| Investigation Content |
|---|
| Cleveland Ironstone Mine |
| North Drift |
| Ventilation Shaft |
| The Experience |
| Ambulance Room |
| All Pages |
Skinningrove was in the manor of Loftus during the Saxon times and was held by Earl Siward, who Shakespeare immortalised as Macbeth. It was here where the Cleveland Ironstone Mine was eventually dug.
... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Cleveland Ironstone Mine. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.
... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Cleveland Ironstone Mine. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.
North Drift
The North Drift is an original 500ft tunnel dating back to the 19th century that is dug deep into the hillside.
A railway track runs along one edge of the tunnel and there is a walkway on the other side that allows people to traverse it safely - although in some areas the tunnel roof is a little low.
The tunnel itself is blocked off due to safety reasons and actually continued a further 500ft into the hillside.
Where it is blocked off, there are benches on either side of the tunnel that allow people to sit in the darkness - and when the lights are switched off it is pitch black - you literally can not see your hand in front of your face.
Group 1 Report : Jay Sue
At the bottom of the North Drift, once the lights had been turned off, we found ourselves in the pitch black. Nothing at all could be seen - not even your hand in front of your face.
After sitting for a short while in the darkness, hoping to pick up on any sounds, we began to call out to any spirits that may have been present.
There were a couple of occasions when we got something that appeared to be a response, but it was difficult to determine whether it was anything paranormal or natural.
There was one point when we could hear footsteps within the tunnel as though somebody was walking down towards us - checking with the museum guides afterwards, none of them had entered the tunnel while our group was there and the darkness prevented us from seeing anybody.
We both, at one point, commented on how in the darkness we could see what appeared to be white shapes moving at a distance away from us. Given the darkness in the tunnel, it was impossible to explain what these shapes were.
Sue did capture what she believed to be one of these shapes on her camera but it's difficult to explain just what it is.
Group 2 Report : Pam Bruce
Pam was inundated with sensations, images and voices while in the North Drift and here is how she described what she sensed and felt :
Boy under rubble or coal, banging and tappings. Feeling cold. Two taps - sounds of working in shaft, digging etc.
Name Scotty, more banging heard, sounds of someone walking on gravel. Hovering lights look like someone shovelling. Says he's working with wood and tin.
Someone called Francis, noises heard, someone being bossy saying he's busy working - he's about 25 years old with mousey brown hair and a checked shirt from 1931-1932 - says his surname is Wood. Francis Wood.
Group 3 Report : Mike Andrea Joan Linda
We all walked to the bottom of the tunnel and sat down on either side of the benches. The guide sat near us as well, so we were all accounted for, the lights were turned off and it was very dark and eerie.
Andrea called out. Andrea knew some names that Pam had mentioned to her so when Linda starting to call out she used the names Andrea told her.
When Linda asked if Joe was here, Andrea thought she heard a small quiet voice say "Its me". (Dictaphones will be checked to see if we have caught any voice on Digital recorder. EDITOR: Nothing heard).
Andrea and Mike went into a small room right next to where we were all sitting, as soon as they went in there they both heard what can only be described as a Growl or a loud Male Moan. After 2 minutes of being in the smaller room, Andrea looked up the tunnel and thought she could see something or someone standing at the top, Linda and Joan confirmed that they too could see a figure or something standing at the top of the tunnel to the left.
We all sat down again and the name Michael came into Mikes head also he felt someone touch him across the face. We all became very cold across our legs and hands as if there was a gust of wind blowing on us.
Andrea then thought she saw a figure walking down towards us and shouted out if anyone was coming down, there was no response. Again, all 4 of us could see something right at the top.
It was time to leave the tunnel. Once we came out of the tunnel the guide who was with us asked another guide if he had walked around the top, he said no. But all of us thought we saw a figure right at the top walking across.
... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Cleveland Ironstone Mine. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.
The Ventilation Shaft
Situated between the museum, the North Drift and The Experience is The Ventilation shaft that was used to pump fresh air deep into the mines.
Now almost empty, large machinery would have existed here to help pump the fresh air through the mines and keep the miners alive.
Unfortunately, part of the floor was covered in wood (which appeared hollow underneath) and any walking on it caused loud footsteps to echo through the chamber - and could possible be heard in nearby locations also.
Group 1 Report : Jay Sue
We found the Ventilation Shaft to be very quiet and devoid of any noticeable activity.
The room itself was quite noisy and any walking brought about loud echoey footsteps due to an extremely hollow wooden floor.
After a while, Sue tried to do some pendulum work and picked up on an individual called Tom. He apparently did not work on site. She tracked him down to have been living on the site of the mine in the early 1900's.
(Note: At the end of our time in this location, when the lights came back on, Sue found that the name "Tom" was splashed around all over not only this location but throughout the museum - the founder of the museum was Tom Leonard and so she is not sure if she had been unconsciously influenced by this or not)
Sue also picked up on the sense of a man whom she described as a "Big, fat and greasy bloke who was unshaven and wearing a white vest" although she couldn't say whether or not this man was the Tom she had claimed to communicate with earlier through dowsing.
We did at one point move into the museum proper that was located next to the ventilation shaft and Sue reported feeling dis-orientated, dizzy and nauseous and so we didn't stay in here long.
Upon returning to the ventilation shaft both Jay and Sue reported hearing a loud screeching noise as though a large piece of machinery was turning and grinding against something metal : there was no working machinery within the Ventilation shaft.
We also heard a loud bang within the room, although it is possible that it originated with another group in another location.
Group 2 Report : Pam Bruce
Pam picked up upon various sensations and spirits in this location. Firstly was a man who was carrying equipment and who wearing a wig (like what a judge would wear) and a long black coat. Pam calimed his name was William Branton or Brown and she said that William was claiming that he 'built this place' meaning the Ventilation shaft (EDITOR : Being looked into).
Pam also picked up on individuals who were washing over sinks with their sleeves rolled up.
Before leaving, William Branton (or Brown) returned and Pam claimed that he pushed her in the back so as to get past her and then he left again.
Group 3 Report : Mike Andrea Joan Linda
We sat for a few moments to let everything calm down and also so the other teams could do the same in their Locations.
Not long after Andrea felt sickly so she moved to another area and she felt fine.
Andrea called out, nothing happened. Mike called out as well. Andrea then saw small flashes of lights next to the ventilation wheel. This happened a few times then nothing.
This room felt quiet. After 45 minutes we moved on to our next location.
... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Cleveland Ironstone Mine. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.
The Experience
This location consisted of 2 parts.
Firstly, a small seating area that could be plunged into darkness that allows visitors to the museum to experience the dark conditions that the miners would experience.
Next to this seating area is a recreation of a very early mining tunnel complete with rail-track, rail truck and wooden support beams. The tunnel was approximately 35 foot in length and 6 foot wide.
Once the lights were turned out, this room was plunged into pitch blackness.
Group 1 Report : Jay Sue
Similar to the North Drift, we were plunged into complete darkness in the Experience when the lights were switched off.
We both began calling out to any spirits who may have been present and who wanted to make themselves known to us - and it at first appeared that we were getting some success.
However, Paul - one of the museum guides and who was with us within the Experience claimed that the noises that we could hear may have been a result of 'wood wasps' that had burrowed themselves into the wooden timbers in the location and which periodically dropped out of the wood.
Upon investigation with torch in hand we did find a couple of the 'wood wasps' - huge ugly monstrosities if the truth be told - in the area where we could hear the sounds.
We asked Paul to call out - with him being someone who worked in the museum we hoped that perhaps a familiar voice may encourage any spirits present to make them self know, but we got no response.
Group 2 Report : Pam Bruce
Immediately upon entering the Experience, Pam picked up on the fact that the far wall had been blocked off and that there was something beyond (EDITOR : We later found out that there was indeed a continuation of the tunnel beyond the bottom wall).
A number of flashing lights were also reported in different parts of the Experience (blue and white).
Pam also picked up on a couple of names : James Brolin and a Stanley Richardson. She was told by the latter : "Through the wall and down the lift, you'll not like it. They are weary of people".
Pams reported a cold feeling down her left-had side and when she called out to any spirits that were present both her and Bruce reported tapping on the walls or wood (also, a reading of 2.0mg was picked up on the EMF sensor at the point).
Group 3 Report : Mike Andrea Joan Linda
We spent most of our time in The Experience in the small room next to it known as the Sound Room and we all sat down around the benches which were in there.
It was very dark. Andrea and Mike called out. Mark (guide and member of Abbey Paranormal group), Mike and Andrea heard a small laugh like a child laugh.
Andrea was surprised at what happened next as it had never ever happened to her before but she was getting a picture in her head of a Boy who was about 9 or 10, he had jet black hair and had a tooth missing at the front, she got the name Ralfie.
While Andrea had called out before she kept hearing someone saying "Shhhh". She then said the boy was talking about a older boy named John who looked out for him. Andrea could also see a box with pebbles in it, it was next to the boy.
Mark then told us a story about young boys sitting in here years ago when it was a working mine. He asked Andrea to called out for them. Andrea did and still kept getting the feeling that someone was saying "shhhh".
Mike then started to laugh and say silly things. This was out of charactor for Mike and was extremely weird. He could not stop laughing for about 5 minutes.
Linda caught some flashing lights on her camera.
... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Cleveland Ironstone Mine. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.
The Ambulance Room
Adjoining The Experience location were 3 small rooms.
The First was a small extremely dark seating area. Next to this was a small workshop complete with a blacksmiths forge and smithy tools.
Finally, the largest of the 3 rooms contained an authentic and original horse drawn ambulance that would have been used to ferry injured or dead miners away from the mines.
Group 1 Report : Jay Sue
We found the Ambulance room to be extremely quiet and we felt totally relaxed.
Maybe it was due to the emergency lights over the fire exits which lit up the room which caused us to relax a little too much (always better in the dark!!) but we picked up on no sign of activity whatsoever.
The only moment worth reporting was in the couple of minutes before we left.
A loud explosion/rumbling was heard but it sounded as though it originated in the Experience next door and not in the room where we were. We knew that there were one or two sound effects that were played within the Experience during the tours that visitors took during the normal working hours of the museum and so figured that one of the guides may have demonstrated it for the group working in there.
Upon leaving, we enquired with the group if that had indeed been the case, but they all said no and in fact, claimed not to have heard the noise at all!
Both Jay and Sue found this to be impossible as the noise was just too loud, but the group within the Experience claimed not have heard it.
At the end of the nights investigation, Jay found out that the exact same noise had been picked up on a stationary camera that had been placed in the Ambulance room by an investigation group who had previously visited the Mine and the same noise had been reported by other people - staff and visitors alike.
Group 2 Report : Pam Bruce
We found the Ambulance room to be quite active - particularly Pam who got quite distressed being in there.
What follows is Pams account of what happened in the Ambulance Room.
There was a woman who was busy walking backwards and forwards. Lilian? Being busy. Another exit/Way in .. I'm freezing. "Cobbled Stones" could be covering something, lots of people came through this room. Perhaps people 'clocked on' here.
A shadow walked across the room, passed through the wheel on the ambulance and through the wall.
Lillian McCarthy (Red Cross?) aged 26. She was caught up in it all. A Man called Matthews is here and Gregory. One of them is blowing in Pams ear.
A small piece of metal is thrown and hits Pams leg. A blacksmith is here and he keeps knocking Pams safetly helmet from her head. There is a bang on the wall and a gasp of breath. She sensed : "Who do you think you are wearing a helmet! Your not a miner!"
Judy Ladler (?) is here, she works on a nearby farm and sells eggs and bread to the miners. Shes 19 years old and died at the same time as the other miners here. She would wear a black dress with flowers.
An orb is seen against one of the walls. The bellows next to the forge are creaking and the door to the room is opening and closing slightly by itself. A Mr Wilson enters.
Group 3 Report : Mike Andrea Joan Linda
We all went to our 1st Location of our night's Vigil which would be the "Ambulance Room".
We settled down for a few minutes to let everything quieten. Andrea kept thinking she could see something at the side of her near the old Ambulance and also Linda felt the same, like someone was there hiding.
Andrea and Linda both looked but there was nothing there.
There was another small room next to the ambulance rooms so we went in there and all sat down. After a few moments Andrea called out. Andrea and Mike both said they thought they saw someone walking past the door in the next room, Mark the guide also said the same.
Linda caught a few flashes of white light with the night vision camera. This room seemed quiet.