I’ve recently had the great pleasure of joining Stewart Keeys team during two investigation events at a particularly favourite location of mine, the Royal Oak in Swanage. With two nights of investigation to share I decided to bundle them all up into one post.

If you’ve read any of my previous posts on my site about the Royal Oak, including at least one investigation report, then you’ll understand how the Royal Oak continues to hold my curiosity. In fact every time I find a few answers, I seem to walk away with even more questions! The two investigations with Stewart Keeys would be no different either.

On both occasions I arrived a little early in order to speak with the locals and the Landlady Rachael, after all they’ve become my friends now. Oddly as I don’t really visit a pub on a regular basis back in my home town of Stevenage I guess the Royal Oak could be categorised as my non-local local! As ever Rachael brought me up to speed with recent activity, events and changes at the Oak.

Its probably important to mention that I don’t visit the Royal Oak with the hope to film a ghost on camera or walk away with physical evidence that proves beyond reasonable doubt that there is an abundance of paranormal activity dwelling there. My interests in the paranormal has evolved and like so many before I have become very interested in the communication aspect of the paranormal. Key to this communication is the ability of mediums and how spiritual energy may work. The Oak has an abundance of spiritual energy both located in the physical building itself and with the many gifted individuals that frequent the location. Its understanding these individuals and their spiritual energy that keeps me returning to the Oak.

So, when a talented medium such as Stewart decided to hold and investigation event at the Royal Oak, I was keen to be involved. I wanted to see what Stewart would pick up on the localised spirits and their history and also what else may come through.

The evening kicked off around 10 pm and given the size of the Royal Oak the guests were split into two groups of five. The first group of five joined Stewart in a ‘Ghost Walk’ of the location, whilst the second group were briefed by Steve on the kit boxes that were available throughout the night.

Stewart led the groups through several of the rooms on the first and upper floors on both nights. As he did so he would convey to the group what he was picking up from that area. This included some very detailed descriptions of characters that the land lady Rachael confirmed to be linked to the building history.

In fact the detail in Stewarts description of some of the characters was quite remarkable. Descriptions which may be questioned by the usual sceptic, but they matched other description from different mediums and historical records. Suffice to say I think Rachael and many of the guests were quite impressed.

One particular character was referred to as ‘John’ I think and had quite a presence in the pub. It would appear that in his day he may have owned the pub and was probably quite a dominant person around the place.

Stewart also picked up on a few other characters around the pub in various rooms, in fact there was an abundance of spirits about the place. He also identified the location as somewhere that has many localised spirits, but also attracts spirits that may not be related to the location. This I found particularly interesting as it was a theory I also have about the Royal Oak. The place is a bit like a spiritual beacon so to speak. Oddly though it seems to bring in spirits and also individuals that are gifted or at least a little in tune with spirit. This could be due to the property either being on a lay line or in a particular resonance with what’s called Earth energy.

In regards to the buildings spiritual energy Stewart also picked up on something we have experienced there before and that’s an actual feeling of the energy in a room or part of the building completely changing! This change on occasion can be so dramatic that it can almost feel the complete opposite to what it was. As someone who started out in a more scientific and sceptical position this energy change is hard to explain, but can often indicate the onset of activity or the complete opposite.

On both nights Stewart conducted several vigils with the two groups spending time with them and then switching between them towards the end of the night.

On both nights Stewart mixed up the science with the spiritual by giving the groups access to a flight case of paranormal investigation gadgets. This included a temperature gun, EMF gauge, canum device, voice recorder, dowsing rods and a pendulum too. All great and useful bits of kit to help the guests enjoy their night. Stewart also included a booklet in the flight case for the groups to record their findings in. This included conducting regular temperature checks and other details the group might discover.

On both nights there appeared to be three particular rooms in the pub which were particularly good for table tipping. The first room we attempted this in was the Poppy Room, which was on the top floor. Stewart and a few of the guests gathered around a small metal table. They placed their finger tips gently on the table and Stewart spoke out to any spirits present. It wasn’t long before the table begun to move gradually. On this first attempt it moved quite dramatically toward and away from Stewart, but a form communication wasn’t really established. However on that first night Stewart and the second group attempted some more table tipping in the Bar area, but with a larger heavier wooden table. Unfortunately I wasn’t in the Bar during this event, but the group that were reported some interesting events. The table didn’t just tip, it moved across the Bar! Something I wish I had witnessed myself as it sounded quite amazing.

However I had a table tipping experience of my own on the second night in the twin room on the top floor. On this occasion I asked the group to trust in each other which they did, then we shut off the lights in the room. This particular room is pretty dark with no lights, almost pitch black! Although oddly it appeared to darken further. During this time one of the guests believed she saw a large shadow figure behind Steve. A shadow I personally have seen previously in that room. I asked one of the girls of the group to call out and we began to get movement on the table. In fact it wasn’t long before the table was moving quite dramatically. The table felt amazingly light under our finger tips, a bit like we were pushing down on a helium filled balloon. It wasn’t long before we attempted to use the movement of the table to communicate with the spirits, asking for it to move in different directions to represent ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Granted the communication was vague and non-specific, but it was the beginning of something. As the table continued to move, Stewart brought small groups of guests into the room to share the experience. I think by the end of the evening we had all ten guests plus a couple more in that little room, which was an achievement in itself! I have to admit it was pretty amazing activity and it also appeared to be the combination of energy from several spirits. An amazing end to the second night at the Royal Oak with Stewart Keeys.

As ever a night at the Royal Oak had given me some answers to questions I had, but once again generated a few more for me to try and understand. Was the movement of the table ‘power of spirit or power of the mind’?

All in all it was quite a remarkable couple of nights investigation at the Royal Oak with Stewart Keeys. Thank you Stewart for inviting me. I would also like to thank the rest of his team Steven and Andrew. Also, it wouldn’t have been possible without the hospitality of Rachael from the Royal Oak either. Finally the guests on both nights were amazing too and helped to complete the two nights investigation.