Manchester Haunted

Are first investigation of 2009 brings us to the fantastic Hellfire Club in Manchester.

The club has been set up as Manchester's first horror themed bar and restaraunt.  

Set in a four storey 19th Century haunted building, The Hellfire offers a unique venue for parties, celebrations, seminars and entertainment. Boasting the UK's first Horror-Themed bar, restaurant, lounge, banquet room and haunted guestrooms,  Originaly bought as a property development project, the building dating back to 1886., with its haunted reputation, lent itself rather well to a horror, gothic theme, rather than being made into yet more flats and so the conception of a horror themed restaurant.was born to open uniquely to members.  As work has continued on the building it has opened itself up to so many more possibilities with the addition of a banquet,conference room, guest rooms and the dungeon area (currently undergoing construction). The building is nearly at its completion and now lends itself to a whole host of opportunities including dedicated horror attraction, corporate facility and beespoke private party venue.

We are very excited to be one of the first teams to investigate this very unique and very haunted building.

10pm till 4am

£20 per person

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are very pleased to be the very first paranormal team to investigate these gorgeous yet foreboding caves.

Poole's Cavern is a 2 million year old, natural limestone cave situated in the beautiful woodland of Buxton Country Park. One of the great caves of the Peak District.The cavern has been visited for 5,000 years since Neolithic tribes first used it's chambers as shelter. The cave has been known as 'The First Wonder of the Peak' since the 1600's.

Poole's Cavern was attracting the attention of curious adventurers as early as the 16th century. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots is said to have visited in 1582; and in 1681 the writer  Charles Cotton listed the cave as one of his seven 'Wonders of the Peak', bringing a new-found fame to the cavern.

With such an over-whelming location as this, will we find the spirits of past workers whome perished while working in these caves? Or perhaps Elementals or naure spirits who lay dormant, not wanting to be disturbed.

In any case this promises to be a fantastic investigation for our team.

5 till 10 pm

£10 per team member  

 

This is a private investigtion on behalf of the owners as they are experiancing activity and wanted us to investigate too see that we find.

Those findings will be posted shortly after the evening.

We are delighted to have the gorgeous and very haunted Brougham Hall in Cumbria.

“Colourful” barely begins to describe the goings on at Brougham Hall throughout the centuries. but there’s just as much light and shade in the 500-year history of the site itself. The Hall’s fame (and not infrequent notoriety) reached its height in the period from 1830 to the early 1900s.

Brougham Hall was dubbed by Victorians as the “Windsor of the North”. Its physical appearance and fine elevated position above a broad river were two obvious similarities. But Brougham Hall’s long connection with royalty provided the real link. King George V (as he later became) was a regular guest, and so was King Edward V11 whose sporting interests in Cumbria, it was rumoured, covered a broad range of different quarries.

There is a decidedly gothic stamp on many of the buildings and features, but look more closely and you will soon find many earlier design references which bear witness to the existence on this site of a fortified home since 1307.

There are many spirits that allegedly roam this impressive building. In fact on a previous visit in one of the outbuildings, i personally had a loud voice shout down my ear. That experiance stayed with me for quite a while after that.

Will this spirit show its self again? We shall see...

 

£30 per member 

Another private investigation we have been requested to do due to the owners experiances.

Findings will be posted shortly after the investigation.

After our last and very interesting investigation we had to come back to Newsastle's Castle Keep.

The Castle Keep of Newcastle upon Tyne was built by Henry II between 1168-1178, it is one of the finest surviving examples of a Norman Keep in the country.

It stands within a site that also contains: an early motte and bailey castle built by Robert Curthose, the son of William The Comqueror: an Anglo-Saxon cemetery and a Roman Fort (Pons Aelius).

The Castle stands on a steep sided promontory overlooking the River Tyne. It is a readily defensible site which has been occupied for nearly 2000 years. Flint Flakes and a stone axe head found in archaeological excavations hint at prehistoric activity.

From the mid 2nd century until the beginning of the 5th century a Roman fort – Pons Aelius – stood here, guarding the river crossing below. The site of the Roman bridge was probably where the Swing Bridge now stands. Part of the fort has been excavated and some of the buildings are now laid out in cobbled detail to the north and west of the castle keep.

From the 8th century the site of the fort was used as a Christian cemetery, presumably serving a settlement nearby. 

Manchester Haunted's last visit here proved a very successfull one, the sound of water gushing in an empty room was caught, footsteps, voices etc. There is a feeling of somebody (or something) always watching you while your in Castle Keep. Will we meet this spirit?

£30 per team member and make sure you bring good walking shoes. There are a lot of steps.

We are delighted for the first time to be investigating the infamous Niddry Street Vaults in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh was a growing community in the late 18th century and two bridges were built to facilitate the expansion, North Bridge and South Bridge, known locally as 'The Bridges'. The South Bridge, built to span the Cowgate gorge between High Street and the growing University of Edinburgh on the Southside, was first proposed in 1775, although work did not begin until August 1785.

Edinburgh's South Bridge should be regarded as more than a simple crossing from Old Town to Southside. It was, in fact, Edinburgh's first purpose built shopping street, and as such as much space as possible was utilised. The bridge itself is a nineteen arch viaduct, although only one arch is visible today, the 'Cowgate arch.' The remaining eighteen arches were enclosed behind tenement buildings built to allow the area to serve as a commercial district. The hidden arches of the bridge were then given extra floors to allow their use for industry. In total there are approximately 120 rooms or 'vaults' beneath the surface of the South Bridge, ranging in size from two metres squared to forty metres squared. South Bridge officially opened for business on 1st Of March 1788.

These Vault rooms, used as storage space and workshops for the South Bridge businesses, operated as intended for a relatively short space of time. Construction of the bridge had been rushed and the surface was never sealed against water. The vaults began to flood. Abandonment of the vaults began as early as 1795. With the vaults being gradually abandoned by the businesses on the bridge, the empty rooms were adopted and adapted by new users. As the industrial revolution took hold of Britain, the Cowgate area had developed into Edinburgh's slum. Slum dwellers took over the vaults and they became a renowned red light district with countless brothels and pubs operating within the abandoned complex. The vaults also served as additional Slum housing for the city’s poor. Living conditions were appalling. The rooms were cramped, dark and damp. There was no sunlight, poorly circulated air, no running water, and no sanitation.  Many rooms housed families of more than ten people.Crimes, including robbery and murder, soon plagued the Vaults. Burke and Hare, the infamous serial killers who sold corpses to medical schools, are rumoured to have hunted for victims in the Edinburgh Vaults.

The South Bridge (or niddry street vaults) is teeming with paranormal activity, one main spirit being the South Bridge Poltergeist. This andgy spirit has been known to scratch people and on some occasions even throw people to the floor.

Will we meet this spirit and many others? We shall see.

12 midnight till 6am

£25 per team member.  

Manchester Haunted's first investigation of the infamous Morcambe Winter Gardens.

The gorgeous Morcambe Winter Gardens dates back to the 1870's where it was originally a swimming baths. In 1896 the building was sold to  Messrs T Baker and RB Abbott who were the directors of a west end pier company and after a huge regeneration project the building was opened as the victorian pavillion  and incorporated the most wonderful oriental ballroom designed by Messrs Magnel and Littlewood. It also housed the largest auditorium in the world.

The Theatre itself grew immensely popular. Its popularity brought with it a further 2,000 seats. However this did not last and by 1908 the company went into liquidation. When the company was purchased the following year by Broadhead & Sons they added new dimensions to the Theatre such as a funfair outside and a billiard room underneath the ballroom.
 

In 1953 the building was again sold and began its slow decline. The running of the Theatre was taken over at this point by Louis Benjamin who managed to turn things around for the Theatre and stopped the building from closure. He was able to use his foresight to ensure that the Theatre kept up with the times. It was leased out to Trust House Forte and the following year the ballroom was converted to the Dixieland Palace. However this did not improve the numbers attending the Theatre and in 1977 the Theatre was again closed. The ballroom was demolished to make way for an amusement arcade and lack of funds caused the permanent closure of the Theatre.

In 1986 the Friends of Winter Gardens managed to save the now run down building. Work has continued ever since to attempt to save the building.

It is said that Morcambe Winter Gardens is divided into 2 parts, A good side and a much darker Bad side. I know which side Manchester Haunted will be focusing on....

The numerous accounts of paranormal activity include, Phantom Footsteps running around the auditorium, bangs and Knocks are heard all around the building, people have been pushed by unseen hands and also voices can be heard.

The investigation will run from 9pm till 6am

£25 per member 

Our last investigation of 2009 brings us too Derby and to the now infamous Royal Infirmary.