Return to Cressing Temple Barns
Well after what seemed like a particularly short nights sleep, we all returned to Cressing Temple Barns for the final day of Parafource UK 2017. Day 1 had been brilliant fun and I was curious to see what Day 2 had to offer.
As ever I wondered in bleary eyed and headed for coffee on autopilot. Once I had acquired some caffeine I decided to talk to a few people that had also arrived. It wasn’t long though before I headed off to my talk of the day and what a beginning it would be.
However this morning had already began with a small disagreement between Kerry Greenaway and myself, a disagreement based on the classic Harry Price case regarding a talking Mongoose. As Kerry couldn’t understand why I would even entertain investigating such a case, I set her a simple challenge to ask as many paranormal types at Paraforce UK as possible to see if they would too.
Oddly the first person that fell victim to this challenge was Joe Chin, who actually agreed with me stating that he too would investigate the case of a talking mongoose.
Barry Fitzgerald and the Influence
Barry began his talk explaining a little about where this idea had come from and then with the assistance of his powerpoint presentation, dropped some pretty hard hitting points on us. Making us aware of a few cases that he had reviewed where individuals had done themselves or others considerable harm, Barry simply asked why?
The answer was quite straight forward in that each of these people had committed their atrocities because they had heard voices telling them to do so.
Fundamentally the concept that was being suggested here was that where we might think some thoughts are our own, it could be that those thoughts were being influenced by another source.
Barry went on to explain how certain biological aspects can actually be our very filter to for understanding these influences better, but in our modern fast paced lifestyle we may be masking these simple things. One of them being the very skin that houses what is us. However we often hinder the skins ability by consuming too much junk, too much refined sugar.
The lecture was quite fascinating and I really wish I had taken more notes, but it was one of those that I was so engrossed in that I actually forgot.
Before we left, Kerry decided to pin Barry down for a future ParaSearch interview on her radio show. Also, as a part of her on going challenge she asked him about the talking mongoose investigation. He of course recognised the famous Harry Price case and agreed that he to would investigate it. I think Kerry was beginning to realise that I had made my point and the next coffee was on her.
Tomo Warrington’s Room 666 with Jason Day
When Kerry and I returned to the Granary Room, Too Warrington had already began to talk with Jason Day. As we sat down they began what Tomo calls Room 666, which is his variation on the classic Room 101.
Oddly this was a great little idea as it quickly sparked some great paranormal debate.
Jason was keen to place reality ghost hunt TV shows into Room 666. This seemed to split the audience a little too, but perhaps for good reason. Personally I had to disagree on this one as although the TV shows aren’t always fantastically loaded with good science or investigation, they have their place. It’s these shows that for many have sparked an interest and have brought individuals to the field. Regardless of their inappropriate screaming sessions the TV shows have their place and did not make it to Room 666.
Next up from Jason was the misinformation around paranormal gadgets. Obviously adding the gadgets themselves was a no, but the misinformation itself I totally agree with to be fair. The most annoying for me begin; ‘hey look I have a KII it detects ghost’! Seriously really!! I think a little education around paranormal gadgets is needed and perhaps its something I could add to my website?
Next up Too wanted to make some suggestions from he’s apparently ‘very long list’; he kicked things off with ghost hunt false advertising. For example, ghost hunting companies claiming their location to be the UK’s most haunted. I had to side with Tomo on this to be fair as its a slight pain, if you looked across the internet and social media, you may find tens of UK’s Most Haunted location or scariest experience. Although let’s be honest here, stating your location to be reasonably active or often paranormal stuff occurs, really doesn’t sell tickets.
Tomo also threw location exclusivity into the mix for Room 666. Again I had to agree on this one too. I don’t believe that any one group should have exclusive rights to a location stopping others or perhaps restricting others from using it. In order to properly research and investigate locations purported to be haunted, we need to allow as many different teams as possible to investigate. This doesn’t have to be continuously, but allow others to try different approaches. Different techniques, ideas, approaches are need to gain more out of the field.
This lead on to a brief discussion which many in the room got involved in, which was very nice to be able to chat about the paranormal, but equally amongst a group of people that equally respected each others opinions.
We actually ran out of time on this one.
John Blackburn Working with David
Once we had grabbed some lunch we headed back to the Granary (albeit a little late) to join John Blackburn and the group as they attempted to work with the picture of David.
As we entered the closed darkened room, apologising as the group had already started we quickly joined the circle that had formed connected to the copper edges of the painting.
As he continued to work, John created a circle within a circle. Bearing in mind that John usually works in the dark, it was very difficult to build the energy up in this scenario where it was still very light.
After a while of trying this a few of the group did say that they thought the picture was slightly vibrating, which in itself is quite interesting.
The majority of the group left the Granary leaving a few of us behind for something a little different…
John, Gert, David and a Small Group
After the main group had left Gert decided that he wanted try some trance mediumship work with John and David.
During this session, Kerry and I decided to observe rather than take part.
Gert attempted to focus on the picture of David and channel his spirit through in order to hopefully pass some information across the John.
I found this quite a fascinating little session to be honest and it certainly seemed as if Gert walked away with an emotional experience from this.
What was also interesting is that both Kerry and I picked up on some things, which we later passed onto John and Maxine after everyone had left. John acknowledged this information too. Perhaps a little more on that in the future.
John Blackburn’s physical mediumship was one of the many things over the weekend that caught my eye and has now lead to a new line of enquiry for me. As John like me has an interest in the Scole Experiment then perhaps we may even work on something similar in the future.
Barry and Joe on the GHI Adventure
The last talk of the day was quite possibly one of the funniest talks of the weekend. To say these pair were a double act is really an understatement.
Barry and Joe shared some of their fantastic experiences from their journey around the world with Ghost Hunters International and some of the trouble they got themselves into behind the scenes.
Whether it was Joe’s use of a sharpie that could have caused an International incident, Joe’s choice of attire, some particularly pothole ridden roads, discovering a possible secret room and so much more; the pair delivered an enjoyable talk.
It was also really great to see the guys so relaxed with everyone walking about the location, popping into a few other talks and generally talking with everyone too.
The relatively informal nature of Paraforce UK that allowed the guest speakers to interact with all those in attendance really helped make this weekend in my opinion. And this is something that I love about conventions I’ve been to and it helps build bridges and create friendships.
Paraforce UK 2017 Awards
Now before we all headed off home at the end of the weekend the Paraforce UK Team had one last thing for us all to enjoy. This came in the form of the Paraforce UK 2017 Awards, a truly red carpet affair.
The majority of these awards were voted for by most of those in attendance and in all honesty most were simply a great bit of fun.
You might have to check out the Paraforce UK 2017 Facebook page for the details of the winners, which were announced in true red carpet event stating the nominees too.
It was good to see Joe Chin win male pin up I think, lol!
Paranormal research and investigation can be really serious, but we can still have fun with what we do and with others in the field. There’s nothing like chilling out, having fun and a bit of a laugh too. Not to mention the odd drink!
Thanks to Paraforce UK
I would like to end this write up with a massive thanks to the Paraforce UK Team for an excellent weekend. Thank you to Viv and Sean for working tirelessly through the year to organise the event, great job guys. Thank you to all the Guest Speakers for presenting some really interesting talks and a few surprises too.
Thank you to everyone I met and spoke to, its great to make new friends in the field and progress all our personal journeys within the paranormal.
These kind of events are helping to bring the community back together more, back to an older way of thinking, back to standing in front of someone and discussing the paranormal. It’s all too easy to sit behind a screen on social media, but face to face we can really move things forward. To all those that are trying to encourage more discussion face to face, keep doing it and thank you…
Ashley Knibb 
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