Some in the paranormal field may call it synchronicity, perhaps it was just fortunate luck or pure coincidence; but on a day when I sat in a well known coffee shop sipping my usual americano, I got an urge to head out on a ghost hunt. At the time I thought the chances of finding one not too far away was going to be unlikely.

Knowing my friend Liz Cormell often is out and about ghost hunting, I sent her a message to see how she was. Oddly, before I even got onto the subject of ghost hunts, Liz asked me if I was interested in joining a small group at the Robin Hood Experience in Nottingham. After checking the distance and timing I agreed; and as there was another space available I asked Graham, my very good friend in the paranormal field. We have also investigated many cases together; visiting the Paris Catacombs and working on a long term investigation currently.

With our travel arrangements set, I headed across to Milton Keynes to pick up Graham on the way to Nottingham. As it goes, a pretty straight forward journey.

More often than not I will look into the history and paranormal reports for a location prior to visiting, but as this particular one was completely last minute I really did not have time. We literally jumped in the car and headed towards Nottingham.

In all fairness a quick Google of 94 Friars Lane where the Robin Hood Experience is located did not really reveal much in the way of detailed hauntings. Something I done whilst writing this post. As I have to admit I did leave 94 Friars Lane, a little more interested in the location than I was when I first arrived, mainly down to an odd experience whilst I was there. More on that later.

Once Graham and I had parked up at the conveniently located National Car Park at the rear of 94 Friars Lane; we made our way to the front door where Liz let us in.

Straight away the small yet oddly deceiving structure of the location became apparent. Whilst the main shop appears quite large, something likely due to the high ceilings; it is basically built around a central stairway with two rooms on each level. The ground floor being a split level, which also has the entrance to the basement under the stairs. Yet from the shop the stairs are accessed by an iron staircase which rises from the shop floor at its rear. At the back is an area where lots of Robin Hood film and TV memorabilia are located. Whilst Graham and I did not spend much time in this room, Jo and Rob told us of an experience that they both had in there at around 22:15. They advised of how they were using the small balls which light up as a kind of communication tool. During which the ball appeared to flash in response to questioning, but the ball itself did not move. Jo also believed that she saw some kind of mass too, like a small white cloud; whatever it was left an impression on her that is for sure.

Potentially as Jo and Rob were experiencing their oddities downstairs; Liz and I may have heard some strange knocking on the landing of the second floor. This began around 22:43 with Liz hearing knocking from outside room 2. We switched places to see if I could hear anything whilst sat on the landing. And around 22:50 as I went to speak to Liz, I heard a dull triple thud. Liz and I sprang into action trying to recreate the sound. In my opinion, recreating footsteps on the floor above was the closest sound. However, Liz disagreed and thought it was more like a sound in the hallway outside the door. Sometimes as investigators we disagree, that is not a bad thing; and certainly does not mean that one of us is wrong. As we both could be wrong and equally we could both be right. Understanding that basically trying to recreate or even identify a sound following a brief encounter, is never going to be an exact science. If anything its very opinion based, which means we must respect that the opinions of others and unless we can categorically define a sound, we certainly cannot prove its origin. Understanding this alone can often help consider greater possibilities than the simple bias that can happen during investigations.

Graham and I started by checking the whole of the back room to ensure there was no one there, which there was not. Jo and Rob were still upstairs a couple of floors, so not them. Then Graham and I began to break down what might I might have actually experienced; firstly we wanted to establish where this apparition had come from, was it the stairs or the basement. This was an easy one as we quickly realised that if someone walked down the stairs and into the back room, they would not be seen at all from where I was stood in the shop. However, someone coming up from the basement, turning and then heading to the backroom would actually fit what I saw. In fact this displayed a shoulders and an arm, just like I had witnessed. As we were doing this Liz asked me questions about my experience, using a method I believe is called TED (Tell, Explain, Describe). So, this would mean I would first ‘Tell’ them in my own words everything I had experienced without interruption. Next you explain in more detail what happened. Which often includes your own explanation of those events. The ‘Describe’ or ‘Detail’ part is then all about focussing on specifics to gain clarity on the details. In this case we were beginning to understand how tall the individual I saw may have been; or what colour the arm may have been. This helps to add important details to the experience, but also keeping the original description of the event. As an investigator beginning by allowing the experiencer to tell you their story without interruption is imperative. This will become the initial witness statement that you work from to investigate the experience.

In this case we quickly determined that whatever I saw or believed I saw; may have been a human adult figure, most likely walking from the basement to either the backroom or up the main staircase. With the information we had it was impossible to be any more specific than that really. Experiences such as these are often brief and simple, with few details in reality. That said, in many cases I have seen Ghost Hunters take simple experiences such as this and add an entire story to it. As paranormally romantic as that may be and as it may often be far more of an interesting experience; it does not help to push the field forwards and just makes the true events blurred against the added story.

There are possibilities that may explain this too. It could be a trick of the light and a kind of visual pareidolia. It could also be some kind of waking hallucination. Is it related to someone that has passed away, impossible to determine. So, it does not necessarily show proof of survival.

Around 01:30; after some discussion and saying our goodbye’s; Graham and I headed home. I think I finally got home around 04:00, absolutely shattered.

94 Friars Lane certainly provided a couple of experiences to take home with us and more to understand from a paranormal perspective. It was also really good to catch up with some good paranormal friends. Sometimes a good old last minute ghost hunt is just what we need.