Hauntedland - Newcastle Keep 2008 Report
Newcastle Keep 2008
This was my third visit to the Keep with NGI within six months. Part of me felt it would be uneventful but another part of me hoped something memorable would happen that would cause me to question my belief. And at last, something did!As with previous visits, this was a guest event and 19 guests showed up for the investigation. These guests were divided between the NGI team. My group consisted of Claire, my son Luke, Melissa, Austin, Teresa, Kirk and Bekki. The running order of the locations and groups were passed around and after our guest medium, Eddie, completed his walk around with everyone, we split up and went to our first location.
Location 1 - The Gallery, 11pm
The Gallery is not one of my favourite locations as there is limited space to be able to do much. It does, however, over look the Great Hall. When you lean over the barriers, the Hall’s floor seems such a long way down and it causes you to question whether the barrier will hold your weight or let you go crashing down to the floor below. From this vantage point it’s great for taking photos of the hall without being obtrusive. The Gallery also has its share of ghost stories, one of which claimed that at certain times during the night, footsteps could be heard to run right around the gallery itself. Otherwise it’s simply a long, narrow set of corridors and stairwells. As we would be here for 45 minutes we decided to try some things to pass the time.
Claire started by calling out. We waited patiently in the cold, dark silence but her calls went unanswered. We then tried the pendulums and diving rods. Melissa tried first. I went through the procedure of how to program the pendulum before she asked it questions. Sadly it did not work so she tried a different pendulum but again without success.
Claire and Bekki however were successful as their pendulums swung at the same time as though they were synchronized. Claire asked questions and the response given by the pendulum suggested there was three spirits present but the conversation didn’t really go beyond this.
Kirk and Teresa tried the pendulums too and although Kirk’s pendulum remained motionless, Teresa’s moved in answer to her questions and the following sums up the conversation:
- There was a female with us.
- She was connected to this building.
- She was not glad that we were here.
- She wanted us to leave.
- She would not show or make any signs for us to see.
- She was by herself.
- She was not lonely and didn’t like men!
- She did not die at the castle.
Luke sat on the spiral staircase in the northeast tower while we tried the pendulum experiments. He later told me that he experienced what felt like a small child’s hand, grip lightly around his wrist.
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Location 2 - Garrison Room and Chapel, 12am
We sat in the dark of the Garrison Room for a little while to get used to the atmosphere. During this time Claire and Bekki both felt as though an angry energy of a man had entered the room.
As there was a table in the room we decided to try glass divination. Claire, Luke, Teresa and Kirk took part. Claire called out and asked for communication of any kind but the glass didn’t move in response. Claire tried to contact the angry man she sensed earlier, but he was either too distracted by his anger or didn’t want to take part in a discussion. Teresa did complain of a sour taste in her mouth that lasted momentarily and nothing else occurred.
After 10 minutes we moved next door to the chapel. The Ouija board was in this room so that was the first thing we tried. Kirk, Teresa, Bekki and Luke attempted communication with the board but the planchette remained motionless. Things didn’t seem that hopeful so far and I felt another long night had just begun.
Claire decided to raise some energy and to call out instead of sticking with the board. We stood in a circle, held hands and imagined a white light going around the circle in a clockwise direction. Claire called out for a spirit who was willing to converse with us by any means it felt able to by affecting any or all of us. I began to notice my right side getting colder and colder but I put it down to a draught from somewhere. Teresa then said that she had a cold feeling on her right side of her face, ear and the bottom of the back of her head. Funnily enough I was feeling the same thing and was itching to rub it as you would when you’ve been hit. Teresa added that it felt as though she’d had a blow to the head – that seemed to make sense but I continued to look for a source from which this icy draught came from. No one else in the circle could feel this at the moment. Claire continued to talk and ask questions. I started to feel nauseous and the cold on the back of my head was aching to be rubbed, but I continued with the activity.
Bekki said she could sense a male spirit who was not happy that the Ouija board was in the chapel. By now I was trying to rub the back of my head on my shoulder to ease it. I considered Teresa’s comment about the spirit being a person who had died from a blow to the head as this feeling reminded me of a head injury even though I was sure a draught was the cause of it. Suddenly Bekki left the circle and sat down, she looked upset. Bekki later said that nausea had overcome her and she felt extreme anger from the spirit who objected to the Ouija Board being in the room. As Claire continued with her questions, Eddie came into the chapel to observe.
Eddie talked to Bekki for a moment while the circle carried on. The coldness was all down my right side and very intense. Eddie then spoke to us and said that there was a spirit walking around the circle and it had stopped on my right side. He said it was a tall male figure, just a black shape but Eddie said he sensed that it was not happy about the Ouija Board being in this room too and it was angry especially around men. I noted that it was now two occasions when claims of not liking males had been raised. Kirk then admitted to a sensation in his right ear but it didn’t last long.
The circle broke up as our location time had come to an end. Luke admitted to feeling slightly sick and I finally got to rub some warmth on the back of my head. It was certainly an interesting moment. I had a quick look about the chapel for the source of the cold draught but found nothing of significance other than the usual gaps around doors etc.
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Location 3 - Great Hall, 1am
The Great Hall location is good in that there are numerous rooms to spend some time alone in. One room doesn’t have an obvious entrance but is situated in a window embrasure in the Great Hall. It is a basic small chamber that leads to a garderobe. Because there is a small slit window on the north wall it is believed that this room may have acted as a prison at some time.
The room was extremely dark so I decided to send Luke in there to try out his senses and to see if he could tune into anything. As this was his first investigation I did expect him to back out but he didn’t and in fact surprised me when he headed off into the pitch black by himself. All went quiet and when I asked if he was ok there was no reply. I asked again and still he didn’t reply. Suddenly from the darkness I heard him say that he could see three figures!
Luke went onto describe a large room with an oak table surrounded with high-backed chairs. He said a large fire burned in the fireplace, shields and swords hung on the walls and he watched three people standing together, looking down at the floor with solemn expressions. He went onto describe the figures as being a man called James, and young boy called Thomas and another man who Luke believed to have a religious authority.
I asked Claire to ask Luke questions about what he believed he could see. Luke said he stood in a large, arched doorway as he watched the three people in what could be described as mourning. When asked how it made him feel, he said depressed. He added that the experience made him feel sick and giddy. Claire asked him to ask the figures if they’d talk to us via the Ouija board in the hall but he replied that they shook their heads and continued to stare at the floor. The only other information Luke felt was relevant is that the man seemed to be taking the place of the boy’s father – so reading between the lines this could have been the death of the boy's father and perhaps an uncle or other man taking up the father figure role.
Luke said the visualization was over powering, so Claire said to ask them to back off a bit. Luke left the chamber with an unsteady walk and complained of feeling nauseous. I took him outside to get some air and gather his thoughts.
After ten minutes we went back inside to find the group taking part in a Ouija board. Bekki, Teresa, Kirk and Claire sat round what looked like an active conversation.
Something hit the floor from above – I looked up as I assumed someone threw something from the gallery. What was on the floor looked like paint from the high ceiling, which just so happened to look like it was peeling in places. Then another piece hit the floor. I felt sure it was deliberate but no one responded when I asked it anyone had done it.
The Ouija continued its conversation with all participants engrossed in the message. I asked what I’d missed and I was told that it was currently directed at Bekki. It had swore and mentioned names that Bekki knew.
I had a look in the Kings Chamber and left them with the Ouija. While I was in there I didn’t feel alone. The darkness felt very dark and I stared into it in the hope I would see something move or appear but nothing became of it. When I walked back into the Hall I was informed that a large stone had hit the floor. A few of us tried to find it but there was nothing on the floor big enough to make the sound they claimed to happen. People in the hall and other groups said that they felt it was someone who was doing it rather than something.
Bekki suddenly jumped up from the Ouija and ran out of the room. I went to see how she was and Bekki said she’d had a horrible message about her past. The following sums up those few minutes I did not witness.
Bekki’s great uncle, Guy Bradley, apparently came through on the board and had done on the last investigation too. The group asked him if there was any other spirits in the room to which he said ‘No’. Bekki asked how old he was, his reply was ‘70’, which is exactly what he said on Bekki’s previous visit. This would have been about the right age at the time of his death.
Guy was asked why he was at the keep and he spelt out, ‘Bekki’. He also spelt out ‘Hilda’, which is the name of Bekki’s nana that died in December. Another spirit came through on the board that claimed to be called, Derek Elgin. He gave the date, ‘1468’, though we didn’t know what that date represented. He didn’t seem interested in telling the group anything of interest and seemed to play around with the board. He started to swear and spelt out the word ‘Fuck’ on a couple of occasions. The energy switched between ‘Guy’ and ‘Derek’, and at one point, when Guy returned to the board, Bekki felt as if someone had laid their hand on her knee. Teresa felt that Guy was a calm influence, but Derek was abusive.
While Derek was on the board, He spelt out the word GBH. Claire asked the spirit if that was how he had died, his reply was, ‘No. Claire asked Derek if he’d done that to someone else, he replied ‘No’. Claire then asked who had done GBH. Derek spelt out the name ‘Bekki, which is when Bekki left the board. Bekki later said she was sent to prison for a charge of GBH a few years ago. Other group members couldn’t possibly have known this and Bekki felt the spirit had become malicious.
Claire said that in her experience the Ouija rarely brought good news. In my experience the Ouija Board has never worked without the influence of someone who took part.
Location 4 - Queens Chamber, 3am
It had been an interesting evening so far even if I say so myself. I didn’t expect much more but as it turned out, the best was saved until last!
Although the Queens Chamber had been of interest in the past, we decided to begin underneath in the Mezzanine, which is considered to be ground level.
Things got interesting pretty quickly. Claire suggested that we try the energy circle like we’d done in the chapel. Almost straight away everyone noticed a pungent and sickly smell that caused some of us to gag. It was a rotten earthy smell that changed to old drains and sewers before it left as quickly as it came. Claire said that a circle of light protected us and to not break the link as she could see something walk around our circle. Clare and Bekki then said they could smell mint – though I could not. I did feel a slight draught and with it came the sickly smell. Claire called out and asked for visual signs and for anything with us to communicate through various methods.
Strangely, the room behind Claire and Teresa appeared to grow darker and denser. Added to this I could swear I could see a dark shadow, roughly of a child’s height stood between but slightly behind them. I tried to blink away the image yet it remained, just moved slightly but remained nonetheless.
The darkness still seemed to grow, like a heavy mist and I could no longer clearly see Claire or Teresa. In fact all I could see of Claire was her hands. Oddly, others in the group all said the same thing and finally I was in a situation that excited me.
Claire asked if we could see her face as she felt it had transfigured. Her face had come slightly into view and how weird it looked too. It was not her head at all. Her mouth had become as wide as her head with big a grin of pointed fangs that reached from ear to ear. Her eyes were nothing but large black holes in her face. I tried to stare the image away and then tried to blink it away but it had no effect. Gradually the demonic face faded back to her own face. The pungent smell was back, like faeces and other ghastly stuff. I said aloud that it felt like hell had opened its doors. The atmosphere was tense and everyone seemed to look about in wonder. Claire replied that it was highly likely to be the case and to not break the circle. She added that there was a dark, mischievous energy down here with us. The sceptic in me felt a bit silly and already I had created reasons for what took place, but I felt swept along in the moment and continued to go with it.
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That’s when I noticed the wall behind Claire and Teresa change. The solid wall behind them (on the other side of which would be the chapel where we had the energy circle earlier) was lost in complete darkness but now I could see a pale, tall rectangle that immediately my mind said was a door. But then suddenly I could see into that doorway into what appeared to be an endless, vaulted corridor. Weirder still, I could see black forms moving to and fro, in and out of the doorway. When I said this, others in the group said they could see it too! I also felt this gateway led down to some dark place and Claire said that it did and there was currently a tall, dark, hooded shadow stood right behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled but when I looked behind to see - I saw nothing.
Next to me on my right was Kirk then Teresa. When I looked at their faces I was struck by the image before me. Their features resembled those found on the twisted paintings by Francis Bacon. I tired to shake the image out of my head as I was sure it was tiredness or a trick of the light – but their faces remained contorted with stretched, blackened features.
Someone said that behind us on the stairs something slowly made its way down towards us. I looked round and I saw what I can only describe as the clear shape of a person walk slowly down the stairs. Small, colourful lights swept around it and into the room. They were mostly blue and purple balls of light and it brought a calm feeling with it. I was now convinced that these were hallucinations but because what I saw was so interesting, I continued to watch it.
I looked above my head and could see hundreds of tiny sparks and flashes of light. Others in the group said they could too. Claire claimed that the room was now full of energy and that is what we could see flying all about us.
The darkness seemed to recede and the pungent smell with it. In its place Bekki and Claire said they could smell mint and perfume though admittedly I couldn’t. The doorway on the wall had gone and was just a wall again. The sensation of something sinister had lifted too and the feeling of calmness had taken its place.
Time was up on this location so we broke the circle and headed back to meet up with the rest of the group. I took a few photos of the entrance to the mezzanine on the way out. I went over in my head what had just taken place and tried to rationalize it.
The Conclusion
First and foremost the logical reason for the visual effects was tiredness. Secondly, I know I have debris floating around in my eyes that can give the impression of dark shapes moving by when it is dark. I also know that autosuggestion can stimulate images so when I suggested I could see a corridor, I’m sure others in the circle used that information, even subconsciously to create the same image in their mind.
The smells could have come down the chimney or other gaps in the stonework. As unpleasant smells are often associated with bad things and pleasant smells with good, I can’t help but to assume my imagination created the sense of foreboding. I suppose when we’re all stood there in the dark, asking for something to happen and something does, even if it is merely a smell, your mind will find something to associate with it and may even provide an image or sensation. Because of these things alone and can’t truly admit to having had a paranormal experience though whatever did happen was of great interest due to the psychological and physical effect it had on me.
So in answer to the other team members and guests who were under the impression that my belief in the paranormal was now confirmed, regrettably the answer is no, it’s not. But I'd like to experience more occasions like this in the future!
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