The team assembled as planned at the Ram Inn at around 8:30 pm on September 4th 2004. John had already spoken to Jo and Ray and retired for the night so we took a quick tour of the building to re-acquaint ourselves with this fantastic place. We then had a sit down and some food before getting started. Equipment was unloaded from the cars and transported to the Witch’s Room, which we had decided to use as our base for the evening.
The team soon settled in and the gear was checked to make sure everything was doing what it was supposed to do. As one of our newest members, Jo, had a previous partial success with a moving control object in the weavers attic bedroom we felt it would be prudent to set various controls in that area of the building. (When I say a partial success I am referring to an incident where a cross was found to have moved quite considerably from its drawn outline. Why then is that only a partial success? Simply put, because of the curse of all paranormal investigations. That being, nothing ever happens when a camera is being used, so of course in this case the cross was not being covered with a camera at the time it moved. Still pictures are available on The Ram Inn website). Mike Jo and Lou went up the attic bedroom along with Dobbo and using two glass fronted pictures as a base placed on top of the chest of drawers we set up our control objects for the night. These consisted of two antique crucifixes and an old matchbox toy bus on one picture and 5 roman rings on the second. All of the objects were sprinkled in flour so any movement could be easily seen. In addition the control objects one of the satellite thermometers was placed between the two pictures to monitor any temperature fluctuations. (The satellite is linked via a radio connection, along with two others to a central control unit, which also acts as a further thermometer in its self. We have found that although these thermometers are ok for monitoring the maximum and minimum temperatures over the period of the vigil they are too slow to react to measure any cold spots or sudden temperature drops). 6 pictures were taken with a digital stills-camera as a reference should any movement occur. At this point voices were heard in the courtyard outside the building so Dobbo, Ray and Scotty went to investigate, they found four lads who had travelled down from Bristol and expected to be let in and allowed to stay the night. Fortunately once the situation had been explained to them they left with out causing any undue fuss.
I would like to make a point at this juncture, please bear with me, I won’t stray for to long. John Humphries, the gentleman who owns the Ram Inn, is a very accommodating person when it comes to people who wish to stay in his home or even just visit it for a tour during the day. However, he is not getting any younger, and is not in the best of health. So, with this in mind if you wish to visit his property or arrange an overnight stay, please do him the courtesy of phoning him first. This will help you avoid disappointment and an unnecessary journey if he is not at home, or indeed if the place has been booked by other people for the night. I have mentioned this before and no shame in mentioning it again, John keeps this building running on his meagre pension. He does not charge for the privilege of visiting the place or his time if you want a tour. However he does ask for donations to aid him in his upkeep of the Ram Inn. I suggest a donation of £20 per person for an overnighter, and £10 person for a daytime visit, as absolute minimum.
The whole set up was then covered with a digital camcorder to record any movement or other occurrences. As a further experiment a brass bell was hung from the light fitting and covered with an analogue camera to capture any other possible movement in the room. At 22:15 both Ray and Lou reported hearing a sound like a drill being used in the main room of the attic, this sound was not heard by anyone else present, and after a through check of the loft space no explanation can be offered at this point apart from the possibility of the sound coming from one of the other buildings in the area. It was a clear and still night and sound can travel some distance, although why anyone would want to be drilling anything at 22:15 on a Saturday night is beyond me.
22:27 saw us starting the videos and setting up a motion detector to cover the main attic room and also the entrance to the bedroom where our controls were set up. Confident that no one could enter the space without being caught on camera or setting off the alarm we checked the temperature (19.2o C) and left the attic.
When we visit venues to conduct vigils we usually split into two or three teams to cover as much ground as possible however on this occasion we decided to stay together as a single team, and after a coffee, set off for our first dark silent vigil of the night in the Bishops room. The following is a break down of the notes taken during this time. I have only included points of interest and have omitted certain comments that are not needed here, such as “my belly rumbles” and references to noises outside, unless relevant to any results gained on recordings.
22:42 hours.
Lights out.
Satellite temp. 20.4o C
Ir (infra red) temp. on double bed 18o C
22:50
Dobbo reports his back is feeling cold. (He is seated in the chair to the right of the door as you come in, mirror behind him and wardrobe to the right)
Lou tells us that she gets the impression that whatever is in the room is good at concealing itself; it’s present but has shielded attempts to see it.
Mike and Scotty can sense no presence at this time.
Lou also informs that she is getting a further impression of a man standing on one side of a broken wooden wall/balustrade looking out through the slats and being afraid to go out into the street. A date of 1450. (The ceiling of the Bishops Room ends about three feet from the wall near the window end of the room, which gives access to the weaver’s attic. It is possible that at some point, stairs or just a ladder were placed here to gain the higher floor).
22:52 Dobbo notes that he is sensing a person in a cape in the room.
22:54
Mike writes, “Starting to feel as though it is behind my chair (He is sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the door to Dobbo, to the left of the fire place and near the sink).
In Ray’s notes Ray makes this comment: 22:57 White faced image behind Mike – could just be the lampshade. (It was dark in the room but flashes from cameras had been used and an after image could well be the cause of this image).
What is interesting to note that when the time differences between the settings of both Mike and Ray’s watch were taken into account is that Mike feels the presence behind him and Ray sees some thing behind Mike at the same time.
Of even further interest is what Scotty has down in his personal notes for this time as well. I quote, “I felt as if something was waiting for someone to move, I questioned my feeling at this time and was returned and answer of Mike. Whatever was around the room at this time wanted Mike to move from where he was sitting…… I personally felt that whatever, as per usual didn’t like Mike, but with a change to previous results, didn’t seem to be able to get past him this time, or even get to him. It’s worth mentioning that up to this point no one had spoken to each other and only written personal notes.
23:00
From Dobbo’s notes, white thing going across the room from bed to fireplace.
23:01
Again from Dobbo, something just touched my arm and getting cold all over.
23:03
Scotty writes it’s waiting – but not sure what for. The group starts to discuss their feelings and the haunting of the Ram in general. Mike notices a 3o C drop in temperature to 17o C when the haunting is mentioned. The temperature returns to its previous measurement as soon as the conversation returns to the mundane. Without saying why Mike asks the group to return to the subject of the haunting. Interestingly the temperature drops again to 17o C and returns to 20o C when the conversation ends. Mike asks the group to return to the haunting once more, no change in temperature was recorded in this instance. Dobbo says, “It’s gone”.
23:14
Lights back on.
The group returned to the attic to change the tapes in the camcorders and check to see if there had been any change or movement to the objects, there was none at all. All returned to the Witch’s Room for a coffee and to discuss the previous vigil and compare notes. We surprised to learn of the similarities as detailed above. Due to the surprise we had when checking back on our notes we decided to continue with a second vigil in the Bishop’s Room so headed back down the corridor in that direction. Again the following is a break down of each person’s notes, covering only the interesting points and omitting all the non-essential stuff.
By 00:10 we were all re-assembled in the Bishop’s Room in much the same positions with one exception. Scotty and Mike had changed positions at the suggestion of Scotty as it was felt by him that Mike might be blocking the entrance of whatever it was trying to enter the room. Voices where heard from outside.
00:14
E.V.P question and answer session started using our standard questions and few improvised ones as well. At this point we have had no replies to report.
00:19
Mike notices a shadow behind Dobbo.
00:21
Interference picked up on two-way radios.
Lou takes a picture of Ray; he is seated in the chair next and to the right of the fireplace. Mike sees a face in the mirror, but puts it down to an after image of a painting on the wall near the mirror caused by the flash.
00:27
Jo notes that her left arm is starting to feel colder and tingles. Checks with IR thermometers reveal that her left arm is in fact warmer then the rest of her.
00:34
Jo gets impression of a woman humming distractedly as though doing chores.
00:36
Jo asks for the temperature in the room to be lowered. Mike feels draught on his neck
00:39
Ray says he wants to shout.
00:45
Jo reports that the faces of 3 children have just popped into her head.
00:47
Lights back on.
So nothing much to report from that vigil apart from a couple of draughts and a lot of personal feelings and impressions which can be generally excluded as imagination or wishful thinking.
The only thing that took place that night was a small circle involving many members of the team; this was however fairly uneventful and so I will bore you with the details here.
Conclusion.
After our last visit, when we arrived with low expectations and found the place to be fairly active, we were arrived with high hopes of an active and interesting night, with hopefully something to show for our efforts. This time however we were to be disappointed once more as the Ram Inn seemed to be very quiet, and the only points of any real interest are when three members of the team all make similar notes about something trying to enter the room from behind Mike at the same time. Now this could be co-incidence, and this seems to be the most likely explanation.
It is also possible, and I’m no psychologist, that there were factors involved at that particular point in the night the three people in question all picked up on simultaneously on a sub-conscious level and interpreted in a similar fashion giving rise the feeling/idea that something was behind Mike. The other point that I find interesting is the temperature drop when the team was discussing the details of the alleged activity at the Ram. The fact that it dropped when the haunting was being talked about and returned to normal when the conversation changed is interesting on its own. But when you take into account, that it happened a second, it becomes somewhat more interesting. Again though, we have to consider that on the third attempt nothing at all happened, which would put a damper on the paranormal theory and return us again to co-incidence. It is worth including here though that in a previous visit Jo and Ray got some response when asking for temperature changes in the environment. So, is this some form of communication from the spirits that dwell in The Ancient Ram Inn? Personally I find it difficult to explain away to easily, however I also find it difficult to believe that the allegedly malevolent spirits that are supposed to roam the rooms of the Ram are at best able to lower the temperature a few degrees and would suspect that there is very simple and logical environmental explanation that we just simply haven’t thought of.
