MORECOMBE WINTER GARDENS. THE RETURN

MORECOMBE WINTER GARDENS
MORECOMBE
LANCASTER

11th March 2011




This is my second visit to this wonderful building. The Winter Gardens has been made more famous for its ghosts thanks to many more ghost groups hiring the property and such shows as Most Haunted.


The land that the Winter Gardens stands on was once occupied by swimming baths, which were surrounded by gardens. The original facilites included 3 plunge baths, 24 private baths and 2 medicated baths. An entertainment complex was added known as the People's Palace. In 1896, it was announced that a new theatre was to be built in 1897 and it is this extension that remains today. It was owned by Mr T Baker and Mr R B Abbott. They were the directors of a west end pier company. The ballroom was designed by architects, Mangel and Littlewood, with Frank Matcham as consultant. After this huge transformation, the building re opened and re named as the Victoria Pavillion.









The building was very popular but this didnt last and in 1908, the company went into liquidation. It was bought by Broadhead and Sons and they added a funfair outside and a billard room downstairs.

In 1953, the building was sold again. It was bought by Louis Benjamin. The ballroom was converted to the Dixieland Palace and the theatre was leased to Trust House Forte. The theatre closed in 1977 and the ballrom was demolished in 1982 and replaced with an amusement arcade.

Over the years, this has been occupied by many things, as explained above, but I did forget the circus. A charitable trust has now taken over the property. The Friends of the Winter Gardens took over in 1986 and work is being carried out to save this building.

Many famous acts has graced the floor here, inc --- Laurel and Hardy, George Formby and Thora Hird.

The building was taken over during WWll by the RAF. They organised their own shows.


PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

--- this building is said to have a rather unusal type of haunting, there is a claim that there is an invisible line down the middle of the building making a good side and an evil side.
--- a seven year old child plays in the building
--- 2 male figures seen on the first floor. They are said to be Mangel and Littlewood.
--- an Edwardian lady
--- a lady in the dressingroom
--- man and woman dressed in RAF or NAVY uniforms
--- an angry man named Henry
--- another man named Stan
--- 2 women actress
--- Charles Straton
--- Alice Shields


INVESTIGATION

Paranormal research had been invited here to watch the investigation and perhapes offer help and advice. We arrived at 7.30pm. Me and Nicola went for a walk around the building. We then joined Phil and set up our equipment. The psychic, Racheal (who was running the event) and Phil went off to set up some trigger objects and experiments. Me and Nicola joined the main group on the guided tour of the building lead by a member of the Friends of Morecombe Winter Gardens. Nicola held the EMF reader and I took notes and we both took photos as we walked.



The walk started in the front foyer and the main entrance. The EMF stayed on one green light.






We then went upstairs to the 1st floor. As we entered through the wooden doors, the emf jumped to red and then back to the single green light. Nicola walked through this doorway several times and it never went to red again. As we walked around, through the ladies bar, offices and gents bar, the emf stayed on green. In fact, as we continued around the building, the emf stayed green. No more red lights. We finished the tour at 9.40pm.




As we walked back to our meeting point on the ground floor, the emf went to red again as we passed through these doors. I thought at first it was the cables, as this area is directly below where the emf went to red on the first floor. Again Nicola passed through this area several times but the emf stayed on a single green light. And the emf had not turned to red earlier as we started the tour as we first walked through these doors. So why turn red now and then disappear?




We all re grouped in our meeting area by the side door and about 10pm we all headed behind the stage. We started with table tilting after Nicola had explained about our emf recorder and what we used it for.



The table tilting had started and I heard what sounded like footsteps above me. I know there was a lot of banging here because of the wind from outside. But these "footsteps" were clearly heard by me. I climbed the stone stairs at the side of the stage. As I stood above the rest of the group, I heard nothing. After a while, I joined the rest of the group back on the stage. Shortly after, Phil also heard footsteps above him and also the sound of a girl laughing. I had also heard these footsteps at the same time as Phil but no other voice. I went back upstairs but again I didnt hear anything. Nor did I see anything.







We moved into the Auditorium about 10.30pm. Nicola took half the group to the first floor and Phil ran a sceance by the stage. A red light was seen on the first floor balconly by the boxes (not car lights). I went to sit there on my own (do you see a pattern here, as soon as something happens, Im sent on my own. Brave or daft, a bit of both) I had only been there a few moments and at about 10.50pm, I started to hear footsteps and whispering. I radio through to ask where everyone was and I was told that everyone was back in the auditorium. But Nicola and another member of the group had also heard the footsteps.

I went for a walk around along the balconly, looking for a stray member of the group or anyone, as I was so sure it must have been someone from our group as the footsteps were so loud and clear. But I saw no one. But what I did see, seemed unbelievable. As I entered the gents bar, I saw that not only had the car trigger object moved but they had moved onto another table. I radioed this through straight away and I stayed in the doorway without touching anything or going into the room. Nicola and another member of the group were the first to me and they saw for themselves where the cars were. At this point, I will say with my hand on my heart, that I didnt touch these cars. I am a paranormal investigator and I try to find out for myself if a place is haunted or not. I am just as happy to say no its not haunted, as I am to say yes. But both me and Nicola thought this movement was a little too good. I know that neither Phil, Nicola or myself moved these cars and no body went into the room from the balconly. But this is not a silled room and there is the entrance around the back and we didnt have enough camera's to leave one recording here. So did someone cheat or was it paranormal? I cant answer that for certain.








We split up again. Phil carried on with the sceance downstairs. Nicola took a few people into the Gods and I returned to my seat on the balconley with another member of the group. I did this, just in case anything else happened and I would have a witness.




Only a few minutes went by and nearly everyone had heard a child's voice. Nicola's group reported hearing shufflinf noises, one seat was down and strange emf readings on the staircase. Phil's group reported a thud sound on the stage, whispering sounds, temp changes, a young girl's voice cry out and a shadow darting across the foyer.

Nicola came back and joined me on the balconly. The three of us heard a child's voice at the same time as Phil heard the same. We also heard more footsteps and what sounded like paper moving. We all decieded to re group and have a brew. But before we went downstairs, we checked tha cars but nothing. So about 11.20pm, we all mew up for a well earned brew.


At 11.40pm, I went back onto the first floor balconly and everyone else went back into the auditorium to conduct another sceance lead by Phil. Ten minutes went by and Nicola radioed to me that they had seen a figure walk past me. I looked around but I couldnt see or hear anything. Two other members of the group came up to join me. Us three heard a noice coming from the gent's bar. We went to look and found a packet of earplugs on the floor but the cars were not touched. I made a cross shape in the flour and I asked for another cross shape to be made in the other patch pf flour on the other table. We placed the earplugs on a chair and asked for these to move. We had a walk around and found that a green toy was also on the floor in the ladies bar toilets. This was re placed back on the chair. Again I can not confirm how the toy had moved and where the earplugs had come from.













Everyone was now on the first floor and I went back to my lonesome seat. Movement was seen on the main staircase and I was hearing footsteps behind me again. While the group were asking out in the gent's bar, I saw what looked like a torch light on the other side of the balconly but no one had their torches on.

By 12.30am, we split into two groups. Racheal took one group down into the cellar and we took the rest of the group up to the Gods. Nothing much was happening to us but some reported that the seating was shaking. I didnt feel anything but I was sitting further away.


By 1am, our group moved down back to the first floor. We stood with Phil asking questions like "what is your name, why are you here and could they do something". Then it sounded like a stone had been thrown and hit the floor. We then heard breathing sounds. We couldnt find anything out of the ordinary. We carried on asking questions and at 1.05am, another stone was thrown. Again we couldnt find anything. Nothing else happened and so about 15mins later, we moved into the ladies bar to try some table tilting. In this room, there is a smaller room. One brave volunter sat in this room and while we conducted our table tilting, we also asked if something could happen to him. But nothing did.






During our experiment, the group from the cellar had broken up and they were wandering the building. This now meant, that any trigger objects would be worthless as anyone could now mess with them. Im not saying anyone would, but the possibilty was there.

We re grouped and had a coffee break.

From 2.15am, we split into different groups, covering the whole building, from the cellar upwards. While Nicola's group went behind the stage, a chair moved slightly when someone sat on it and Nicola's face felt tickerly. Nothing else happened to anyone else even when WWll music was played.

We finished about 4am.

In my view, this was a missed oppertiunaty for paranormal research. We were invited here just to watch a physic investigation. But we wnded up being more involved and trying to run the investigation towards the end. If we had known, we would have brought more equipment and better trigger objects and had camera's recording them. We would have had the event more structured and organizated. No one would have wondered off in their own groups.

But lets look at what happened .......................
... EMF went red three times
... footsteps heard several times
... a child (possibly female) voice heard four times
... red light seen
... whispering sounds
... one seat down in the gods
... two shadows, one in figure form
... earplugs appear from nowwhere
... cars moved?
...stones thrown...twice

I have checked my photo's and I have found nothing.

I have checked my voice recorder for EVP's and I have found several noices I cant explain. These are .........................
... whilst I was sitting in the first floor balconly with another member of the group after the cars had moved. We were talking between ourselves and I said that if I was a spirit, I would be fed up of doing stuff and answering questions. The word "YEAH" had been recorded as though it was agreeing with me.
... Phil had carried on with the sceance on the first floor, while he was talking there is a weird voice which sounds like "YES". Followed a couple of minutes later by three weird breaths.
... Another weird breath was caught on the first floor when people where telling us about the seats shaking.
... We also caught the sounds of the two stones being thrown and landing on the floor. But just after that I had said to Nicola that I had a weird and horrible feeling and she said she had a slight pain in her head. There came a "YES" whisper, followed by "HELLO". Four minutes later as a couple of the group were talking to me, there was what sounded like a "LOW WHISPER VOICE" as though it was joining in out conversion.
... Still on the first floor around the middle sitting area, Phil had been asking questions and just asked what year is it. We can hear a whisper saying "HELP ME" in a female voice.
... In the cellar, Nicola was asking if someone could move the glass, the name "HELEN" is heard followed by a loud "YES".
... In the cellar as well, I had just been explaing what this room had been used for, a loud "NO" and possibly another "NO".
... Again in the cellar, we were talking amounst ourselves and laughing, a weird voice sounded like "ITS NOT FUNNY" was heard.



Other photo's of the theatre