Enigma
The Old Ferry Inn
Beachley, Chepstow, Mons.
11th February 2005
Report
Brief History
The nearest reference to the Old Ferry Inn being built was in the 14th century and was used by the workers for the local monastery. We also know that in 1803 it was owned by the vicarage and was then called ‘Waverley House’.
More research on its history is currently being investigated and will be added to this report soon.
Unexplained Activity
Reports of uneasiness and sightings of apparitions have been reported both by staff and customers at the Old Ferry Inn. Upstairs a child has been seen wandering through a bedroom and also a Victorian lady in another. Unexplained smells have also been reported. Downstairs in the bar area a Victorian lady has been seen in a rocking chair and in the kitchen various feelings of being watched and uneasiness have been reported by staff. There was also a tragic accident of a young male child being drowned in the river directly outside next to the garden in the 1960’s.
Investigation
There were two teams attending this investigation and were as follows:-
Team 1 = Mike, Val, Nikki, Sue, Janet, Sue and Shane
Team 2 = Mandy, Glenda, Lou, Nita, Helen and Dale
We arrived at the Old Ferry Inn at 10pm and had a meeting before the start of the investigation, whilst waiting for the Inn to close its bar at 11pm. Unfortunately due to restrictions being put in place on the previous evening we were not allowed access to the upstairs bedrooms as guests were staying and therefore had to reschedule the investigation. Once the bar had closed and customers had left, we then proceeded to set up a controlled camera in the downstairs basement via a monitor in the control room and also checked all our equipment. The teams were then allocated parts of the inn. Team one started in the kitchen, laundry, breakfast room and garden, whilst team two had the basement, bar and dining room areas. Each team had approximately one hour per location before returning to the control room for a break and then switching locations for a further hour.
After both teams had completed all areas, both then joined together for a séance in the bar area, which lasted approximately a further hour. The investigation then drew to a close after a de-briefing and all equipment was packed away.
Below is what each team picked up using video cameras, still cameras and clairvoyance in each location.
Basement
Team 1
Sue and Nikki both felt uneasy in the basement and various team participants felt like they had been touched. A burning smell was smelt and then the whole team got extremely warm. A temperature reading was taken at the time and it was 30.8C rising to 37C. Val and Sue thought the basement should be bigger and had a false feeling to it. Tickling and headaches were also felt. Sue saw a figure of a nun standing by the door and Nikki also saw shadows in the same place. Mike was given the year 1660. Sue thought she saw a man stand up and thought it was Shane but on checking he was still seated. An anomaly was detected in the wall using the EMF meter by Sue, but when Shane took over he got a shock from it, the anomaly then disappeared. At the same time the other Sue’s camera jammed and wouldn’t work.
Team 2
Glenda picked up on a boy about 14 years old wearing breeches and no shoe’s, he also had longish hair and was near the door leading to the stairs up to the breakfast room. Glenda then got the name Willie Robinson. The team also felt very hot, almost to the point of burning in the same area but Dale standing in the middle of the room felt colder. Nita picked up that it was possibly used like a Sunday school type place and could see a vicar watching over the children but felt they were not his responsibility. Glenda and Mandy both picked up a presence in the left corner of the basement. A breeze was felt by Lou, Mandy and Glenda in the middle of room. The presence felt in the corner was a Victorian lady that Mandy had picked up on and a picture was taken when she asked for proof, the picture showed an orb behind were Mandy was sitting. Mandy was then given the name of Sarah Bollingfield by the Victorian lady and said was the sister of the Vicar that lived in the house and was also given the year 1894. She was wearing a green dress and hat, had blonde hair and was in her late 20’s, early 30’s and had died from pneumonia. She also showed the car park as a garden and had a black and white dog (also picked up by Glenda) wearing a red collar. Nita also got a railway link to the place and a very industrial link.
Pictures taken by the teams show orbs but none on video, see below
Kitchen/laundry
Team 1
Val and Mike picked up on a presence in the laundry and described him as a ‘grumpy old man not happy with life ‘ and was hunched over. Sue felt sick and had a pain in the left hand side of her face, also she felt very wobbly, once she moved she felt fine again. The rest of the team also had a sick feeling at the same time. Nikki’s camera also stopped working. A picture shows an abnormality in the laundry at the time Nikki’s camera stopped working although this was taken on a separate camera
A cold spot was detected by a cooker in the kitchen and a warm spot was also detected by the work top near the microwaves. When stood by the warm spot, pins and needles were felt by various people. Janet felt a breeze pass her ear and Val could smell burning.
Team 2
Glenda and Mandy picked up on a male presence in the laundry and was described as ‘not nice and being very evasive’. Glenda said he was a man of two faces, nice to the ladies but could quite easily cut someone’s belly to their throat, she also was getting the time period of the late 18th century and a possible hanging. Nita was picking up on bandits near the window in the kitchen and was getting the feelings of lies and betrayal, vengeance and dark emotions. Mandy got a vision of Black beard. Lou was standing by the work top near the microwaves and was noticed by Nita and Mandy that she was changing into a hooded figure. Nita, Mandy and Glenda all picked up on monks walking around the kitchen as if they were ‘overseeing’ others. Dale then stood in the spot by the worktop/microwaves and started to tingle from his knees upwards and also shiver, the rest of the team saw him grow in height and get very tall. Mandy picked up on a man whipping children and Glenda got monks doing unsociable things to children.
Pictures show an abnormality but none on video, see below.
Breakfast Room
Team 1
Val got pains in her legs and Mike had head pains as they walked into the room. Nikki felt like her hair was being tickled. Mike picked up on male called Gavin, stocky built but not very bright. Val could see wooden crosses and got a feeling of being watched. Sue had her trouser leg pushed in on her left leg. Val got the name Pike. Sue, Nikki and Val also started getting a headache.
Team 2
Mandy picked up that the room was once a Victorian playroom and could see a dolls house near the window and a rocking horse, also some old wooden building blocks with letters on them. The rest of the team felt very calm and tranquil in this room.
Pictures and video show no abnormalities in this area.
Bar/Dining Area
Team 1
Val picked up on a male and female near the far window in the bar and Sue picked up on two men standing on a slipway outside. Nikki was picking up a sense of unhappiness as if a person couldn’t get to others in an accident and also heard a little girl crying. Val picked up on a child; age 7/8 years old that went over the edge into the river. Mike felt dizzy on the dance floor just pass the door to the garden.
Team 2
Glenda could smell wood smoke in the dining area. Nita said there are often things that move behind the bar. She also felt that an architect was associated with the building although he was more connected to land rather than sea and he often would look out the window and ponder. Bad smell was also detected in the far left hand corner. Mandy and Glenda picked up a cold spot and felt dizzy by the third column on the dance floor. They also got a sailor sitting on the seats in the far left corner, whittling and described him as looking like ‘ Captain Birdseye’. A picture was taken and an orb was recorded on the seat.
Pictures taken by the teams show orbs but none on video, see below.
Garden
Team 1
Val picked up on a presence in the lower part of the garden. Sue got a small child on the lawn in a pushchair and Nikki was getting a feeling of sadness in the same area. Mike felt wobbly by the door leading into the bar from the garden. Nikki and Sue both had pains in their stomach.
Team 2
Team 2 had little time in the garden due to the weather but Nita did picked up on an accident in the 1960’s, could see policemen searching the river and surrounding areas and also felt a separate suicide.
Pictures and video show no abnormalities in this area.
Séance
PARTICIPANTS;
Mike Cannaby
Mandy
Glenda
Lou
Janet
Sue
Val
Nikki
Shane
Sue
Video; Dale
Notes; Helen L-J
Observer; Nita
THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPT OF WHAT WAS SAID DURING THE SÉANCE.
Occasionally it was not possible to hear every word. Blanks are represented by “---”
4.50am Mike starts relaxation and visualising energy for the group.
5.00am Val opens the séance with a prayer of blessing and invitation. Starts the energy going round the circle.
GLENDA Joan, jack --- hornpipe
MIKE I’m seeing here. A summer’s day. I see 5 or 6 carnival floats.
VAL Bouncy Castle
MIKE Haven’t got that – though there might be one. People dressed up. A Fuzzy Bear like a thin teddy bear.
GLENDA Feels like the table is going up and down – as if on a ship. Ooh – I have a millstone. Slaves – in a big ship.
MIKE I am seeing the original building that was here.
GLENDA Got a church.
MIKE Three buildings in one – building in a building in a building.
NIKKI (too quiet) -------
MIKE Names – Ivor James, Dan B- something – can’t quite hear. John Storley.
NIKI ---the right side
MIKE Small voice, saying, “Peter Williams”
NIKKI Had a stroke on his right side. Early 40s
MIKE I see a man – ginger hair, glasses, blue lips, mid 20s, very white, Lying face up.
VAL Why blue lips, Mike?
MIKE Lack of oxygen. All I can see is his head. There is a dark mark around his neck. I don’t think he drowned. Don’t know if he had his throat cut or what. Glasses like Harry Potter. Everything is very white around his head. Like white sandstone. There’s something over him. Like a green coat or groundsheet. He isn’t wearing it.
VAL Push the energy please – it’s falling.
MIKE Green ‘W’. Don’t know what it means. Name – Wallsey.
NIKKI There’s a little girl crying on the riverbank. Can’t see her face.
VAL Anything else?
NIKKI She has bruises on her arms and knees. Rocking back and fore
VAL Mandy, what are you seeing?
NIKKI Little girl is saying ‘Sorry, I’m sorry’
MIKE The carnival floats – the Bunch of Grapes. Old pub in Chepstow. I think it’s an inter pub Carnival with Chepstow.
VAL Still see the bear?
MIKE No. Young girls dressed up as black girls wearing green Tutu’s and Tulle bonnet.
GLENDA I’ve got a monk. Morris dancers and hobbyhorses. Monk tending his garden.
VAL Close by?
GLENDA Over the road. Cabbages.
VAL Mandy, what are you seeing?
MIKE If you ask spirit about this place, ask about the Waverley. They know it by that name.
VAL Janet, what are you seeing?
JANET A boat with a yellow sail. A little boat. There’s a lady on it with a pink bonnet.
NIKKI I told him to stop fooling around.
VAL How are people feeling?
SHANE Heavy feeling.
SUE Not comfortable.
MIKE I am warm and comfy
LOU Tingling all over.
JANET I see a hospital with nurses – but there’s a chapel and monks – but it’s a hospital.
MIKE I see this place as it is being built. 1660ish. Foundations. But they are building on top.
Of an existing structure. The grass goes right to the river’s edge. Hardly any mud.
VAL Lot of workmen?
MIKE Not really. Lots of little boats. The wooden jetty was further down than now. Grain ships. Lots of really big ships too.
JANET Row of cottages with fishwives.
MIKE I don’t know if they used to drive geese like they did cattle, but that’s what I’m seeing – ducks or geese being driven from here like that.
JANET There’s an orchard just over the road.
MIKE I’m in one of the bedrooms. I know I as told about Barnes Wallace staying here when we came on the recce, but I’m seeing it, so I’m going to say it. I can see him. His wife is sitting on the bed. He’s pondering what to do. He’s seen the bombing over Bristol. Don’t know how long he was here. He’s wearing a brown suit. She has a pink satiny jacket round her – quilted. There are cars outside – so different! Really big wings and tyres.
GLENDA There’s an airplane flying very low over the river. Further up. The pilot can’t open the cockpit. Coming lower now. It’s in the water – gone. Canadian? So cold.
JANET I see a yard with cows and a couple of ducks. Someone’s saying “Where have all the cobbles gone?”
NIKKI The girl is saying she’s sorry. She didn’t want him to drown - it was her brother - she tried to get him but he fell into the water. He drowned.
VAL Tell her it’s all right now, Tell her she can go.
MIKE The place is so quiet because they are\being held back by two in particular.
GLENDA I have an Abbot.
MIKE One of the two is in the laundry/freezer room place. The other one hides.
GLENDA (shaking and upset) I feel awful.
VAL Tell him to stand back, Glenda.
MIKE Where is the other one of the two? GOT YOU!! Little bugger. Old man. In the laundry area. Clergy of some kind. The other is nothing to do with the church. He has straggly, long, grey hair, a straggly beard. ‘Don’t you growl at me, you bastard!’. He sits in stone. He is IN stone. He is older than this place. Don’t know what that means – ‘He sits in stone’?
VAL How long back?
MIKE He’s just gone all blue! He isn’t the problem – but he is part of the problem. Date – 1513 or 1315 – not sure which way the numbers go.
VAL Why is the date important?
MIKE Don’t know – just keep seeing the numbers. ….But that guy in the laundry!!
GLENDA Wicked
MIKE Bit strong – he’s angry. Nasty, grumpy man.
SUE I keep seeing a hanging – punishment not suicide.
MIKE (TO Helen note taking) Hellie – have you heard the word ‘de Roger’?
HELEN It’s a name – medieval – but I can’t give you a context for it.
MIKE OK. The crossing point was further along than where the jetty is now.
GLENDA Flat bottomed boats. One boat – penny-farthing bicycles on this boat. A day out – a picnic.
MIKE A previous owner used to sit in a chair in the lobby. Place was rough for a while – drugs raids – not like it is now.
VAL closed the circle at 5.50 AM with a prayer and a blessing.