The Hauntings of Nottingham Road Hotel

From the Hotel's official website:

"Charlotte is well known in the village, some folks have heard her, and some have seen her gliding round the corridors and down the stairs, just keeping a watchful eye. Paranormal investigators believe that unquiet spirits have a reason for coming back. The only way to find the truth is to sleep in room 10. This is no marketing gimmick, there is a ghost roaming the hotel. Come and find out for yourself what the creaks, bumps, padded footsteps and voices are."

Sitting outside in the garden whilst the hotel was undergoing some minor renovations, we discussed with Doey, who was not well familiar with the hotel and her job, over tea and muffins, the possibility of the existence of Charlotte, and perhaps some other not quite so well known entities.

Doey reported that some of the kitchen staff had made various reports to management; some staff had even left because of strange and unexplained activities and noises. It had been reported that one staff member simply refused to enter the kitchen after dark after witnessing what she had thought was a "spirit". True, the famous reports of taps and televisions turning on and off, and shadows darting across rooms, had also become reason for said staff member to refuse to enter the kitchen alone or after dark.

Doey talked about Room 10, and said that very definitely visitors had made mention of seeing or hearing unexplained things. She also said that some guests to the hotel specifically booked their trip for the Charlotte phenomenon alone, and actually requested Room 10.

Dzagbe decided that she would like to experience Charlotte, if possible, and we arranged a tour of the hotel there and then.

Now I have to admit that I was gifted with an extremely acute 6th sense, one which has held me in good stead time and time again. It has forewarned me of impending danger, unsavory circumstances and I happily declare to any and all that I trust my intuition 100%. I will always go with what I am feeling and experiencing from within. As I say it has never let me down. Ever! Not with anything! In my lifetime I decided to try and expand on my knowledge on the 6th sense phenomenon, and perhaps marry it to any psychic abilities I felt I may have had at the time. I was completely fascinated and intrigued and more than ever I was completely convinced!

Moving on, I only refer to myself as having an acute 6th sense. Dzagbe - now Dzagbe had something rare and special. She had something amazing from deep within her that could and often did tell her of impending situations. What she did with the information is calmly set about remedying what would go wrong, before it went wrong, or guiding and advising others who may be affected in one way or another. One of her unique and extremely powerful gifts was that of healing. Even from a distance. She was world-renowned as a physical and spiritual healer and very much in demand the world over. I felt completely comfortable in her presence, and knew that if anything was to be discovered or experienced by Dzagbe, then indeed this phenomenon that was Charlotte - or any other entity - did in fact exist. Something existed.

Picture of Doey and River atop the very old steel railway pedestrian bridge, overlooking the hotel. The once-quaint little railway station is toward the left of where the picture was taken, and obviously underneath the bridge.

The team included lead investigators Barry Fitzgerald, Brandy and Andy, researched the reports received regarding strange sightings and activities, more particularly to the information gathered relating to Charlotte.

Their report which can be viewed in its entirety on http://www.skepticalviewer.com/2008/08/07/ghi-nottingham-road-hotel/states:

"The primary reports of this hotel are of a woman supposedly known as Charlotte who has a backstory involving a soldier who died in battle - I won't bore you with the details, suffice it to say that this woman has been reportedly seen fully corporeal, as a translucent apparition, and is thought to be responsible for at least one television, one lamp, and one sink faucent turning on and/or off.

During one point of the investigation there were some very odd sounds which were quite plain - and turned out to be coming from a children's party next door. Oh well, neighbors, what can you do?

Andy had an idea to test the faucet and he noticed when the hot water tap was turned on, then turned off (but loosely) the gasket would heat up and within a short time the faucet would be flowing freely again without human intervention - a seemingly paranormal event that was indeed not.

He also checked the TV in question after seeing it go off by itself right in front of the entire team (on CCTV) when no one was even in the room. This wasn't a definitive debunk, but Andy surmised the timer button on the remote might be to blame. Hit it once by accident and the TV will turn itself off in a couple of hours, nothing paranormal about that (although it begs the question of who pressed that button prior to or during this particular investigation).

In the kitchen Brandy & Barry both saw a light coming from a storage room with no other door, no windows and no lights. Unfortunately, this is one of those things that wasn't caught on camera so that leaves open the question of whether or not there actually was a light. Of course, even if we could determine that there was no light recorded at the precise time & place Barry and Brandy said they saw one we could make the argument that since they both saw it we can't rule out some other type of phenomena that affects people's senses in some real, but poorly understood way.

Because of the light and the fact that they both agreed it felt like the room had cold drifting through it from no determinate origin, Barry wanted to play with a gadget that measures positive ions. I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I suspect it might be like detecting ozone. He also apparently checked a barometer (according to Robb), I saw there was some sort of digital weather gadget that was reading thunderstorms but I didn't see the standard barometer reading in inches or cm. I

n any case, the positive ion reading apparently shot up dramatically in the room as Barry tried to get a spirit to interact, and the weather-thingy did seem to be saying there was a storm outside when there was none, so there is physical evidence something odd was going on in the kitchen. At the very least I think it's true that humans can react physiologically to ionized air and low pressure, possibly causing a feeling of anxiety or discomfort which one might attribute to a spirit. On the other hand, even if the feelings are caused by an understood phenomenon it's still not clear why such an atmosphere might suddenly coalesce in a room with no apparent cause.

Other than what's been mentioned, the only other evidence caught during this investigation were three EVPs. In my opinion, they were actually pretty decent this time. One seemed to whisper, "yes" in response to a question while another seemed to say, "come back" as Barry was packing up his gear and leaving a room. The loudest, if not the most distinct, was a voice that the team thinks was saying, "Ask me" when Andy was challenging it to attack him. I'm not sure if it was a voice or what it might have said, but there is an unmistakable sound on the recording that doesn't sound like anything we're used to hearing.

None of these voices (with the possible exception of the first one, in my opinion) sounded female, which surprised the client and the GHI team both. They suggested that the supposed spirit of Charlotte may indeed be around but perhaps decided not to interact with the team on this night - and there is a different spirit which did. A fairly reasoned guess, I agree, but here's what bothered me: Robb issued a "Haunted" verdict.

Yes, a haunted verdict on only EVP evidence, which if I recall was something Jason & Grant had specifically singled out as a no-no. They may have broken this rule at some point, I don't recall off-hand, but I think it was a good rule and I'm drawing a line there. Declaring something haunted with a couple of audio clips is not cool with me."

GHI Logo from Wikipedia - NOTE: OBVIOUS SPELLING ERRORS WERE CORRECTED BY ME

We entered the hotel, walked through a few corridors, took some photographs. Dzagbe was interested in the original black and white framed photographs that can be found throughout the hotel, most notable in the reception area.

The hotel dining room, down from reception, is really just a huge informal room with dining tables scattered everywhere, and an enormous fireplace (very necessary in winter) to the left hand side as you enter from reception. A few little corridors and alcoves lead to the toilets and other smaller storerooms. They also lead to the kitchen!

To the left of the reception area is the original bar area, again accessed from small corridors and doorways evident of the era.

To the right, just before the main reception desk, is the main corridor that leads to the rooms or suites in some cases. Rooms 1 and 2 are located to the right of the hall entrance and it is in these rooms we first decided to visit after walking upstairs and "feeling" the other rooms, and the staircase. (Believe it or not, according to "witness" reports, the beautiful wooden staircase is a very popular area for sighting Charlotte.)

Entering room 1 was fine. I felt a little odd walking through a room recently vacated by another couple. Although the room had been made up and was clean and tidy awaiting the arrival of another guest, it still felt, to me, like an imposition. There was nothing extraordinary to be seen or felt in this room. Dzagbe, Doey and I looked at one another and agreed without speaking that perhaps there was a lot of hype over nothing more than a marketing ploy.

Exit room 1, into room 2.

I stood in the doorway. My eyes started watering - much as they are now as I write this. Dzagbe had entered the room in large strides, confidently expecting that as in the previous room, there would be nothing exceptional. She walked towards the bathroom, past the bed.

She did not talk. Dzagbe was a dark woman, who had paled significantly during the short walk from entrance to bathroom. She looked up and mouthed the words "This is very, very wrong. Something is not right in this room." She walked towards the bed and stood dead still. She turned around and looked at Doey and I and said it was absolutely freezing at that point. A breeze blew threw the room. No window was open.

We all just stood there. I felt uncomfortable. I wanted to run. While I had experienced 'situations" previously, none had made me feel quite as uncomfortable - and yes, scared - as I was feeling just then.

Picture of myself, Doey, Savannah and Aiden at the foot of the stairwell that is said to be a favorite walkway of Charlotte's.

I was in a hurry to get out of the stifling atmosphere that had settled on Room 2. Dzagbe, although sensing something she later described as "evil", was in no such rush. She elected to remain in the room and walk around a little seeing if she could pinpoint the cause of her discomfort.

Back in the relative comfort of the hotel lobby, whilst waiting for Dzagbe, I studied again with renewed interest the black and white photographs and framed original newspaper clippings (well over a century old) on the walls, hoping I suspect to gain some sort of insight into what had actually transpired in Room 2 - who was there? Who had been there? What had happened?

I did not get the answers I was hoping for from the pictures or the newspaper articles. I did however derive some sort of satisfaction knowing that if Dzagbe's experience was anything to go by, there is indeed something lurking in the rooms and corridors of the Nottingham Road Hotel.

While it is generally accepted that Charlotte quietly slips in and out of the rooms and down the staircase, it seems to me that something else keeps her company, not only during the still hours of the night, but during the daylight hours. Something, someone, a lost soul perhaps, who searches the rooms and hallways seeking... I don't really know.. seeking what?

My conclusion based on my experience is that there is some form of paranormal activity within the buildings of the Hotel. Will I visit there again? I suspect I will!

Photograph of Doey and Aiden in the front gardens of the hotel.