After eventually navigating the one way system of Nottingham town centre we arrived at the Galleries with great
anticipation and the adrenalin levels already on the up. This was my first investigation here, and all the stories
I had heard prepared me for an eventful night ahead. The Galleries is in some ways like the typical haunted house
exhibition that you would get at a fun-fare, but on a much grander scale. Mannequins being burnt at the stake, posters
of infamous convicts, irons and chains hanging from the walls and a gallows in the courtyard - and that was just
the beginning. Even if the location was not haunted, it would be enough to make the pulse race when the lights are
on, let alone when we turn the off.
After a thought provoking and revealing walk around with our medium Jannine, who correctly relayed a number of
intriguing facts about the history of the building, we embarked upon the first vigil of the night. I took the first
team to the Crown Court, complete with mannequins overlooking us from the balcony above. You certainly felt as if
you were being watched, as the shadows of these figures loomed above. The court was in twilight due to the soft
light being cast by the Fire Exist signs by the doors, so although not completely dark, it certainly added some
spice to the atmosphere. After conducting some baseline tests using the equipment, we embarked upon a short
glass divination experiment with most of the team, while one was left sitting in the Judge's chair overseeing our
attempts to contact spirit. Unfortunately the glass remained motionless for the duration of the experiment, which
was a little disappointing, even when we left just the female members of the team to carry on and watched from
the gallery. After this I split the team up throughout the court, investigating all the different areas of the room
to cast a wider net on the room. There were a number of cold areas, and breezes, possibly coming up from the cells
below, but nothing conclusive. When asking out for responses, physical or auditory, we were left very much in the
dark, so we conducted a linked séance behind and to the left of the Judge's chair. All remained quiet until we heard
some strange rustling coming from the corner of the room, and this happened again on request for a sound or response.
This seemed to raise hopes until we investigated the source of the rustling, only to find that the air-vent behind
the radiator was covered in plastic which was rustling when the breeze came through the vent. Unfortunately that
concluded the vigil, and we had got off to a very quiet start.
My second vigil of the night took a team to the Bathhouse and Laundry area in the women's section of the building.
We started in the bedroom with the planchette in an attempt to reveal some automatic writing, and activity was
not forthcoming, so I decided to split the team into a female and male group, hoping that the females could get
more positive replies on their own in the bedroom. I took the remaining two males into the Bathhouse area where
at first we thought that an energy had knocked on the other side of the main door leading to the room. I had asked
out for a knock or sign of presence after which a loud knock was heard coming from the door. This had happened
shortly after opening and closing the door (which would close slowly and shut on its own). We repeated the
action with the door and on two further occasions received the same sound in response to asking out. From further
investigation it was revealed that the door was linked to a small chain (similar to that used on a bicycle), and
this chain would click and release just after the door was closed. The mystery had been solved. We also attempted
an experiment of throwing an object across the room and turning to face the wall, hoping that something would be
thrown back in our direction, however all remained quite for the remainder of the vigil.
The third vigil took place in the Pits, where I was joined by Jannine. Overall this was another quiet period as
we linked up a number of times in a circle attempting to draw energies towards us. Jannine did pick up on
a young couple who she felt had been reunited on the 'other side' while she also connected with the potent energy
of a former Prison Warder, who she felt was cowardly and would have beaten prisoners simply because of the
authority which he was afforded. We attempted to encourage this character to provide us some evidence of his
existence, however again all remained quiet. We concluded the vigil by attempting an experiment by asking
the team to split into pairs and sit in the cell while the remaining group stood outside linking up. I then waited
and asked if the group conducting the séance could focus all their thoughts and energies on encouraging spirit
to make themselves known to the couple in the cell and see if we could get a response. Almost immediately our
two trust companions made a hasty retreat from the cell describing that they felt as if someone was sat on the
bed near to them, possible a condemned prisoner. They had not seen or heard anything in particular, but had just
felt as if a presence was close by. This was an intriguing result, although by no means evidence of anything
other than psychology and coincidence working together, but it was nevertheless the most interesting event of the
night so far.
My penultimate vigil took place in the Cells, where we began with some glass divination in the condemned man's cell.
For the most part this was unsuccessful, so I left Abigail and Karmen to see if they would have more success alone
as I took the remainder of the team to investigate the rest of the cell block. Again it was for the most part
uneventful, although at one point one of the ladies sat on the bed in the cell suggested seeing a shape or shadow
moving around in the corridor outside. I left the group to investigate and spent a good part of the vigil standing
alone in the corridor asking for some kind of response. Unfortunately it was the same result as for much of the
night, as peace and quite reigned throughout.
The final vigil of the night took place in the Caves and Chapel area, which was by far the most atmospheric. I again
split the group into two teams, and had been joined by Jannine who remained in the Chapel with those who were
not comfortable in making the short walk to the claustrophobic and heavy atmosphere of the caves. The rest of us
took up our places in the caves and I asked the group to link together in the hope that we could raise the energy
and attract some activity. This initially brought no success, so I repositioned the group in the centre of the caves
where again we linked up but this time with our backs to each other to help monitor the location as well as identify
whether this would increase the anxiety of the group. There was one occasions where I heard a sound coming from
in front of me, which would have been one of the team shuffling and the strange acoustics making the sound appear
as if it was coming from outside of the circle. No other activity was recorded, so we returned to the Chapel
to join the rest of the team for one final attempt at getting some activity. Jannine was sensing an energy in the
doorway to the chapel, which I must admit did on one occasion appear to go extremely dark as if the light had
faded (which may have been a psychological effect of the early hour and exhaustion). This sudden drop in light
was however witnessed by all the group. We finished the vigil by splitting up throughout the entrance tunnels
so that we covered the entire area and had a brief opportunity to spend some time alone, but in earshot of the
other team members. Again all remained quiet, and we eventually made our way back to base camp reflecting on what
had been, at least for me, a very quiet and uneventful investigation.
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