On Saturday 23rd July 2022, after an afternoon of what’s been described as ‘Pokemon Go for thinkers’ by a friend; Jen and I headed to Leicester. Not only did I used to work in Leicester many years ago, but I also used to live in Coventry, which is not a million miles away. Also, even though I did not remember right away, I also stood up in front of the SPR at the Holiday Inn just around the corner from Newarke House to deliver a brief talk on my ghost hunting journey. So, having the opportunity to return to Leicester with Brookes Paranormal certainly felt the right thing to do for me.

That ‘Pokemon Go for thinkers’ thing; was an outdoor detective game that has you walk around a town centre gathering clues in order to solve a murder. The app for All Clued Up games provides you with a map based on the local area, and you have to travel to the various points of interest to collect various types of clues. These clues allow you to eventually solve the murder; providing the killer and the motive. The organisers advise you to allow three hours and they are not wrong. We visited 34 out of 37 points of interest, took our time deliberating before submitting our correct answer. So, we got it correct and came 18th out of 54 I believe. Not bad for our first go, in which we were joined by Jen’s friend Jo. It also took us 2 hours 40 minutes; so we got our monies worth.

Check out Jen’s blog on our crime solving exploits here – CSI – Welwyn by Jenny Dear

All in all it was a fun afternoon and good way to prepare for an evening of ghost hunting. Also, the drive to and from Leicester was not even that bad, it was long enough to be noticed, but not too long to be really tiring. Something helped by being mostly motorways.

We arrived in good time, parking at the advised NCP near to the Holiday Inn around the corner. This was possibly the only negative of the night though, as the parking was a little pricey. To be fair I usually do a little more planning for these things and as such would have tried to find better parking. That said the NCP was convenient and no more than five minutes away.

As we approached the Museum a little early, the staff allowed us in and invited us to walk around, which we did taking a look at the 1950’s shop area. The we located a seat in the base room for the night. Which incidentally is not on the map I have photographed below, can be found opposite the toilets – conveniently.

Brookes Paranormal started promptly as ever providing a little on the location, but very little on the actual paranormal activity that has been experienced at the museum. This is, I believe, as the team tend to lean more towards spirituality and as such many of the group prefer to ‘go in blind.’ This allows some to find more verification in smaller activity. Whilst this does not discount the possible experiences, it does cast some doubt.

Now whilst I prefer to have as much information as possible in order to investigate purported haunted locations; I am also mindful that many present that night preferred to begin their ghost hunt with little information. Perhaps its simply more fun that way. Certainly I can see why many believe in having less information is better.

We got started with our first vigil of the night at about 8pm, on the ground floor at the museums galleries 3,4 and 5. This was in one of the older parts of the building.

As we familiarised ourselves with the building and each other as a group; we attempted holding hands in a circle. The team members asked the group if they felt anything, as in a physical push forward or backwards. Eventually a member of the group stepped forward as being pushed by spirit. At this point one of the team members continued one on one with the group member.

The information from this engagement presented a probability that an entity was present, which was connected to another member of the group. This was relatively similar to many of the claims made on paranormal TV shows. Whilst this increased the drama at that moment, the team members dealt with the situation really well. Focus was quickly brought back to our place in the room and our investigation.

Whilst there were a few odd noises heard, none were conclusive, some explained and very that potentially paranormal. Apart from a loud noise that caught the attention of the gentleman from the museum on the front desk. However, nothing could be found to explain that noise.

At around 2130 our vigil came to an end and we made our way back to the base room. There we grabbed a coffee, provided by the team and I scribbled some notes. It always amazes me how people ask me about the notes I make. I have always taken some kind of notes to help me understanding what had happened. However, many ask as if its even weirder than some of the phenomena we seek. In my opinion, if you are serious about any kind of paranormal investigation then taking notes is imperative.

Our second vigil of the night began around 10pm and took us to galleries 17 and 16, the 1950’s cobbled street shops area. This was an area of the museum that had a recreation built in it of local 1950’s shops. With the lights out it was certainly a little more eerie, and you could imagine all kinds of ghosts lurking in the shadows.

The team deployed various KII meters and a couple of REM Pods to the area, along with a device that was measuring movement and temperature. It was a mass of gadgets that should anything occur would all light up to make us aware. At one point a couple of the team members were also using phone apps too, which provided random words.

Whilst the temperature gauge did drop, it was not by a significant amount and more aligned with the building settling after dark. This too could be said for a REM Pod in one of the shops. As it ‘beeped’ quite a few times, in what appeared to be a random pattern.

There were also some interesting points of views here too. Some believed the ghosts were avoiding us as they may not be used to ghost hunters. Others believed there were more than one spirit, yet the approach only focussed on one. Whilst someone else felt the spirit was there, passed through and moved to another part of the building. This soon brought our vigil to a close at around 11pm.

Following another coffee break and more notes on my part, we headed to the trenches for our final vigil at about 1130pm.

This was an excellent area as it was built like a replica of a WWI trench. Interestingly the group decided to sing and play songs from wartime, but this seemed to be both world wars. At one point they did get some kind of reaction on a KII, but it was inconclusive. Although many in the group took it as a positive sign. Many would recall this approved of singing or playing music from the era as the Singapore Theory, but I do not believe its recognised as a theory, more of an idea.

We spent a little time in galleries 8, 9, and 10, but nothing of note occurred there. So we moved downstairs to gallery 13 around 1230am. Initially to do table tipping, but as we were joined by the other group we attempted a circle. The focus being for spirit to raise peoples hands. This occurred for a few members of the group, but oddly for a couple the opposite occurred. Whilst a little strange I am not sure if we can truly chalk that one up to spirit.

Still as far as ghost hunts go, Brookes Paranormal delivered another fun and interesting nights at a really nice location. The size of the group for the location was reasonable in comparison to some events I have been on, but perhaps could still have been a little smaller as there was audio bleed.

However, it was well structured and well led from the beginning. There were a great bunch of people there too and I look forward to seeing more of them on future investigations.

Thank you Brookes Paranormal.