SEPT 30TH 2006
Moon: Waxing
Weather Conditions: Mainly clear with some light cloud
Locations investigated: Entire ground floor of pub
Time Commenced: 1am
Temp at Start of investigation: 20.2 to 20.5c all areas Geomagnetic conditions (solar activity): Active

Team members present: John, Rachel, Clive plus guests Paul and Lynsey

We waited for the pub to clear and began at 1am with camera problems (one camcorder refused to work) and other technical mishaps with our digital cameras being sluggish between shots despite new batteries – all this before we even got to the base line tests! 2 motion sensors refused to work but worked perfectly again once we left the building.

Entrance

Rachel picked up on residual energy event of a dandy eccentric from Italy named Vincent, striding in with a bouffant hair-do and an entourage from the surrounding fields! Rachel laughed as for some reason she kept seeing an old fashioned hot air balloon with netting over it, descending in a field around here during harvest time 1785. Men in the fields were scared and backing or running away at first, fearing the balloon – then later walked with him to the pub, where he entered like nobility! He went through to the far right lounge to regale his audience with his tale – it was a big deal of the day. He was there 1 day only and wasn’t supposed to be there at all! Circumstance brought him there. We all found it a very strange thing to pick up on in a pub!

Bar area to left of entrance

Hot and sick feeling, consumption. Name Ralph connected; he lived here and died upstairs directly above. A spirit named William Brown briefly communicated with Rachel to tell us he used to live in Wadesmill and would drink here after a days work in the fields, and that he was married to Eliza.

Heard footstep there. EMF normal in same spot. We did capture an orb on digital camera in this same spot.

Carvery area

Floor felt spongy, Paul poked in back. Everyone reported floor felt “downhill” and balance odd on same particular spot. EMF high – possibly cable under floor. Rachel sat on a chair on same spot and felt water under feet, possibly an old well.

Kitchen

A man named Joseph Osbertson was in Rachel’s face shouting “Get out!!” as soon as we walked in. Didn’t mind the men being there but hates women, Rachel in particular as she reminded him of someone he disliked in life. He used to have “secret” meetings and dealings in here, wasn’t always a kitchen area, the area immediately outside the kitchen was the old kitchen back in the 1600s as we could feel intense heat there, more than one member of the team reported this.
Rachel wanted to get out of there after just a few moments as the atmosphere was very heavy and oppressive.

Modern Extension

On initial walkabout nothing felt here, but after Joseph had bullied us out of the kitchen we sat down next to the extension area and felt a presence there. We assumed it was Joseph as Paul felt a coldness in the back part of the extension, which disappeared suddenly when Rachel walked into the space. Rachel immediately walked out and asked just the men in the group to go in there and talk about whatever they were feeling in there. Paul reported feeling icy cold in one particular spot but still colder all round in this area. Clive felt a cold spot specifically from his knee to the ground on his right leg in one very specific spot away from where Paul felt the temperature drop.

Rachel confirmed this was the spirit of a girl named Emma aged approximately 4 who had got away from her mother while she was speaking with someone and went towards a horse which kicked her. Rachel felt serious head injury, and that she did not die here, but the cold spot was where the injury had occurred back when the area was courtyard. Rachel felt she was taken away as the journey continued with her parents but she died some days later from the injury elsewhere-possibly London.

She was drawn to Clive because he reminded her of her daddy and she missed him. Rachel asked if she need help and she asked to go back to her mummy and daddy so we proceeded to the main bar area and did a planchette divination to communicate more with her. She wasn’t grounded here but felt like she needed guidance back to spirit for some reason.

Main Bar area to right of entrance

Spirit of a girl named Anne very active here from time to time, she is not grounded here. She was run over by a carriage in the courtyard and died of her injuries to the head, neck and chest on the premises indoors somewhere. Rachel confirmed her name was Anne not Anna as some people had been calling her; she doesn’t like being called Anna.

Small nook to the far right back of pub:

Rachel felt the residual energy imprint of an elderly lady who had sat here night after night next to the fire feeling intense cold.
This area was the most active all night – we captured an orb on video and an empty lighter was apported and thrown at us. We heard something clatter to the floor after bouncing off a table and chair hard – Clive looked under the table in the dark and saw it was a lighter so we all groaned and assumed it was John dropping his lighter from a pocket during filming – he was the only smoker there and was standing nearby and the lighter wasn’t there when we walked in.
But when John went to retrieve it when filming stopped it was a different, empty lighter – and John’s was still safe in his pocket. Where did it come from? Why was it thrown? We were all accounted for as we were all sat down in the small nook. Rachel had felt the presence of an uncommunicative male named John Brown (not connected to the William Brown earlier) who didn’t feel too friendly at the time – he was stood behind Paul and we seem to have captured some movement of what could be his feet on video.

Planchette divination

Anne refused to move it or speak, especially when asked if she needed help. Rachel felt she was happy to just observe us and was a visitor not grounded in the atmosphere at all, she can come and go as she pleases.

Emma came through very strongly and moved the planchette to indicate she wanted help when asked. Rachel went back to the extension area where her injury occurred and helped her to move on; Rachel felt her parents came to collect her very quickly.

Validations and research after the event:

Michael and one of the staff confirmed an unconfirmed source story about a girl named Anna who had been run over by a carriage out the back in the courtyard, she was taken upstairs and died some days later from her injuries according to the story.

The name “Rafe” was in fact Ralph Osbertson, former proprietor and possibly even founder and builder of the inn. It is on record that his son renamed the inn in the 1600s, so this tallies with Rachel’s feelings of Joseph (we cannot find record of the son’s first name) being the son, taking over the inn.

Vincent the dandy is we believe Vincent Lunardi – the first man to fly a hot air balloon in England. He made his first flight on 15th Sep 1785 from London and took off in front off 150,000 spectators including the King.
He landed in a field very close to Wadesmill in the exact circumstances described by Rachel, and this inn would have been the first inn he would find on foot. We have found an etching of him, and the bouffant hair is a match too! We have yet to find a connection to confirm he went to this Inn – but it is so bizarre and obscure an event we believe it to be true, and hope to find some evidence sometime.

The names William and John Brown have appeared in local census records for Wadesmill in the 18th and 19th centuries as farm or agricultural labourers.

© Rachel Keene for Haunted Realms 2006