus: Jim Murphy shoot, and the spirit that was with us was Jim Murphy.  He had shot someone, then he had been shot in the head.  He had passed age 28.  We felt this energy was very strong so switched back to a seance circle, and asked the spirit of Jim to move us.  Initially we had some very gentle arm movement, then noticing some were being pushed/pulled down to the floor, I asked spirit to push everyone down, and yes we were all pushed down to the floor!  When I asked spirit to move us all back and step away as our session had finished, we all returned to our original positions.

A fantastic night, with all the guests interacting with the spirits brilliantly, and therefore all having some lovely personal experiences.

Kym
Paranormal Investigator
Ghost Hunt Events
http://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/

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Red Lion Hotel – 1st October 2016 – Kym

Monday, January 23rd, 2017

Red Lion Hotel ghost hunt 1st October 2016
Colchester, Essex

Area: Cellar
Equipment: Table Tipping, Dowsing Rods & Pendulums
With all my groups, we started by using the dowsing rods & pendulums, and everyone could communicate with spirit, and some were feeling the presence of spirit too.  We would often ask spirit to point the rods to where they were standing, and we could back that up by feeling their presence.  One time we would move around the area, still sensing the spirit behind us and the rods would continue to move with us.  With the Table Tipping we were all getting some movement, with my first and last group we did ask spirit to copy our taps and whistles, and both times we had a response back.  One guest also felt a cold touch to his face from where we heard the whistle.  In my last group, we asked spirit to rotate all the pendulums clockwise if he wanted to join us for table tipping, and to our surprise they all did.  Whilst table tipping in that last session we asked spirit to walk the table to where he was standing, of which it did, and in that area the guests could feel coldness there.  With such a strong response on the table, using yes & no movements, we could communicate with the spirit.  At one point Janet (guest) asked a question that the spirit did not like (did you murder someone?) and the table walked rapidly to her taking her very much by surprise!  We continued to communicate with this spirit into the free session, and with Mike’s (guest) knowledge on the history of Colchester, we established this spirit was a Parliamentarian Soldier who fought in the 1648 Colchester Siege.  He felt responsible for the murder of his troops he sent to fight.  At this point, everyone felt an immense sadness.  We asked if he had passed to the other side, he answered no.  We asked if he needed help to pass over, and the table rocked to yes and no.  At this point we asked the spirit to go to the light, do not be frightened, and you will not be judged.  And immediately we all felt his presence go.  Thank you to Group A for sharing that experience with me – very special.

Kym
Paranormal Investigator
Ghost Hunt Events
http://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/

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Sandford Mill – 17th September 2016 – Kym

Monday, January 23rd, 2017

Sandford Mill ghost hunt 17th September 2016
Chelmsford, Essex

Area: Barn
Ouija & Table Tipping
With our first group we had gently rocking with the table in the main area and the classroom, but not much more.  We could feel the energies of the spirit(s) around us.  With the Ouija we had the spirit of Gert with us.  She was 12 years old and took a dislike to our camera person Jason.  She said he reminded her of her gov (governer).  Jason thought he felt someone touch his bum, when he asked if it was her she spelt “YUK”.  When Jason asked if she died of a heart attack she spelt “STUPID”.  She then spelt “JASON” and moved the glass to goodbye, telling him to go as she stayed with us.  We asked what year she was from and had “45”.  Wasn’t sure what century though.
With the second group we had very little information on the Ouija: Stuart 1935 & Christine 1956.  With the Table Tipping there was some movement in the classroom, but when we moved to the main room there was a lot more movement.  The table was being moved by a female, however there was the presence of a male spirit in the room who she didn’t like.  She was a working girl and he was her boss.  We were feeling his presence by coldness, tingles and also headaches. We felt they were from the 1800’s.  The table moved a lot, but would stop when we felt him move closer.  However with a lot of encouragement from those on the table we was able to experience some brilliant table moving.
With our last group we had the spirit of Desmond from 1945.  He said he was a code breaker and a spy, and had a connection with Bletchley Park, and possibly the buildings here.  The table was moving a lot also, with many spins and walking around the hall.  The more we encouraged spirit, the move movement we had.
In my free session I joined Gareth on his Tech Session in the Water Filtration Building.  After handing out equipment, explaining how things worked, everyone went of to explore this very large building.  We did come across one spirit called James Wright “Jimmy”. He was age 40 – 50 yrs, and had worked here.  He had fallen over some railings into a tank.  Gareth was feeling a sudden pain in his lower back, when we asked sprit to take the pain away it immediately went.  Jimmy confirmed this was his pain when he fell.  He also said he had died 6.5 hours later and was buried in the grounds.  Gareth had had the word compound on the Ovilus earlier, and Jimmy confirmed that was where he was secretly buried.  But amazingly for me I saw a ball of mist move down towards us then move back away.  Then a few minutes later saw it again.  We asked Jimmy if that was him and he said yes.  We could also feel his energy around us too.  On the Ovilus I had the word “cough”, and a little while later we all heard a cough but it was none of us.
A brilliant night at Sandford Mill – cannot wait to return.

Kym & Kerry
Paranormal Investigators
Ghost Hunt Events
http://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk/

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