The Courthouse

The EMF was spiking between 10-20mg for no apparent reason. The reading would spike and then dissipate, this occurrence was quite regular and was witnessed by many on the night. We cannot at this time explain why the EMF would act in such a way, however it would suggest that sudden bursts of electrical energy would present itself around various parts of the building ( not only in this room ) during the investigation. We would need to do more investigations of the premises to study this occurrence in depth.

We encountered problems with our radio apparatus, it appears that the batteries were being drained repeatedly, even though the batteries were changed on several occasions during the vigil. Cold spots were recorded in this room, we checked the windows for draughts and even though some cold air was leaking through the window frames, it was far too little to explain the sudden drop in temperature in certain areas of the room. The temperature would fluctuate between 5-6 degrees lower than the average base - line readings.

Two investigators reported feeling cold on their backs. We checked the temperature around them and found it to be normal, although they remained adamant that they felt cold, this occurrence happened at the lower end end of the room around the bar area. A few minutes later the same two were asked to stand in the same area as before, where they had reported feeling cold, but however, this time they felt nothing at all, the cold spot had disappeared.

The most compelling phenomena in this paricular room happened around the stage area. We heard ' knocks and taps ' coming from beneath the floor, directly in front of the stage. We decided to sit silently and listen closely to what seemed to be someone trying to get our attention. The knocks became louder, everyone present near the stage could hear them clearly. One investigator lay upon the floor with her ear pressed to the floor, she confirmed that these noises were indeed coming from below us. As she listened, she could feel slight vibrations emanating from underneath, as if someone was trying to knock with some degree of force. We now asked questions, to see if it responded.................. we were not disappointed with the results that followed. It seemed to to respond when asked questions, we asked for ' one knock ' for yes and ' two knocks ' for no. It emerged that the knocking could have come from a young girl, we do not have an exact age but appeared to be under the age of twenty years old. During this time the EMF was used and the light sensors actually went off the scale at times, this of course was very exciting for us! We can only say that the knocks to our questions appeared to come from an intelligent source and were not natural. Although at this time we cannot say it was paranormal, however there is a definite possibility that it could be. Further investigations would be warranted to determine the outcome.

EMF and temperature were normal with no fluctuations present. Knocking sounds were heard in this area, although not as loud as they appeared in the large room. They also appeared to be more like footsteps and did not respond to any questioning.

The temperature fluctuated constantly in this room, especially in cubicle two ( the cubicle farthest away from the door entrance). Again we cannot explain at this time, the sporadic nature of the temperature.

I will add to this report an excerpt from two investigators own reports about the experiences they had witnessed themselves whilst on two separate vigils in this room.

These personal accounts have been added, for your own interpretation of events.

( Investigator 1)

" In the vigil in the toilets, the temperature fluctuated between 19c and 18.9c at the start. I began shaking with the cold and when Paul (investigator) called out, the temperature started to drop, it went from 18.8c to 18.6c. During the EVP, the temperature fluctuated between 18.3c to 17.5c at the beginning of the experiment. I also heard faint taps by Paul's feet. When Paul asked for the room to be made warmer the temperature went from 17.9c to 18.1 immediately. There was a difference in temperature in the first cubicle on the right, the temperature was 15.4c and in the left hand cubicle the temperature was 14.9c. Throughout this vigil I felt constant touching and cold on my lower legs and head, on entering the corridor my lower legs were freezing ".

( Investigator 2 )

" Someone walked past the toilet door, upon immediate action to see who this was, I entered the corridor outside the toilets to investigate. I could not see or hear anyone else on that floor. Earlier a figure was seen walking past the toilet door but upon inspection we saw that it was a member of staff. This does NOT account for the latest figure to be seen, I saw, whomever it was walking past the door heading towards the stairwell that led to the outside. I couldn't understand where this person could have gone as the door to the outside was locked. I entered the large room but it was empty, I then entered the last room which looked out upon the main road, but still I couldn't see or hear anyone.. Where did this person go?

Returning back to the toilets I joined my team to continue the vigil. The temperature was fluctuating constantly, especially in the left hand cubicle, when it suddenly dropped to 8.4c and rose again to 12.2c in a matter of seconds. Tony (investigator) was standing in the left hand cubicle when from out of nowhere a gush of wind came out of that cubicle past him and towards me and then simply vanished ".

We experienced some very strange activity within the cellar area, for one of our investigators it would be a night that he would remember for a long time to come.

The team was separated into two's to conduct this investigation, each group was put into a room within the cellar at 15 minute intervals. This experiment was done so that everyone had a turn in different parts of the cellar, to cover all bases as time was now limited.

Emotions were rife, with feelings of desperation, sadness, anticipation and agitation were all being picked up. The room I will add as being significant to our vigil in the cellar is the Boiler room and the room attached to it. My own experiences in these rooms were at the very least interesting!

I was standing in the room attached to the boiler room ( I will refer to this room as boiler room 2 ) when myself and fellow colleague, after about 5 minutes heard what sounded like someone walking up and down the stairs. We stood and listened intently, before deciding to make tapping sounds of our own, hoping it would respond. We tapped out some melody and to our amazement it seemed to imitate the sounds we had created, copying our every tap until fading off into the distance.

It was now time for the change around, two more investigators were put into this room and were not told what myself and colleague had experienced. Us two would now be in the boiler room, leaving the other two in boiler room 2.

In the boiler room we encountered a red/orange light on two occasions, both seeing it at the same time before disappearing. We also saw a very faint mist and we both had the feeling of being watched. We checked the EMF, as high levels can interfere with the brain, it can make you feel nauseous and give you the feeling of being watched. The EMF was not at a high level, so this could not explain the feeling we both had. We continued with the vigil, the room seemed to be getting darker and we put this down to our eyes trying to adjust to the lack of light source. I was standing being very quiet when I felt a sudden breath blow into my ear. I could not explain what or how this had happened.

It was now time for the change around again, so this time, the groups who had been doing their vigils at the upper end of the cellar, now had to do the lower end, including the boiler room and boiler room 2. All was going well for the first 5 minutes or so, and then I was called out from my vigil to assist a team member who was now in trouble. He had been in boiler room 2, on the stairway when he felt something grab him around the waist and pulled him backwards. When I came in to remove him from the situation, he seemed out of breath, very pale and in shock. Whatever had happened had taken him by surprise and initially had frightened him. We are determined to find out what had caused this to happen and why.

It is our policy to remove any team member from a situation for their own safety. We could not continue with the investigation as our priority always lies with the welfare of our team.

However we look forward to returning and continuing where we left off !!

Our sincere gratitude is given to Christine and Paul for allowing us into their premises to conduct our investigations. We at Birmingham Ghosts and Hauntings UK, appreciate being given the opportunity to do so.

We have found the Courthouse Pub, Dudley, to be extremely interesting, and we feel it has a lot to offer for research purposes. Is the Courthouse paranormally active ? Well at this stage into the investigations, we could not say with conviction, however it well may have some form of paranormal activity going on, but until we conclude with our investigations it would be wrong for us to comment one way or the other. But I can say with certainty that something strange is happening within the walls of the Courthouse Pub and it definitely warrants further investigations.