TEAM PROFILE

INVESTIGATOR. OCCUPATION - Vehicle Builder.

I found myself interested in the paranormal when I was quite young. Like a lot of young kids I would read books, listening to stories, explore grave yards or anywhere that was spooky with a few of my friends. Did we see anything scary? Lots. Was it ghosts we saw? I don't think so. Every night I was sure something was in my room or in the bathroom or even around the next corner. Though I was scared, I still couldn't get my fill of ghosts.

I watched as many scary films and programmes as I could. Some of you may remember a programme called “Armchair Thriller” that was a hide your head under the covers at bed time programme and Mr.Myers, he had the power to make me walk home a little bit faster in the dark.

As I got older, I still loved a good ghost story and horror film but my appetite and curiosity in the paranormal had not been quenched. Then along came a programme called Most Haunted. Putting aside the theatrics of the resident medium, this is what I had been waiting for, haunted houses, infra-red cameras the whole kit and caboodle. But soon the cracks started to appeared in its production and at one point someone decided to take the programme in a direction I didn't agree with (lets not forget, it is after all, for entertainment only). For those who watch it and enjoy it, that’s your choice and it’s not up to me to tell you what to watch. But if you want real investigations, tune in to ‘Ghost Hunters’ (TAPS) that is just about as near to REAL, HONEST, paranormal investigating your going to see on the telly.

Despite my disappointment and down turn in the MH programme, it did not deter me. I thought, I want to do this, I had to find out more, to get out there and search for ‘things that go bump in the night’… but HOW was I to accomplish this?..

Then along came the internet. On there I found groups, message boards and clubs doing investigations. posting pictures and video's of things they had seen (and in some cases they hadn’t). I was desperately trying to find a local group which I could get involved in and this is how I found Kath and Gill, via the Crewe Ghost Walk web site. When speaking to them, I found them to be down to earth, nice people, only dealing with hard evidence and not ‘Orb’ chasers or ‘thrill seekers’.

At my interview they rigorously questioned me on my commitment and professional approach and what I could offer their group. I was VERY surprised when they took me into the ‘haunted cellar’ of one of the local hostelries to see how I handled a ‘hands on’ situation straight off the cuff. Thankfully I passed the interview.

At last, I'd found my group. Something that had started over 30 years ago as a young boy’s dream was going to move to the next level. I get the same buzz as I did in those grave yards when I was younger, but without the hiding under my covers.

Are there such things as ghosts? I don't know, but if there are I hope we're the group to prove it.

And finally to sum up how I feel, in the famous words of Mr.Ray Parker Jnr …

“Bustin makes me feel good”.

Tuesday, 19 August 2008

Dendigh Asylum

After speaking to Kath and Gill (plus what I'd seen on the Internet) I knew Denbigh Hospital was a place I HAD to see.

So on a very warm summers evening I made my first visit to north wales hospital. The first sight you get of this place takes your breath away. I couldn't believe the size of it and there is lots more you cannot see from the road.
When entering the grounds you realise that the Vandals have made short work of any glass that they could get to with a stone, plus some had sprayed their tag names on the walls, a couple even managing to join the letters together.

After passing a group of small buildings that might of been used for storage, we visited the chapel(which has been stripped)and the morgue.this we found to have been vandalised.

The next building we found was used as a ward, the curtain rail for around the beds was still in place but not much else. After this we made our way to another building. This was much bigger,here you could see the damage the weather and the vandals had done, ceilings had come down, holes in the floor and paint doing its best to grip to the walls.all this added to the feeling of the place.

We found room after room, small doorways leading to more rooms, large doorways leading to small rooms, long corridors blocked by a fallen ceiling, moss growing on the floor.

Then we found the ballroom/gym. There is a lot of the floor missing in here and someone had burnt the stage down but you could still get the feel of what it was like, the glitter ball is still standing proud hanging on in there.

We then made our way upstairs, smashed basins and swirly carpets greeted us, was it a shadow I saw a couple of times in one of the rooms? I'm not sure.

On returning to the lower floors we made our way around the grounds again. It had started to go dark now and the wildlife had come out to break the silence that surrounds the hospital. We had a look in a few other buildings and found them to dangerous to enter, the bats had found a good use for them though. One building we found looked like it had been a ward.along one wall there was a row of single rooms that had a look of cells. In here we did some EVP work and on 2 occasions we heard what sounded like a female voice and the sound of parts of the roof falling. at the far end we found a really nice solid wood revolving door.

On leaving this area we realised we were not alone.we could hear voices some where in the grounds.at the last place we visited we heard the voices of two males,not knowing who they were or what they were doing in the hospital we decided to cut short our visit.

When we left the grounds we came upon 7 youngsters, after a bit of a chat we found they were there for the thrill of a fright, I think they got one. We made our way to a pub not far from the hospital, here the locals told us that since the hospital had closed the town had never been the same and how disappointed that the building had been left to fall apart.

If you go to Denbigh Asylum be careful this place gets into your head, it was about 10 days before I slept at night without thinking of the it. It's a weird and wonderful building, the size of it is something else, you would think a building of this size would be full of noise but no it's deadly quiet apart from the sound of a owl and the roof falling we heard nothing.

Just a few things to remember if you go to the asylum:

  • It is so dangerous,so don't go alone.none of us had a signal on our phones and the last thing you want is to fall through to the basement on a disused asylum with no chance of help.

  • On the night we visited there were 10 people in the grounds,all there to see what it was like inside.not everyone goes for these reasons.you never know who or what you'll bump into.

  • It's easy to get lost make sure you remember your route.don't panic,to many holes in the floor for that.

  • At no point did we force our way in,we only went through open doors and easy to access places.

  • Take a torch even in the day time.

  • The buildings are monitored by security.

  • Enjoy the building and take a camera, it'll be hard to tell people how magnificent Denbigh is without the pictures to help.

Denbigh hospital is so fantasitc, but it's future needs sorting before it's to late. the town and it's people deserve more.

Use the link to my photo's to see a few pictures I've posted of the asylum.

Kathy has set up a Denbigh hospital blog and we would love to hear any tales from you about your visit or if you worked there.

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