Chaplin's
Hanley, S O T. 31st May 2006


GROUP ..... PARANORMALRESEARCH UK


The name of this property has changed a couple of times from Lloyds and before that The Queens.
The property used to be on the site of the local swimming pool.
The property was also a small house and a farmhouse.

There is a tunnel, it is said to run under the pub to somewhere by the bus station.
The area used to have small terrace houses.


REPORTED PHENOMENA
... something in the cellar
... a man behind the bar
... a woman who walks the building
... something else that follows the woman around
... loud noises and bangs
... the gentleman who greeted the new landlord on his first day


I went on this investigation with Phil and Marsha, on behalf of PRUK, the landlord, a medium named Matt (invited for the evening) and a couple of the landlord's friends.

We started at 11pm at the far end of the pub in a sitting area. Phil got some strange readings from his EMF recorder and I felt very cold. The Matt told us that the woman was walking around us. Matt got the name LUCY and said that something was missing in the pub.


By 1am, a couple of the group saw an outline of a figure behind the bar and they got the feeling of being watched. Could imagination be running a mock or was something starting to happen?






We all stood in the middle of the bar area and started our first sceance. We used a board and glass. A lady came through but she couldnt spell out her name. She gave us the year 1969 and she had been a customer of the pub. Matt was getting some personnel readings and then the glass started to count down, so we closed the board down. A few people smelt tobacco and cherries.

We started the sceance again but one of the group started to feel sick and the glass went hot. These are said to be bad/negative signs, so again we closed it down.

It was now 2am and most of the group stood in a circle and we placed a candle in the centre. Some felt as though they wanted to float and the candle's flame seem to move (prob a slight breeze). Everyone smelt cherries again, Phil had a pain in his stomach and I took a photo of a single orb (yes hold the press....... a single orb/dust)

The circle closed half an hour later and the landlord felt as though someone was standing behind him but I could see anything.

We tried again with the table and glass. The information we got was .... two girls came to us, Elizabeth age 15 and Ollie age 7 (her full name was Molly). They were sisters and they died of T.B. in 1869. Many children came to play here because of the link with the school and swimming pool.

We finished at 4am


Interesting night but I think we relieved on Matt too much and we dont have any proof to prove or not what happened that night, happened.

The Raven
Darnhall, Nr Winsford. 22nd March 2006


GROUP ..... PARANORMALRESEARCH UK

This whole area is associated with Vale Royal Abbey.
It was originally known as DERNEHOLE (a hidden place) in Saxon times.

Before the building was a pub, it was a gamekeepers lodge.
It is said to have eight ghosts but I could only find information about two ghosts.
They are both called Tom.

GHOST 1 - elderly man. He has been seen sitting on a chair by the fireplace in the bar area. The pub has a photo whom it is believed to be Tom.






GHOST 2 - young boy, age 12 or 13. When the pub was a lodge, a boy died by the stairs. We are not sure how it happened but it happened one of three ways:-
... hung over the stairs, suicide or murder
... fell down stairs
... pushed down stairs
These stairs are in the bar area.

I was here with Kath, Phil and Marsha.

We arrived about 11pm and we started with a sceanne in the dinningroom. It started well, the glass was moving and the temperature went down around us very quickly.
We made contact with a man, first name began with the letter J. The number 7 came up as well. It then calmed down and went quite.

A trigger object was set up in the backroom. This was a cross on a piece of paper. But it didnt move.

Phil and Marsha were table tilting in the backroom. The table was moving quite a lot.







Later on, we moved into the bar area for another sceanne next to the fireplace (this is where old Tom sits). It was now about 2am.

The Landlord's dog started to bark by the door that leads out into the dinningroom by the stairs.

Marsha saw a light going across the stairs wall. This was caught on Phil's camera. It looked a little like someone had a torch switched on. Nobody had a torch on in the room and no one was outside. We started the sceanne again but this seemed to upset the dog.

Nothing else happened until a coin was thrown at 2.30am. The coin went passed in front of Phil and behind me. It landed on the fireplace. It must off hit the large glass vase by the fire cause we all heard a loud sound which sounded like glass breaking.
I had taken photo's of the fireplace earlier in the evening and there was no coin there.
The coin was a penny, 1927 King George 5th.
Everyone in the building was accounted for and we cannot understand how this coin was thrown.











During the night, the video camera would go out of focus if we tried to record anything by the stairs but it would be fine in the rest of the building.


We had to finish at 3.30am but what a great night. I would love to go back sometime and see if we could drum anything else thrown at us and maybe find out who threw the coin.

The Brighton Belle
Winsford 17th March 2006


GROUP ..... PARANORMALRESEARCH UK

Winsford only became a town in 1894, before then it was in two parts - Over and Wharton. Both in the Doomsday Book of 1086.

The pub was once called The Railway Hotel. It started life as a farmhouse.
The restaurant was once home to The Mona Pullman Carriage made in 1933. It worked the London to Brighton line and in 1948 carried The Queen. It has since been taken away and an extension has been built.

On the 17th April 1948, this area was the scene of a train crash at the back of the pub. At 5.40pm, The Princes's Arthur of Cannaught was passing through Winsford Junction, when a solider pulled the communication cord and as the train slowed down, he jumped off and left.
Meanwhile The City of Nottingham train was fast approaching behind. At the very last moment, the driver saw that this train had stopped, it tried to slow down but it crashed into the back of the standing train.

The dead were taken to a temporary mortuary in John street and a lot of the passengers were given shelter in the pub and many homes nearby.


GHOST SIGHENINGS
- shawdows along the back wall by the fireplace(next to the old barn)
- figure of a young woman by the fireplace opposite the kitchen
- ghost of a woman behind the bar
- ghost of a solider


INVESTIGATION
I was here with PRUK, me, Kath, Phil and Marsha.

We heard several weird noices in the room next to the old barn. A chair fell off a bench when no one was near it. Phil heard growling noices in the restaurant. We all heard the sound of glass bottles being banged together behind the bar. We turned the glass cleaner off incase this was the reason for the noise but we heard the noise again.

We moved into the old barn, where we did a sceanne. We picked up on a solider. We couldnt get much information from him, only the letter D for his first name and the letter E for his surname.
We also picked up on a small girl, about 4 or 5 yrs old. The girl had had an accident and hurt her head, neck and back. She later died. We think she had fallen out of the loft in the barn. She didnt like animals or the barn. Then all of a sudden, we were joined by her grandfather who wasnt happy. He didnt want to talk to us or let his grandaughter talk to us. The room did changed a little, call it imagination but the room did feel colder and I started to get the feeling of being watched.

Nothing else was heard from the grandfather and grandaughter but a third man came through. He was not a nice gentleman and so we ended it there.

We had seen shawdows along the wall all night, on and off. It wasnt car lights. We had all heard strange noises all night and we could not tell where they came from.

At 3.45am, we all heard a loud sigh coming from the bar area. But we saw nothing and nothing else happened. We finished shortly after.


This was a very interesting investigation. Not a great deal had happened but it was the first time something had moved. We had also heard noises that we didnt know what they were and those strange shadows on the wall.
This made me more determined to find out more.

THE PLUMBERS ARMS 11th November 2005
21 Newgate Street, Chester.


GROUP ..... PARANORMALRESEARCH UK


Built in the 1500's.
It was a Blacksmiths, a Coaching Inn and a Funeral Parlour.
It was previously called Fagins.
This building backs onto the old roman wall.
There are at least two main ghosts plus several who are seen only for a short time.
- figures in the bar, seen then gone quickly
- female walks through one of the 2nd floor bedrooms
- figure walks passed the outside of the 1st floor livingroom window


This was my first ghost hunt with my new group Parnormal research. We started off in one of the two so called haunted bedrooms. As we were asking out, some of the group felt cold spots. They also saw a couple of light anomolies.

We left a trigger object in this bedroom but it did not move.

We split up into three groups, one group stayed in the bedroom, one group in the bar downstairs and one group in the livingroom.

I stayed in the livingroom. A woman is sometimes seen through the window. As this is the second floor, I looked out of the window to see if there was a walkway or steps outside. There was nothing and unfortually, after a couple of hours nothing happened in this room.

There was nothing happening to any of the other groups, so we decieded to group together in the bar.
\we started with table tilting. After a slow start, the table started to move. No information as such, so we stopped.
We followed this with a sceannce. The glass moved to me a couple of times but we couldnt find out why or who was speaking to me. The glass then moved to another two members of the group and they received personnel messages.
After this we did pick up on past local's and a previous landlady from the 1930's but no names. Without names, I cant do any research.
We closed the sceannce down and sat in the dark for a while just asking out.
A member felt her arm go cold and some felt cold spots.

On the whole, it was a very quiet night but at least I had worked with my group and got to know the members. The most important thing was I now know I was on the road to becoming a parnormal investigator.

PRAGUE. AUG 05


GROUP ..... MYSELF


There has been a settlement in this area since early man.
The history of the city goes back to the foundation of Prague Castle by Borivaj in 870AD. Afer 894AD, it became the main seat of the oldest ruling dynasty of the state of Bohemia, the Premyslid Princes (Premyslovci).
Prague has been the capital of the Czech state for eleven centuries, not bad for a small settlement around a castle.
Most famous early ruler was the Catholic Duke Wenceslas 1st (903 - 935), who became the Patron Saint of Bohemia. He is, of course, known to us all as the subject of a Xmas carol.
With the death of Wenceslas 111 in 1306, the Premyslid Dynasty was succeded in 1310 by the House of Luxemburg and in 1346, Charles IV became the Czech King and he made Prague his capital. After Charles's death, came the Hussite Wars, which meant 15 years of religious conflict.
In 1526, the Hapsburg Dynasty succeded to the throne but this resulted in conflict including The Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648). The result was that about one third of the country's population was killed and the decline in the use of the Czech language.
During 1784 - 1848, there was a revival of the Czech nation and the Industrial Revolution emerged.
After the Great War in 1918, a new state of Czechoslovakia emerged - including Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Slovakia.
This whole area suffered greatly during Nazi domination in WWII (1939 - 1945).
Soviet troops took control in May 1945 and the country was under Communist rule. All land and industry was nationalized with the aim of making Czechoslovakia a supplier of heavy industrial equipment and arms to the Eastern Bloc.
Alexander Dubcek tried to form a new communist party, so to make life better for the ordinary people. But in August 1968, the Soviet Union and its allies, invaded the counrty resulting in worse conditions for a further 21 years.
The start of the communism happened just a few month's after the Soviet union took over (some people say), after Jan Palach, a 20 year old university student died after setting himself on fire on Wenceslas Square. He did this to protest and draw attention to the invasion the previous August. This is now celebrated on the 19th January - Jan Palach Day. But as I have said, it took over 20yrs and another student demonstration for this to happen.
On January 1st 1993, the Czech and Slovak Republics went their seperate ways.

Prague is now a busy but beautiful place to visit, with modern buildings (such as pubs, clubs, shops and a casino) rubbing shoulders with the old. But please be aware, this isnt known as one of the best stag and hen capitals for nothing. All I will say on this is some area's are not suitable for families esp if you have gone out in the evening.

Prague is divided up into five districts:- Stare Mesto (Ole Town), Nove Mesto (New Town), Mala Strana (Lesser Quarter), Josefov (Jewish Quarter) and Hradcany (Castle Quarter).


MALA STRANA and HRADCANY
This is the area beneath the castle and the castle itself. The area is dominated by the castle and Petrin Hill. Beneath the castle are gardens and orchards. Primarily, this area ia s tourist attraction with its Cathedral, Museums and Galleries but it is a seat for government with the President and its ministers having their offices in many of the Mansions, Palaces and even Museums.
Some important buildings in this area include:-
CERNIN PALACE ... this large building was built for Count Jan Cernin of Chudenice, Imperial Ambassador to Venice. The building was acquired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1948. Twenty years later, Jan Masaryk (son of the founder of Czechoslovakia and the only non communist member of the Government) fell to his death from an upper floor window onto the courtyard below. It is believed that he had been murdered on the orders of Stalin.
TUSCANY PALACE ... this yellow fronted building dates from 1689 and was owned by the Duke of Tuscany.
ST VITUS's CATHEDRAL ... it stands on the site of a chapel founded in 925AD. Work started on the present Gothic building in 1344. The chapel of St Wenceslas dates from 1358, where he is buried directly under the chapel.
ST THOMAS CHURCH ... this church was established for the Order of the Augustinian hermits by King Wenceslas II in 1285.
ROYAL GARDENS ... these gardens were laid out in 1534 in the style of the Italian Renaissence. It also housed bears, panthers, tigars, and other wild beasts for show.
LESSER TOWN SQUARE ... this former market square dates from 1257.
MALTESE SQUARE ... this neighbourhood has been associated with the Order of the Knights of Malta since 1169.
PETRIN HILL ... this hill was used by Pagans. They made sacrifices to their Gods. These were not the only killings to take place because Medieval Rulers used this hill to display the bodies of their executed enemies. The church of St Lawrence stands on the summit, on the site of the Pagan shrine. There is also an Observation Tower and a maze on this hill. Around the hill is the Hunger Wall, built in 1360 ordered by Charles IV to provide employment during a time of famine.



STARE MESTO
This beautiful area has the Old Town Square (Staromestske namesti) at its heart. This use to be part of The Royal Route, used by the Kings on their way to their coronations. It is a mase of narrow streets and courtyards, edged with churches, restaurants, brightly coloured buildings, junk shops and internet cafes. A real old and new mixture.

The Charles bridge takes you out of the old town and across the River Vltava, to the Lesser Quarter.







Some important buildings in this area include:
THE BETHLEHEM CHAPEL ... built between 1391 and 1394 by the followers of a preacher named Jan Milic of Kromeriz.
HOUSE OF THE LORDS OF KUNSTAT AND PODEBRAD ... this former palace dates from 1200
HOUSE AT THE STONE BELL ... this Gothic Tower was built as a Palace for King John of Luxembourg around 1340. The stone bell is on the corner of the building.
CHARLES BRIDGE ... this sandstone bridge was designed by Petr Parler for King Charles IV in 1357. There are more than 30 sculptures decorating the bridge. During the daytime artists sell their paintings or photos.
KAROLINUM ... this is the oldest university in central europe and was founded in 1348 by Charles IV.
ST JAMES CHURCH ... this church was built in 1689, to replace its 13th century predecessor which burnt down. Beware as you enter this church, as just inside the door you will see a shrivelled arm. This belonged to a jewel thief who was caught stealing here in the 16th century.
ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK ... this beautiful large clock gives the time, month, seasons of the year, signs of the zodiac, the course of the sun and the holidays of the christian calendar. On the hour, the figure od Death rings a bell and the 12 Apostles appear above. A cock crows, a Turk shakes his head in disbelief, the Miser who eyes his bag of gold and Vanity who admires himself in a mirror.




UNGELT ... this courtyard dates from the 12th century where merchants paid ungelt or customs duties to sell their goods. The buildings around the courtyard dates from the 16th century

JOSEFOV
This small area is named after Emperor Joseph II (Joseph's Town). The Jewish Quarter is full of Synagogues, Museums, shops and restaurants. During the 18th century, this area housed more than 12,000 people. Nowadays less than 3,000 people live here.
Some important places are:-
ST AGNES CONVENT ... this was founded in 1234 by Agnes, sister of King Wenceslas I. During the restoration in the 1990's, the burial places of some of the Kings and Queens of the Premyslid Dynasty were found, including the tomb of King Wenceslas.
MAISEL SYNAGOGUE ... built in 1591 for Mayor Mordechai Maisel. The building now houses religious objects including the five books of Moses (handwritten rolls of parchment).
JAN PALACH SQUARE ... this was known as Red Army Square but was renamed after Jan Palach who burned himself to death in January 1969.
CEREMONIAL HALL ... this was once the Ceremonial Hall of the Prague Burial Society for Jewish burial rites. It now houses an exhibition on Jewish customs and traditions.






OLD JEWISH CEMETERY ... this is one of the oldesh Jewish burial grounds in Europe. It was founded in the early 15th century. The oldest grave is that of Rabbi Avigdor Kara who died in 1439. There are about 12,000 tombstones and 100,000 bodies buried here.
Rabbie Jehuda Low is buried here. He was the creator of the Golem.
The cemetery closed in 1787.


NOVE MESTO
The New Town was founded in the 14th century and it is the commercial heart of Prague. It is a good mixture of old and new living side by side.
Some important places are:-
CITY OF PRAGUE MUSEUM ... three historic buildings make up this museum. They display pottery, coins, paintings, weapons and cannons.
NATIONAL THEATRE ... the foundation stone was laid in 1848 and was partly funded by public donations. Just before the building was finished, it was almost destroyed by fire in 1881. But in just 2 years, the rebuilt theatre was finished.
POWDER GATE ... work began on building this Gothic Tower in 1475 but was stopped eight years later when the King was forced to flee the city. It was completed in the 1870's.
VYSEHRAD ... the twin spires are one of the best known landmarks. The first dynasty of Czech rulers built a walled palace here. The cemetery was founded in 1860 as a burial ground for Czech national heroes.





WENCESLAS SQUARE ... this 750m lond boulevard started life as the site of a horse market. Surrounded now with 3 storey buildings, cinemas, restaurants and nightclubs. St Wenceslas watches over everyone.

GHOST TALES OF PRAGUE AND THE GHOST WALK
While on holiday, I went on my own ghost and legend tour as well as an organised ghost walk.

I started my personnel tour overlooking the city on Petrin Hill. I could understand why this had been choosen by the Pagons for their sacrifies. They must have felt nearer to their Gods. It was also used by the Medieval Monarchs to execute their enemies. Their bodies must have been seen for miles and forced many an army to flee. Its a far cry from the now peaceful haven you see today.

The Castle was next on my list. Just walking around this beautiful castle, it is easy to imagine all the Kings and Queens, their families and staff that have lived and worked here, also the many that would have died here. In the Powder Tower, alchemists were once employed to find the secrets of turning base metals into gold. There had been a disastrous fire in 1541 and lives were lost. In the Daliborka Tower, a nobleman was imprisoned here on suspicion of helping in the peasants revolt. Dark figures are seen throughout the Castle.

The next day, I went around the Lesser Quarter and over Charles Bridge. The Lesser Quarter has the ghost of a Swede who lost his head during a battle of The Thirty Years War. The mounted ghost is often seen cantering around the area, carrying his head in a sack. Headless monks are seen here and over the whole of Prague. Charles Bridge has many statues along it and you do get the feeling that you are being watched. But perhapes you are, as one of the statues may well be real. The legend is:- in the 14th century, St John od Nepomuk had taken confession from Queen Johanna (King Wenceslas IV wife). The King asked what she had said but the priest refused to tell. The King had the priest tortured and then thrown from the bridge and left to die. For 300 years, St John had been seen on the bridge and down on the waterfront. To stop this, it is claimed that a service was held on the bridge and the saint's soul was frozen in one of the statues. Now he watches people walking past him. But he is not alone, the bridge has a group of ten lords who were executed during the Middle ages. Their heads were stuck on poles and placed on the bridge. Singing mournful songs are heard at midnight.

I had heard many tales about the Jewish Golem and so the Jewish quarter and the cemetery were a must. The Legend of the Golem is well known around the world. The Golum was made by Rabbi Loeb from the mud of the river Vltava, in human form, to help with the everyday chores. One day the Golum went on a rampage and the rabbi lay it to rest in the roof of Prague's Old new Synagogue. No one can check to see if this Golum is still there as the keys to this room have been lost for over 200 years. As with any legend, there are different variations floating around including:- make a human form from clay and place an object from a loved one who had died. Say a special prayer and the loved ones form takes over the clay human figure. But be warned, this does not always have good results. There again bringing anyone back from the dead is never a good idea.
As I looked around the cemetery and saw these tombstones leaning against eachother or already fallen over, realising that bodies lie one on top of eachother, layer on layer in a confined space, you do feel so humbled. So much history in such a small space. It is claimed that not all the souls here are at peace, as many dark figures have been seen in the cemetery.

The Ghost Walk was centered in the Old Town. It only lasted for a couple of hours but it was very enjoyable. I cannot remember the people's names, as it was a lot to take in on the night but I will find time to do some research and find out but I hope you enjoy what I wright anyway and if you ever go to Prague, please go on a ghost walk and listen for yourself.

We start at the square, then walk for a short while to the gates of Romansky Palac - Vinoteka. This is the only bit of the old castle that was built here such a long time ago.
We walked passed and down the alley at the side of these castle gates. We walked down the alley and turned right.

We were greeted by these doors. It is said that there is a man who waits by these doors. The doors lead to his house.
On the top of this building, there is a figure of a woman (his wife). She walks along the top of this building. A few doors down, we find another set of wooden doors. This was his Barber's shop. But he didnt just cut hair, he had cut their throats as well.
When his wife found out, she jumped from the roof. He is said to walk from his house to his shop. Is he looking for more victims or can he not go in his own home because of what he has done. Some say he is made to watch his wife's death over and over again as punishment.

We carried on for about 5mins to an alleyway where a lady and her family lived. Her boyfriend came to her one day and told her he had to go away for a while on business. This wouldnt take too long and they would be married as soon as he came back. Just over a year went by and the lady met and fell in love with another man.
The night before they were due to be married. The first man came back. He was upset and filled with rage when he found out about his girlfriend. He killed the man, then his love and finally himself. All three are said to walk this area.

The next port of call was a church. A man who used to go to this church, found out how to bring the dead to life. He used this to get these so called zombies to do chores and jobs for him. He was warned about this but of course, he didnt listen. He was warned not to ask the dead to help him too often. One night, the man came to this church and woke the dead. They were not too happy and turned against him. The man ran but only made it as far as the outside church steps. The dead attacked and killed him. But they didnt just leave it there. Every year, this man had to come back and re live his own death. It is said that on this day his screams are heard.

Our final place was a walk way next to a pub/cafe.
A man lived in a flat above this alleyway. He would go out in the evening and normally brought a young lady back to his home. Now, these young ladies would be killed and their bodies dumped all over the place. This continued for a long time until he was finally caught but no one ever knew how many he killed. A group of young ladies are often seen in this area. Are they the ghosts of his victims or just friends out for the evening.