Groundlings Theatre ghost hunt 9th November 2013
Portsmouth, Hampshire
Our first event at Groundlings Theatre, (the Old Beneficiary School) in Portsmouth on 26th January 2013 was a very interesting and active night with lots of paranormal activity encountered by the guests, so when we returned we were hoping for a similar night, but since we never anticipate what may happen, because then we could be disappointed we were still hoping for a good ghost hunt and as it turned out the majority of the guests had a great night, full of unusual experiences which was enjoyed by all.
After a brief introduction we split the whole group into two smaller groups with my group heading into the very spooky costume department. I chose this area last time because of what I felt on my initial visit.
After formed a séance circle and explaining what may happen I asked for spirit to come forward to move or touch people gentle, almost immediately we were joined by a male spirit called Timothy who was a local greengrocer, aged in his mid-50s from the 1940s era (War years).
Timothy started to gentle left guests’ arms and when I asked them (the guests) to ask for their arms to be moved in a particular direction (in their heads) Timothy responded and did exactly what people were asking to start with, then as Timothy got more proficient he was able to lift peoples arms up as far as some of us could stretch and a little more in some cases! From here he moved onto to stroking people’s arms, shoulders and faces and the men’s chests as well as dragging us by our arms to floor. Several times hands and arms were moved toward me to (what I can only assume was to) remove my hat (as I have a red light on my hat so that guests can see in the dark). Jo (GHE team) commented that it felt like the spirit wanted to remove her hair band and after many attempts the spirit nearly managed to achieve it.
Once Timothy got the hang of moving us he started to sway and push people forwards and backwards which to many guest felt like a ride on a boat on a choppy sea. Many of us wished this didn’t happen because the room was very warm to start with and all this exercise was only making us hotter.
At one point when I was bent over looking at the floor I noticed there was a spirit Horse in the room, the horse seemed to be without a rider, although Carl (GHE Team & Camera) could feel a cold spot behind him and some unusual noises (also behind him). The movement then progressed onto stroking the boots of those guests wearing boots, whether this had anything to do with the horse I don’t know because while this was going on I was being twisted and pulled to floor.
One guest (Esther) thought she saw someone walk past the internal window, but no-one else saw anything and all the other guests were upstairs; the building manager was in his office and didn’t come out all night as he was working.
After all this movement I called an end to the séance because we were all hot and bothered.
Lots of strange noises were heard throughout the session including rumbling sounds (like someone moving a wardrobe), growling that seemed to come from the other end of the room and taps and bangs, although when we made sounds and asked the spirit to repeat them we heard nothing that resembled those noises. Carl at one point whistled out for a spirit to copy but before he had even asked for it to be repeated we all heard a “blown whistle” like someone trying to whistle who couldn’t.
We let the guests roam around the wardrobe department, some didn’t feel comfortable walking between the clothing rack and many reported feeling very heavy or disorientated at the far end. The dressing room end I noticed a young female spirit called Fiona who had joined us whilst the séance was taking place but had spent the time laughing and giggling at us. When we moved into “her” end of the room she seemed sad and made one of two of the guests feel the same. Fiona was about 25 years old and had been a member of staff when it was a school, the exact year she didn’t tell me but from what she was wearing I would have put her in the 1860s. Fiona was about 25 years, tall at 5’9” and of a slim build. Later in the evening it transpired she was murdered within the building and the perpetrator was never caught and she was with child.
After a short break the second group came to wardrobe department and once again Timothy was present and very quickly started to move the guests, more or less as soon as I asked him to do so. Whilst Timothy did allow people to ask where their arms should go he quickly bored of this and started to what he was doing with the first group. This turned very quickly into a session of twisting people, bending people over and pulling people back and upwards with our hands. Several guests were also pushed and swayed into each other and twisted around on the spot so that they were facing the other way, very similar to a dance where people would be twirled around. These movements continued until everyone had been moved in more than one direction and several of us were once again made to touch, and this time, stoke the floor.
Timothy tried to push and pull guests but this didn’t really work for him so instead he pulled us back by our arms and pulled us all together in the middle of the circle by our arms. This was a very strange experience.
During this session we heard some strange noises but they were much quieter than the first group although there were some loud knocks and bangs which sounded like someone closing a door within the room. Although there were no doors, just cupboards.
After the séance finished as the room hadn’t cooled down and after all the movements which were more forceful than the first group we were all quite hot we let the guest roam about again. Many of the guests didn’t like walking up and down the aisles because they felt odd and uncomfortable and. many reported that it felt like they were not welcome or shouldn’t have been there.
Those guests that ventured into the dressing felt the presence of Fiona although she seemed more shy than when the first group were here.
After we finished the controlled sessions we allowed the guests to roam around the whole building with our ghost hunting equipment.
I joined three guests back in the wardrobe department where they were attempting some scrying. Whilst Elaine was sitting in the chair and I was explaining what should happen Esther started to see an older man looking back at her, he had beady eyes and a very pronounced nose and chin. Elaine also said that she felt her chest to be bigger and more pronounced when she breathed.
A while later I joined two guests upstairs in the main theatre and I gave them my spirit box (a device that scans the FM radio frequencies in reverse at 100ms) and asked for the spirit to say their names, it took a little while but eventually we heard both the guests names (Fran & Kelly). I then asked for the spirit to tell me their name, which was Alan and as soon as the spirit had said his name I could see him standing beside Fran, he looked about 50 years old with round spectacles and was a fairly tall man at about 6’ and of a strong build (square) wearing a mortar board hat and teachers cloak. Although his cloak was ripped and torn and covered in chalk marks. He carried a cane but rarely used this as it was more of a deterrent. He came across as a stern but fair man. Fran could feel a strange coldness (the room was cold as it was) on her right hand side, which was where Alan was standing.
When Alan removed his hat he was virtually bald with some hair on the back and sides which was mostly grey and now he looked older at about 60 years old (although he never actually told me his age). I asked for Alan to answer our questions via the spirit box and he was able to tell us how many of us were present as well as answer questions asked by the guests. During this time three guests joined us and said that they were joined by a spirit called Alan downstairs who was a teacher and were very surprised when I told them that we were talking to a spirit called Alan who was a teacher, as this seemed to be the same spirit that they were talking to downstairs. The reason why they left downstairs and came upstairs was that Alan that they were talking to left.
When I asked how many females were now in our group Alan correctly answered four. One of the guests asked for chair to be moved (there were about 100 chairs in the room) and whilst we were talking we all heard the sound of a chair move, but unfortunately we had no idea which chair moved, no guest was near any chair at the time of the noise.
Later on I was downstairs with some of the team and guests and we heard a loud bang, like someone had knocked over a chair, when I went to investigate as some guests were upstairs they too had a heard the same noise and thought it was us who had made this noise. What the noise was we don’t know, but everyone said that the noise seemed to be inside the building.
Guests generally investigated on their own for the remainder of the time, with some guests trying to do more table tilting which worked for them whilst other were investigating in other areas using dowsing rods and pendulums and some of our electronic ghost hunting equipment. All guests had very productive sessions on their own as well as with the GHE team.
All in all this was another excellent ghost hunt with lots of unexplainable paranormal phenomena happening to the guests which they thoroughly enjoyed and were able to experience on their own as well as with the Ghost Hunt Events team.
We look forward to returning to The Old Beneficiary School in 2014.
Steve
Psychic Medium
Ghost Hunt Events
http://www.ghosthuntevents.co.uk
