Saturday, November 15th 2008

I think it is fair to say that we were all a little apprehensive as we made our way to Newton Stewart on a cold November evening. Three of our team had already travelled up the previous Monday to have a look around with Emma Barlow, a reporter from the Galloway Gazette, and take notes. It was while we were there on that Monday evening that a strange thing happened. The Gazette building is a mixture of the old and not so old, the print works being the old part and the offices the more modern. There is a wooden door at the entrance of the print works which we used that evening. Kathleen, Derek and John were the three members of the team that travelled up to Newton Stewart on the Monday. John was the last member of the team to enter the print works and he closed the door (or so he thought) nothing unusual about that. Here is Derek’s account of what happened.

“When we arrived and entered the building there was some debate as to whether or not the door that we entered through had been left open. There is no debate about the rest of it. As our walk round was coming to an end there was a loud double bang from the door area in the print works, which caught everybody by surprise. After this happened a second time I went down to investigate. The door was fully closed and I tried to pull it back with the intention of pushing it back against the frame to recreate the noises we had twice heard. The first thing to strike me was the fact that very little movement in opening it caused it to stick against the door jamb, and extra effort had to be used to get it to come back far enough to free itself and move freely. Trying to close the door caused it to again stick in the door jamb and likewise extra effort was needed to push it fully shut. I could, within the small movement available before sticking, get the door to rattle, but not with the loudness or time lapse between the two bangs as we had heard them. Leaving the door fully closed I returned to the others. After a period of about 5 to 10 minutes I looked down towards the door (which could be plainly seen) only to see that it was now open to the extent that you could see the lane beyond. Because of the catching on the jamb I could not see how this could have happened because the wind was not strong enough to do this. Straight away I thought, that’s not right. I never said anything at the time, the reason for that I think, was because I couldn’t make any sense out of what had happened.”

I tell you all this to explain why we all felt so apprehensive that Saturday evening travelling to Newton Stewart. Now on to the investigation.

We again arrived at the Gazette building which dates from 1870 and met with Emma who was only staying briefly to let us in. We went through the old print works and up the wooden steps to the office areas where we set up our base in the kitchen. On this occasion we were using another door, nothing to do with our experience on the previous Monday I must add. We quickly agreed to aim a camcorder at the wooden door of the old print works that had mysteriously appeared to have opened by itself the previous Monday. Emma showed us how to switch the heating on and explained that it was on a two hour cycle. She did point out that it was a noisy system, which we soon discovered. We realised this could be a potential distraction with all sorts of squeaks and clicks coming from the system, but due to the freezing temperatures, decided to take the risk. We proceeded to carry out some baseline checks during which a very loud mechanical noise was heard, perhaps seeming louder due to the enclosed location (in the small corridor leading to the boiler room). It gave us a bit of a jump! Later on, Derek said it was a noise familiar to one he’d heard many times before and was that of a machine re-setting itself. We are yet to establish what sort of machine it was and where it was located.

We then set about our first vigil which was in the old part of the building. As we were asking for protection at the start of our evening we could hear all sorts of noises which after much discussion we realised were coming from the heating system. I would like to draw your attention at this point to a story which is well documented in the local press but perhaps not so well known to non locals. Many, many years ago a gravestone was found outside the Gazette building. It was said to have fallen off a cart being horse drawn to the local railway station. The gravestone was taken into the Gazette building and a notice published in the paper. Despite the efforts of the Gazette’s staff, no one ever came back for the gravestone. The name on the stone was “Harry Flynn.” We decided to try and make contact with Harry, but to no avail. If in fact his spirit is resident at all or visiting we kept an open mind.

The trigger objects we used on this occasion were a blackboard, magnetic letters, and flour. These trigger objects we used in the old print works. The flour we put down on the floor next to the old wooden door and also around the letters. We were standing next to a table where the letters had been arranged to read “printing” and “linotype”. An analogue dictaphone was also placed upon the table. During the vigil, as well as noises from the heating system, we also heard what appeared to be noises from outside. There was a moment of surprise when a loud click was heard from the table that we were standing next to. On further investigation it was noticed that the tape of the analogue dictaphone had come to the end of the reel. Lots of noises were heard, most of them recurring, that was put down to the heating system. Derek asked that the spirits gave us a different noise to the ones that we had been hearing, as a sign. Mary thought that she heard a noise from above us at this point. Towards the end of the first vigil a noise was heard that sounded like a tap on the window, which was to the side of us. We then returned to the base, to the warmth of the office areas.

Our second vigil took place in Emma’s old office which adjoined that of the Editor. This part of the building was very cold. Again we asked for Harry Flynn but to no avail. During this point it was mentioned how quiet it had become, or were we just getting used to all the squeaks and clicks? A little later, we observed that the heating had come to the end of its cycle, this was confirmed by the time. Throughout the course of the vigil, there were only a couple of unusual noises, one being a whistling noise which was distinctly heard by the entire group; the second, a noise particularly noted by Mary which sounded like tapping and turned out to be just that - a dripping tap. We again went down to the old print works and held another vigil there. While we were there Derek spotted a set of keys and thought that he would try them in the old wooden door. We were in luck as one of the keys did open the door. This enabled Derek to highlight to the rest of the group the movement of the latch before it stuck and to show why it would be impossible for the wind to open the door. Kathleen then noted something else about the door – the fact that a person would have to physically turn the door handle to open it as opposed to the lever type of handle, which takes less effort to manipulate.

As we were calling the spirits, John thought that he heard a noise from the old door; Kathleen thought it was from above us, Mary wasn’t sure but thought it sounded like a tap on the window. Derek thought it would be a good idea to check the door as John was certain that the noise had come from that direction. The door was opened, it was quiet outside, and closed again. The flour put down next to the door had not been disturbed, neither had the letters on the table. Whilst in the area, the team moved through to the other large downstairs room, taking a camcorder and dictaphone with us. We commenced the short vigil by inviting any spirits present to communicate. A couple of times, a noise/s were heard, which seemed to be coming from a different area, perhaps in the print works, but it was too indistinct to be positively identified. We again went back up to the warmth of our base in the kitchen. For our final vigil we went back to Emma’s old office, again it was remarked how quiet and still it felt. While calling the spirits Derek did mention how quiet it must be for any spirit present today compared to the noise that there must have been when the print works was operational and would any spirit prefer the quiet today to the noise of the past. As we had not until this point performed a vigil in the dark, it was decided to do so. John set off to find the light switch and it must have taken him ten minutes, much to the amusement of the others.

For our final vigil we went back to Emma’s old office, again it was remarked how quiet and still it felt. While calling the spirits Derek did mention how quiet it must be for any spirit present today compared to the noise that there must have been when the print works was operational and would any spirit prefer the quiet today to the noise of the past. As we had not until this point performed a vigil in the dark, it was decided to do so. John set off to find the light switch and it must have taken him ten minutes, much to the amusement of the others. However during this vigil John heard a noise coming from the cupboard to the right of him as he sat. Kathleen also heard it and Mary thought it came from an area to her left, Derek didn’t hear anything. John had a look in the cupboard and there were just a few papers on the floor. Again we all agreed how quiet it was.

As it was getting late we decided to call it a day. We had spent 6 hours at this location. After the experience of the Monday prior to this investigation we perhaps expected there to be more activity. It is unlikely we will be able to return as the Galloway Gazettes whole building is up for sale and will probably be gutted out and turned into flats. Who knows, on another night it may have been so different? However another great experience for Mostly Ghostly Investigations.

Note: After subsequent examination of the footage, the team discovered two occasions where sounds similar to that of ‘white noise’ appear unexpectedly lasting only a matter of seconds. However, we recognise that interference of this nature could come from a number of external sources such as: high frequency radios being used in the vicinity and mobile phone signals. It could also be noted that it was a Saturday night and there were police vehicles driving around the building at various times throughout.