P.I.G.S in the Castle

Receiving an email that due to a double booking by Slough Fort that the P.I.G.S investigation was being postponed as a group of pirates wanted to party was a disappointment. However after an email exchange (and for the original Slough Fort price) I was now booked for a night at Tonbridge Castle.

Arriving with anticipation, after having a second attempt at finding the entrance to the car park close to Tonbridge Castle, I found myself stood in front of the imposing Medieval gatehouse. The sound of drum and bass in the distance punctuating the air between the DJ’s calls that “the buffet is now open”.

Tonbridge Castle

The original Tonbridge Castle, built after the Norman invasion of 1066 to guard the crossing of the River Medway, was destroyed in 1088 along with the town of Tonbridge after a failed rebellion against King William II.  In the years that followed the charred remains of the wooden castle were replaced by a stone Keep with the construction of the gatehouse being completed in 1260 and further reinforcements added to the castle site and town of Tonbridge concluding with the completion of a stone wall in 1295. The castle was unoccupied between 1521 and the late 18th century except for a short period during the Civil War. In 1793 the mansion was added. The site was purchased by Tonbridge and Malling Council in 1900, who use the mansion as offices and event space, with the grounds being made into a public park. But the question remains, is there anyone from the past still residing there now?

Taking a deep breath I walked towards a side door where the organiser, who I now know as Tim, was stood with a clipboard, giving my name I was escorted in and assigned to Team Lima Alpha. Meeting my teammates for the evening I discovered this was a first for all of us and there was a level of nervous energy as the conversation of the most haunted locations petered out and we waited for the group briefing.

Tim, taking centre stage in the wooden panelled reception room, greeted the assembled teams warmly as he explained how the evening would progress. We would be investigating several areas around the castle focusing on different equipment in each séance area. There would of course be a coffee break, and on this idea being mooted my attention, as was the attention of other members of my team, was drawn to a cat ball placed on a fireplace lighting up – had I seen something paranormal within the first 5 minutes? Or was there a more natural explanation to be found?

As we were dismissed to our first location – a corporate, sterile feeling room set up with an original Frank’s Box, we set first to examine the cat ball. A cat ball is exactly what it says on the tin – a ball with an accelerometer, that when moved, activates flashing red and blue LED’s – which is as equally as fun for your furry feline pal to chase as your sometimes less furry paranormal investigator to leave in situ and hope that energy from the other-side will cause it to move and create a light show. In an effort to debunk paranormal means we set about walking along the creaking floorboards, jumping and knocking on the wooden surround – there was no further activation by human interference so we chalked this up to unexplained and possibly paranormal.

Leaving the briefing room and heading down a short corridor Team Lima Alpha were soon sat in a circle around a table. At one end was a wooden box connected to copper wires and lights which we were informed was one of the original Frank’s Box made by Frank Sumption in the early 2000s.

On the box being turned on with satisfying clicks of switches, the glow of the lights cast ominous shadows of the faces of my fellow investigators. The sound, a pulsating wave of white noise, filled the room as we started to call out. “Is there any spirit that wants to communicate?” static in response. Burst of unintelligible voices as the questions continued until “How many people are here?” – “Seven” came the definitive reply. It was correct. We were seven in number, but no further information would come from the noisy box. Click, the noise stopped, and the lights went out – interesting but nothing conclusive.

Moving back to the briefing room – the room with the previously flashing cat ball – we sat at a table with more wooden boxes in front of us. The sound of a wind chime was heard – which would need to be looked into later, when all the groups returned - as it sounded like a text message tone.  On opening these boxes the lids contained mirrors surrounded by LED lights and so we attempted scrying. Staring into my darkened reflection, I was told I would see my appearance change or see things around me – all I saw was my face and thought very hard on how Mrs J could find that attractive. Getting nothing from this experience (other than a complex) we moved on to a different form of divination – pendulums.

Selecting a prism of dark stone suspended on a chain and holding it over a wooden circle with Yes, No and Maybe; I called out asking if anyone was there, the pendulum began to swing indicating a yes. Asking further questions with possible answers that the board could indicate and found myself focusing on my hand – were these answers unconscious micro muscle movements or were they being influenced from the beyond?

As we regrouped and began to unpack our answers and experiences, the walkie talkie burst into life and we were on the move, downstairs into the basement –  feeling very pleased I bought a torch!!

The basement – as all basements ought to be – was dark, damp and dingy. The equipment in this area was an EMF detector, SLS Camera and a Spirit Board.

Basement Photo 1

Basement Photo 2

An EMF detector detects EMFs – Electromagnetic frequencies and is thought to detect spirits who can manipulate their energy and make the LEDs light up from green all the way to red on a sliding scale. The SLS Camera uses Xbox Kinect technology to spot the departed and present them as stick-people and enable them to wave or pose suggestively. The Spirit board AKA Ouija Board uses a planchette for spirits to manipulate to spell out answers.

4 of the team started on the board – opening it safely - and asking out for any spirits who wanted to communicate to come forward. As the planchette slid across the surface telling us that Yes there was someone there, Yes they wanted to communicate I asked “Can you spell your name?”. The planchette slid to X and stopped. “Is that your signature?” I asked as in response our fingers were pulled to Yes. “Do you know how to spell?” The answer was No and then Goodbye – but fair play to the spirit that gave it a go.

Feeling tired – coffee and a snack was required – and so returning to the briefing room, coffee and a snack were had. And as an update - the windchime sound heard could not be attributed to anything within the room and no one would admit it came from one of their bags, chalk it as possibly paranormal.

Rejuvenated from the break, we directed our focus to the older part of the castle to investigate with the mannequins.

As the plastered walls gave way to bare brick we found ourselves at the entrance to a tunnel. Walking through we were met with a two-tiered space with several mannequins in period costume loitering in the shadows. The equipment for this area was REM-Pods, devices that would light up and sound if something touched them, as well as an EMF detector. After positioning the equipment, the first experiment was simple – hold an EMF detector and walk back up the tunnel we had already walked down towards a doll holding a REM-Pod. Going first – as I felt brave – I walked up the tunnel, introducing myself to the air. I received a slight flicker of the EMF lights and I had the feeling of cob-webs in my hair. Raising this I was told that this was a common effect that ghosts could have. On checking I could not see that I had evicted any eight-legged friends from their homes, and it was concluded that this could have been an attempt of contact beyond the veil.

Returning back to the team and on calling out again, there was no response, no alarms or lights from the REM-Pods and so we went to the upper level with an SLS camera. Here the camera detected several stick figures – some were visible to the naked eye and were made of plastic but interspersed and moving between them we identified two separate stick-figures who wanted to interact. On request these figures waved, with one of them appearing to lounge seductively on a table reminiscent of Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park. 

Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm

The final space was a construction site within the roof of the gatehouse. A wide-open space full of scaffolding. Here we tried automatic writing – using a similar technique as spirit board but the planchette has a pen inserted through a hole in the middle - the result looked like a penis (so a spirit with a sense of humour!), Table tipping – with no positive result; and dowsing rods. Two bent pieces of metal to obtain Yes or No answers. Whilst attempting to use the rods – which indicated that there was someone there overseeing the renovations to the roof (as previous attempts by the Local Authority has been unsuccessful!) I had a very powerful feeling of being watched and observed from within the spiral staircase, of which at the end of the session we would descend and return back to the briefing room.   

After the feedback sheets were completed and goodbyes said I left the castle to return home. I had experienced a lot in a few short hours and was feeling excited to try again. I had been bit by the bug and couldn’t wait to go on another investigation.