10th December 2006

Some of Luton Paranormal's members had the chance to investigate a disused building in Bedford on 10th December 2006 as there have been some strange occurrences reported by security personnel at the site. During the investigation a member of security remained on the site but did not take part in the investigations.

The building was designed as the Bedford House of Industry by John Wing and built in 1795-6. In 1835 the building was let to the Bedford Union Board of Guardians and extended so it could hold a population of 400 inmates. In the early 1900s a chapel was added and other work done between 1914 and 1918 including the addition of an infirmary and lunatic observation wards. Between 1929 and 1948 the former workhouse became St Peter's Hospital then later the North Wing of Bedford General Hospital. When we visitied it the building itself was in a state of disrepair allowing only a few people access to it..... As a footnote the surrounding buildings were demolished in 2007 and only the original building, now known as Shires House, remains.

Pre-Vigils

15:30 Steve sets up trigger object experiment of coins in the lower floor room adjoining our base area. Bill sets up analogue camera recording the room with the coins in shot.

Steve sets up the same trigger objects in the gallery. Steph sets up camcorder recording in the Chapel.

15:50 (for record purposes) Steve accidentally bangs a metal container in the investigation base room (just outside the room containing trigger objects)

Investigation Team - Steph and Bill

Vigil 1: The Committee Room Ground Floor - 16:00 to 17:00

Dictaphones left in various rooms on the 1st floor.

16:15 Bill feels a draft on his left arm as if on his skin under his coat.

16:20-16:25 Steph feels a hot sensation on her calves as if something is sitting on them.

16:30 Temperature 14.5°C

16:35 Steph hears shuffling in the corridor.

16:40 Bill Sees a shadow pass by the light coming under the door going from left to right.

16:45 Bill sees a small white light above the far arch in the wall.

16:50 Steph feels cold around her. Bill checks window. Very slight sense of cold air coming through, more like just cold air coming off the glass.

16:55 (Bill moves to the other side of the room) Bill sees a glow next to Steph.

Experiments are done with Steph moving her hand around the area where the glow is seen. Possible light coming through the window.

Vigil 2: Room 11 - 17:30 to 18:30

17:30 Large room on the 1st floor. Camcorder set up in corridor leading up to room 11. Dictaphone left in room next to room 11.

17:39 Woman’s long drawn out scream heard by both Bill and Steph. Temperature 10.5-11°C

17:45 Bill hears clicks from main door. He also sees a faint light move from his knee to his groin area.

18:03 Steph hears a rattling sound, which is slow and repetitive like glass bottles or chains. May have been coming from outside as one of the windows is broken.

Just before hearing the noise, Steph has the feeling that there is something circular or semi circular around her like a small fence or pen.

18:10 Radiator pipes start to make a clicking noise as if they are coming on. This was later mentioned to the member of security in the building and he said that the heating was permanently off.

18:20 Bill states that he has had ‘Day Dream Believer’ running through his head all the time he was in the room and that the lyrics ‘Cheer up sleepy Jean’ are the predominant words repeating. The song had not been there before entering and stopped after he left.

18:25 Steph hears what sounds like someone snoring lightly; heavy breathing. Checks with Bill as it seemed to come from his direction and he says he didn’t believe it was him. Experiments with the sound of Bill breathing.

18:35 On the way back to the base room, Steph can distinctly smell smoke as if a match had been blown out. This was smelt near the top of the stairs on the first floor. Bill could not smell the same smell in the area. The smell seemed to linger to the corridor to the left but not in the room beyond or to the right or to the room in front.

At the end of the investigation two séances were tried in the loft area where the workhouse sewing rooms used to be. Both of these séances were video-taped. Nothing happened and nothing was sensed except for Bill seeing a red light on Steve’s right shoulder for a couple of seconds with no obvious external light source.

Investigation Team - Andy and Steve

Andy’s Report

Walkthrough - Secondary Building

Prior to the main investigation starting the security member and I investigated the 1950’s part of the complex at my request (this is a separate building to the one we investigated). I felt drawn to this particular area and this was not surprising in view of the family history I had with this site.

Upon entering the building both of us proceeded to the bottom of a stairwell near a corridor. We stopped talking and stood still and both of us could hear whispering voices coming from upstairs that sounded like two people having a conversation. Thinking it was unwelcome visitors of a non-paranormal kind we preceded up the stairwell and stopped on the top step.

We could both hear these two voices talking and I observed the security member had raised his crowbar ready in case of trouble. When we left the stairs and went into the corridor the voices stopped and there was no one there. The security member felt it must have been the wind as there were some doors banging shut in the corridor and, while I accept this is correct to some degree due to a lack of windows and locks on the doors, it does not explain the voices the pair of us clearly heard.

We did a whistle stop investigation of the building including three rooms in one of which there was a strong chemical smell which was associated with the room's last use and it had an atmosphere that I feel requires further investigation at a later date. We also found a couple of rooms that were an emotional point for me on a personal level. While the rest of the building was very interesting there was no further paranormal activity.

Walkthrough - Main Building

During a tour of the building the security member took us into the sewing rooms at the top of the building (part of the original workhouse now loft space). As we approached a red door part way through the loft my chest started to feel tight and as if I had something stuck in my throat. When we went through the door in to the main room I found it was getting harder to breath and I felt as if I was choking from something I had stuck in my throat. My throat felt really dry and I needed a drink and thought of water. By the time we reached the last room I was feeling as if I needed to get out as my chest felt really bad and I was coughing. I think this was why the security member was trying to take me out of the room. Once I got back past the red door I began to feel a sense of relief and my chest felt better.

During our séance later in the same room I did not feel anything and was able to breathe normally. I am not sure why this happened but maybe other members could shed light on this.

Investigation

After breaking into two teams (Bill and Steph/Andy and Steve) Steve and I went to visit the area where some of the offices had been situated and a recording device was put into an adjacent room and then the team went into a silent vigil. For the most part nothing happened apart from Steve hearing a crack sound in the adjacent corridor.

After around half an hour we then proceeded from the offices back into a corridor and into a large room having collected the recording device along the way. During our investigation in this room Steve informed me that he had heard a shuffling sound coming from the room next door and went to investigate. Upon his return Steve was in the process of telling me what had happened when I became aware of someone coming up the nearby stairwell and I could hear a woman’s voice faintly speaking on the stairwell. This took place at 17:00 and we took the recording equipment and immediately investigated the top of the stairwell. Nothing was found although we did conduct a thorough investigation of the area.

Steve chose our next location and currently I do not have his findings however I myself did see a number of white anomalies and some red ones. However the red ones turned out to be a smoke alarm. Steve informed me he saw a shape go across the cellar door. After this we went back into one team

Steve’s Report

I set up a trigger object in the room next to the entrance door. It was 4 coins, at the end these hadn’t moved. I set up another trigger object in the gallery, this was 3 coins, and at the end these hadn't moved either. Before we started the investigation and were setting things up I walked to the top of the stairs to the attic as I got to the top I heard 2 taps like hard heeled shoes, there was no one down stairs as Steph and Bill were in the attic and the security member and Andy were in the other building. When I let the security member and Andy in they said that someone had tapped twice on the window at them, but we were all in the loft and it was after I had heard the taps.

Andy and I started our vigil in the room above the chapel. We heard a noise like shuffling but when we investigated it was a broken window with blinds blowing against it. We moved into this room for a bit then I went into the next corridor to the end and as I approached there was a sound like someone was shuffling away, I took a photo around the corner but there was nothing there. Andy said he thought he heard someone on the stairs and a woman’s voice but when we investigated there was no one.

We started our last vigil in the cellar, it was pitch black and Andy was videoing around the main area when I thought I saw a wavy light go across the doorway to the other rooms in the cellar. Andy started to video in this area and I think he caught some orbs on the video. This area was wet so it may be condensation; I also caught some orbs on camera but again they could be condensation.