5th December 2009

Report of The Helyar Arms, East Coker, Ghost Hunt

My friend Trudy Miller and I went to this old pub with Kim and Andy Edon and xxx, the event leaders of Paranights/UKPN.  As we had kindly been given a free lift, we were early!  I had never been to an event before and have never met a medium.  I was reliably informed that for £29, we would ""ghost hunt", have a two course meal and a reading from the medium.

Andy set about checking all the ghost hunting paraphanalia that he had carted into the pub in a big box was working, i.e. the torches batteries were all good, etc - I did not think to bring a torch, so was glad they had plenty!  There was a fireplace with a large mirror above and a lot of chairs already set out.  There were some chairs near the fire facing the rest of the room, and then 29 chairs set out for the paying ghost hunters.  Trudy asked Kim how many people were attending.  Kim said 33.  We were chatting amongst ourselves whilst waiting for everyone to arrive.  Then Kim's mobile phone went off, and someone told her they could no longer make it with their 3 friends.  Meaning only 29 would be coming - and that is exactly how many chairs were set out.  A slightly weird start!

When everyone arrived (including a smart gentleman in a blue suit - who later turned out to be the medium) Kim introduced themselves the hosts and ran through what to expect from the evening.  We were to be split into two groups, one group to remain in the "appleloft" for a reading with the medium Brian Timbrell, the other group to go to the skittle alley to hold a vigil and use the ghost hunting equipment.  Then were to meet up again for dinner, then swap over.  Trudy and I were in the first group to go over to the skittle alley, which was in a completely separate building.  Kim and xxx went with our group.  I followed my group across the car park to the skittle alley.  There was a table (a picnik folding type of table) set up on the skittle alley for "glass work".  It was quite dark, but there was a lamp.  Kim explained that they do not take part and would rather nothing happened than they fake anything.  That we were there to to the investigating and they were just there for support.  xxx explained how you could use divining rods, by holding them loosely in your hand and asking a question.  Then relaxing and starting again.  Noone used these in our group.  She also explained how you could use a pendulum, and the answer to questions could changed from swinging to side to side or circling, again this was something noone in my group used.  It was pointed out there were thermometers to test air temperature we could use and EMF devices which record Electro Magnetic Fields.  Kim asked how many of us believed, how many were sat on the fence and how many didn't believe.  I put myself in the sitting "on the fence" bracket.  Particularly when she said someone at an event had said it was all a load of crap, and got strangled by "something" had the finger marks to prove it and now firmly believes! Then Kim explained they had set the table up over a damp patch on the skittle alley, which was directly above a well.  She asked for people to have a go at sitting at the table with one finger on an upturned glass (which I thought was a bit spooky and surely easy for someone sat at the table to push about).  I didn't really fancy taking part in that, so went to get an EMF device.

I walked around the whole building a couple of times with no change to the lights on the EMF device.  I went and sat on a ledge on the wall near the table to watch what they were doing.  When the lights were on nothing happened to the glass, despite the ghost hunters calling out "if anyone is here please move the glass", etc.  So they decided to turn the torches and lamp off, which seemed to get the glass moving slowly from one person elected to be yes, back to another person elected to be no.  The end wall also seemed to get darker, even though I'd been in the room for a while and my eyes were adjusted to the darkness. At one point I thought I saw lights ont he end wall, which scared me and I asked for the light to be put on.  I can only describe it as a ring of small pinprick like lights, just as a night sky when a firework has exploded and then faded to almost nothing.  The light was put on and I sat near the table where they were doing glass work.  A person at the table thought they saw something but that was just me in the glow of the EMF, so I put my finger over the light so I wasn't lit up.  LOL.  As not much was happening for me with the EMF,  I gave it to someone else to try and got a thermometer and a torch and started walking around taking readings of the temperature in the room.  It was difficult to see, and I was wary not to trip over the rail at the wooden edge of the skittle alley.  It was colder at one end of the skittle alley (the end the balls are bowled at), but rational thought was that that wall was possibly single skinned.  Warmer at the table, with 6 people sat around it, the consensus explaining that being due to body heat.  After comparing my thermometer to that of another ghost hunter, we got a third thermometer and decided one of them was not giving an accurate reading, so gave that back to xxx.  Happy that the thermometers were now giving similar readings I still thought it strange that it was 5 degrees different in temperature from the table reading to a reading about 6 feet away from the end wall - and there was no window open...  The glass stopped moving with torches on, so we turned them off, then the glass was skidding across the table quite violently.  Before we knew it it was time to go back in the pub for dinner.

Back in the pub, we chatted to the other group whilst waiting for food to arrive.  I had a yummy lasagne but couldn't eat the garlic bread which was burnt.  Wish I had gone for the larger ham and chips option.  Pudding was delicious though.  Some other ghost hunters had been down the Edinburgh Vaults which they said was good but very scary.  One lady was impressed with Brian, the medium saying he could see her surrounded by dogs as she said dogs are her life.  She told us how she often used to smell tobacco smoke, even when the man that lived in the flat above passed away, when she went down the communal stairway where he used to smoke when he was alive.

After everyone was fed and watered, the other group went off to the skittle alley and we were left for a reading with Brian.  I had never had a reading before, was surprised how someone could go from one person to the next with lots of detailed information.  Due to the personal nature of readings, I will only say what was said to me...

Brian said he could see someone in the military and asked if that made sense.  I said possibly as I didn't want to be "cold read".  He said I had lots of animals.  Trudy burst out laughing.  I was told I should "get rid of some", which I hope was a joke.  I was asked if I had been on a diet, or was going to.  As I didn't need to, I needed to "build myself up".  That my chair keeps going back, I keep slipping down and need to sit up straight.  That I needed to ask someone about "cider".  A lot of this made sense to me.  After this, we went into the main bar area of the pub and waited for the last of the regulars to leave.  Then some of the group went down in the cellar, which was the oldest part of the pub - in the days of Henry VIII, when he went round destroying monastreys and churches, monks used to use this cellar area.

I ended up near a circular table in the bar area and a group of us sat down to take part in the glass divination.  Nothing happened.  More lights were turned out.  A couple of people left the table and others joined it.  Still nothing.  More people were swapped in and out of the table.  Nothing.  So someone suggested getting the mediu to come and start stuff off.  I thought, "yeah right"  He is going to push the glass.  He came and didn't even touch the glass or the table.  Just sat down in a chair with his palms held out, like a meditating pose and closed his eyes.  Not touching anything or anyone.  The glass started to move.  A guy came through who said "yes" when asked if his name was George.  Several times, when he was "there" the glass moved round and round the table in circular movements.  Eventually I was asked if I wanted to come back on the table and someone else left.  Over the course of this process, I believe that there was never one person left on the table, different people were sat at the table throughout.  When I was at the table, I could not feel that anyone was pushing the glass.  It was more like the glass was moving of its own accord.  George, the spirit came through when I was at the table.  Trudy asked if George had been in the skittle alley.  He responded "yes" by moving the glass to the person that Trudy had nominated as yes.  Next Trudy asked if he was tipsy.  He answered "yes".  The landlord (who was staning and watching events) wanted to know his favourite place in the pub.  I asked if it was the bar.  He responded "yes".  I asked if his favourite drink was "cider" he said "yes".  Trudy asked if it was "whisky", the glass went to the middle of the table and didn't move.  The landlord wanted to know how old he was.  Trudy asked if he was over 70.  The glass just span round and round the table.  Quite a few times it tipped over completely.  I asked if he like to do that.  He said "yes".  I asked George if he found it funny.  He said "yes".  I asked if the cat was there.  As there is supposedly a spirit cat that haunts the pub with George.  He answered "no".  I asked if the cat was outside.  He said "yes".

Then after the glass moving in front of other on the table, it decided to move in front of me.  I thought that the spirit was the same one that had communicated to me through Brian Timbrell, the medium, earlier.  I asked several questions including "did you like the message Brian gave me earlier" to which the answer was "yes".  I also asked a bit more about pets, as did Trudy.  Then the landlord who was still standing and not taking part in the circle, asked me to ask something specific.  I asked if my son's name was "Marley", of so go to Trudy, or if it was "Jaydee" go to Ed.  The glass went straight to Ed.  Which was right and the landlord asked for confirmation that was correct.

Eventually, the group became quite drained of energy and we decided to call it a night, we closed down the circle in a similar way to having opened it and said thank you to George after getting his permission to leave the table.

I joined a group that went down into the cellar, Trudy came but changed her mind about stying down there on hearing when the light goes out you are nearly plunged into complete darkness.  Some people thought they saw a monk like figure at the end near a small tumble dryer which was the only source of light (t had a couple of little green lights on the front!).  One lady next to me felt a pressure on her chest, which she described felt like if she was lying on the floor, someone was sa on her chest.  I was disappointed not to see or feel anything.

After experiencing glass divination first hand and having a personal message, I completely believe in the after life.