Mansion House Cardiff - Ghost Hunt

After our last adventure at the Skirrid Inn,  Anna and I were keen to book our next adventure and we found a Ghost Hunt at the Mansion House in Cardiff that looked ideal. 

It was within easy travelling distance (so we don't have to stay overnight and it's not too far for me to drive home at 3 a.m.) and it does not, and this is important, involve going anywhere near the Heads of the Valley road.  (See the Skirrid Inn blog post for reasons!) The company organising the Ghost Hunt, Paranormal Eye, stated that spirit mediums were present during the event, which I thought was a good idea.  I'd taken the precaution of doing a recce so I knew where the venue was and where I could park - somehow, I always manage to get lost when Anna is with me!) and we arrived in good time. 

 We were greeted by Nicky, the lead investigator and a spirit medium, and immediately I was impressed by how well-organised the event was.  We were registered and then led indoors, where we were handed over to another team member, who offered to take our photos (Anna accepted - I declined!) then we were directed to the kitchen to get a hot drink before being led to "base camp" to wait for the event to begin and get a sense of our surroundings.  The evening began with the mandatory health & safety briefing, we were taken on a tour of the building.

Haunted locations are often old, with a rich history, and sometimes at least partially derelict, which gives them a spooky feeling.  The Mansion House is relatively modern (Victorian) and it is beautifully decorated and furnished.  There's no immediate feeling of creepiness when you cross the threshold.  

It was the Lord Mayor's residence and we were told that the King stayed there when he was Prince of Wales. We we.re shown the bedroom he stayed in, but I found myself feeling very sick and got out as soon as I could.  Afterwards I learned that it wasn't uncommon for people to report feeling unwell in that room.  I began to feel better as we were shown some of the other bedrooms.  

The tour completed, we began the investigation with a circle to protect and ground us - something I haven't come across when ghost hunting with other companies and which I found very impressive.  Afterwards, we returned to base were put into our groups for the investigations.

Our group began in the attic, which had been the servants' quarters - and even these rooms were plainly, but nicely carpeted and decorated so not spooky at all.  We worked with pendulums and a Ouija board.  The board was not co-operative at all.  I've never met such a sticky board, neither planchette nor glass wanted to budge.  However, the EMF meter and light-up cat toy   that were set up in the room were giving responses to questions throughout the session and I was getting the "someone in my aura" feeling that lets me know that spirits are around me.  I saw a shadow figure flit in front of the window - again, something that others had reported.

And then the fire alarm went off.  

Believe me when I say I wasn't at all surprised.  As part of the briefing at the start of the evening we'd been told that there was no test of the fire alarm planned and if it went off we should all evacuate the premises.  At that point I KNEW that the alarm was going to go off.  I also knew who would be to blame.  David's a past master at setting off a fire alarm.  Our silver wedding anniversary had passed without incident, which was a little disappointing - evidently, he'd wanted to make himself known to a larger audience.  

Out we all went - luckily, it wasn't raining - and waited for the fire brigade to arrive.  They had to search the building to make sure it was safe and when one of the firemen saw a Ouija board set out he refused to go into the room.   I told the team member with our group that I was sure it was my late husband playing tricks, as he has form in that area.  A little later she approached me and asked which room I'd been in when the alarm went off.  It turned out that the alarm had been triggered in the attic room I'd been in.  

I then got told off by one of the firemen, which I felt was rather unfair! 

Once we were cleared to go back inside, we moved on to the next area to explore.  This was another Ouija/planchette, and this time it was Anna's turn for and uncomfortable experience.  She felt someone behind her pushing down hard on her shoulders. She was so uncomfortable she had to leave the room.

How Anna said she felt!

Whatever was communicating wasn't being terribly convincing and we did feel that it was messing about.  We moved on to a "human pendulum" with Anna as the pendulum.  Again, nothing very convincing was communicated, but it was an interesting experience, especially for Anna, who said she felt that she was rooted to the spot while being pushed gently forward or back.  

After a break for refreshments (sandwiches and pastries - very nice indeed!) We moved on to the dining room.  

This was where a "Victorian Seance" was being held, and it was apparent from the start that this area was very active.  The REM pod lights were flashing and it was emitting eerie screeches even before we sat down and turned off the lights.  It seems that REM pod activity isn't very common, but that one was going berserk.  There were a lot of loud raps that seemed to come from underneath the table (I tried kicking the table to reproduce the sound - I couldn't) and one very loud bang that sounded as if something heavy had been dropped onto the table.  The K2 meters that were placed at intervals along the table didn't react at all.  I felt very strong energy that swept around the room, saw shadow figures, felt a chilly breeze around my knees - it was intense.

The last area that we explored was the basement, and the energy was fading by then, or so it seemed to me.  We managed to get the table to tip and to lurch along the floor a bit, we heard a whistle that was heard on  the top floor but not on the first or ground floors, we heard a dog bark and yawn and something that sounded like a pebble was thrown. As it was the final session of the evening, we could hear people walking above us, gathering and putting away the various bits of equipment - except we found out later that nobody had been walking about on the ground floor.

All in all, the venue was the most active that I've ever been to and probably one of the best organised, and I only got slightly lost on the way home.  It took four days before I recovered. Highly  recommended!