Introduction
DVD Available
The Scottish Mining museum is located in Newtongrange near Edinburgh. The Museum is the Lady Victoria Colliery which closed in 1981. The museum has won several awards. Further info is available on http://www.scottishminingmuseum.com/museum.html
The Alba Paranormal team for this investigation consisted of:
Steven Douglas: Team Coordinator.
Ralph Kelly: Technical Coordinator.
Bill Black: Spiritualist Medium.
Tracey Black: Investigator.
Heather Kelly: Investigator.
Allan Watson: Investigator.
Neil Cameron: Photographer / Investigator.
We were accompanied on the investigation by an invited group of members of staff and family.
Previous to this investigation, Steven and I had visited the museum twice to arrange and plan the investigation. As the museum is such a large place, we decided, on this occasion, to restrict our investigation to the Pit Head, The Coal face, The Stairwell where apparitions have been reported and The Coal Washer Room.
On the first visit, I had experienced a feeling of light headedness as I entered the Pit Head area. Photographs show orbs only in the area of the bothy on the Pit Head floor. No other orbs are visible in the rest of the floor area and as such, we considered the Pit head area an important part of the investigation.
The Mock Coal face was considered a very atmospheric area and was included in our plans.
The Stairwell was an area where an elevator has been seen to operate on its own at night and was, for this reason, included.
Finally, we wanted to investigate the Coal Washer as this is a very atmospheric area. This decision was to prove a good one as will be seen later.
The Walk Through
The first part of our investigation consists of us walking through the various sections of the property. This allows the psychic team members to get a feeling for the property and to suggest the best places to hold vigils. Most of the time, the psychic will pick up on spirits or residual energies which allows us to plan vigils for later in the night. It also allows the team to get an idea of the layout of the building and to note any Health & Safety issues.
We entered the Pit head area first.
As we entered, Bill asked me if I’d felt light headed here as he was feeling the same thing. His balance felt a bit off. We walked around the public walkway and Bill almost immediately picked up on a spirit called ‘Paul’. He couldn’t get a second name for this man but felt that he had died of natural causes in 1962 having worked at the colliery from 1919 to 1936.
The second name Bill picked up was ‘Alexander (Sandy) Carpenter’. He said this was a spirit we would be hearing more from during the night as he seemed quite communicative. We walked further round the walkway and Bill picked up the word ‘Core’. Unfortunately, hard as Bill tried, he couldn’t get anything further on this and decided to move down onto the floor of the building.
As we stood on the main floor, Bill picked up on a number of women who were pushing tubs around. He felt that this was happening before the mine was built and that there were also men labouring here. We moved towards the bothy and Bill told us to check the area with the EVP meter. This gave a reading of 2, which is slightly higher than average. As we closed on the bothy, the reading became higher, eventually peaking around 6. This is a very notable reading. We had one of the fixed CCTV cameras on this area and although no figures were seen during the investigation, several bright orbs have been noticed crossing the field of vision.
Bill also said he saw several men crossing from the area of the bothy heading towards the shaft. He said they looked very tired and asked if there was originally a stairway leading from outside, through the bothy area to the main floor.
We then moved towards the shaft. As we approached the passage to the right of the shaft, Bill said that his guide was telling him to listen to what was being said. He said that he could hear voices telling him that he didn’t belong here. (This is not uncommon in these circumstances) We moved further along towards the control huts and both Bill and I felt a bit breathless. This feeling fortunately passed quite quickly and we could carry on. Bill said that he felt water was involved and that there may have been an incident involving drowning or flooding in the past although he couldn’t be sure. He kept repeating that he felt suffocated.
As we passed the control booths, Bill said he could see a woman standing next to a pump unit on the floor. We went over and most of the people present felt a distinct change in temperature which was confined to a small area around the pump. Bill said that we were actually passing our hands through the area where the woman was standing. He said she was just curious as to why we were there.
We walked back towards the shaft and Bill said that there had been an explosion here. It was something to do with doors being opened and an explosion occurring. He said it wasn’t a large bang but more a whoosh which knocked several people off their feet. This would be consistent with a dust fire. Davie then volunteered the information that, in the twenties, there had been a fire in the winding engine which was close by. Bill decided that he would prefer to move from the area for the time being and we headed towards the Coalface.
The Coal Face
This is a mock up of an actual coal face with machinery, lighting and sound effects. Unfortunately we couldn’t get them turned off as they are activated by motion sensors and so we decided to carry on to the Coal Washer via the stairwell. I left a digital recorder in the coal face hoping to capture any sound present once the motion detectors switched the effects off. On checking the recorder later, I found nothing of note.
As we walked through the exhibit, Bill picked up again on Sandy Anderson. Bill described sandy to us as a small, swarthy man. He also told us that Sandy was speaking in a fairly thick Edinburgh accent.
The Stairwell
Some staff members have reported seeing the elevator activating by itself during the night. I asked if the lift may be programmed to move during the night but Davie said that, as far as he is aware, the elevator should remain on the ground floor unless called by one of the buttons above.
Bill was unaware of this and as he started to climb the stairs, said he felt that something had been seen, possibly even on the CCTV camera which covers the lift doors. He thought that someone had seen this and had left the building and hadn’t returned. Davie said that one of the security staff who had seen this apparition was, in fact, on duty that night. I have been unable to verify any sighting by other staff members or previous employees. The security officer later confirmed he had seen something leave the elevator after the doors opened by themselves one night when he was on duty!
As we were talking, a noise was heard from above us. We proceeded up the stairs with Bill in front and he stopped on the first landing. He then said he was picking up a spirit called ‘Andrew Nesbit’.
Unfortunately, despite asking for more noises from Andrew, we heard nothing else and moved to the top of the stairs. I suggested that noises on the stair could be due to the fact that it is constructed of steel and bolted to the walls. It will move slightly under the weight of the group climbing it and also as it contracts due to cooling during the night.
The Coal Washer
As we entered the Coal Washer room, Bill immediately said there was an accident involving two men in 1944. He said they had died of suffocation and that a woman from Dalkeith, related to one of the men, had been present at the time. The name ‘Bone’ was connected to the woman and one of the men. Bill said that the deaths happened below where we were standing. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that some sort of accident involving the coal hoppers might explain these feelings.
As we stood on the platform, several of us heard a low whistling noise coming from behind the machinery. I felt that there was something moving along the back wall and Bill confirmed that he thought there was something moving back there too. We decided to investigate this area more during the vigil arranged for later in the evening. Bill said that there is a lot of residual energy in the Coal Washer room.
Part of the residual impressions he picked up included a murder. One man killed another by smashing his head off a stone or concrete sink. Bill felt this was a particularly vicious attack and had happened on 17th August 1896.
Another circumstance picked up was a man named ‘James Selkirk’ falling from above us and seriously injuring himself. This happened in 1927.
As we had been on the move for the better part of an hour by this time, we decided to return to base for refreshments and to plan the vigils.
A particularly strange episode occurred during the rest. Some of us had gone outside the main entrance to have a smoke. We were having a laugh with each other when the fire door, we were using as our entrance to the stairs, slammed shut. The door isn’t on a closer device and it closed as if it had been violently pushed closed. No-one was on the stairs at the time and there was no wind, in fact we had to attract the attention of someone at a window to come down and let us back in!
The Vigils
The second part of our investigations consist of vigils in pre-planned locations. A vigil involves either part or the whole team basically sitting quietly and waiting to see if anything happens or if the psychic can contact any spirits.
The first vigil entailed a return to the Coal Washer as we were limited by security and time issues. We had to get this vigil completed before 11 o’clock.
The Coal Washer
When we entered the room, we checked the temperature which was 8.8 Deg C. As we settled down, some of us felt that there was movement on the other side of the machinery that dominates the room. Bill, Stevie, Allan, Neil and Davie all went round to the back of the machinery to investigate while the rest of us stayed in the public access area. The temperature was varying by several degrees and at one point went as low as -6.6 Deg C. Cold spots were noticed by almost all the remaining people in this area. Meanwhile the other group had moved to the rear of the machinery next to the gear room. Neil took several photos and there are orbs in several of them. Bill had one of the most unusual experiences of his investigative career to date. He saw a head forming in mid air in front of him! This unnerved him quite a bit as this isn’t usually something he sees and they all decided to move back to the main body to recover their wits. As they returned, we took another temperature reading down the passage towards them which read -9 Deg C!
After a few minutes to gather themselves, the group headed back down towards the back of the machinery, this time armed with our video camera. Unfortunately nothing as exciting as a disembodied head was filmed although Bill picked up on two figures. He couldn’t get the name of one but the other came across as a man called Peter who told Bill he was a Process Sorter who had worked in the mine. Bill asked Davie if such a job existed but Davie was unsure of this. Bill said that Peter had repeated the term Process Sorter and that he had worked at the mine in 1951. As they stood quietly waiting for something to happen, a metallic noise was heard in the corner. It wasn’t picked up by the camera microphone but was described as if a coin had been thrown at the wall. Despite some of the team looking around, nothing was found.
Bill described that area of the room as very busy with lots of residual energy and the possibility of contacting quite a few more spirits.
The group move around the other side of the machine towards the gallery and the rest of us. As Bill stood on the other side of the railing asking for any spirits present to make themselves known, Allan interrupted him by saying that he felt as if he was being pushed forward by a freezing cold pressure. He described at as not a wind but as if a wall was pushing against him. Bill came over and said he could feel the cold but the laser thermometer registered around 8 Deg C.
By now, time was getting the better of us and as we had to lock the building, we decided to go back to base before the final vigil of the night.
Pit Head Floor
After our break, we moved back to the Pit Head floor. We split the team up into smaller groups and placed them around the entire floor area. As we only had one operating camcorder, I took it with me in the hope that as Stevie, Bill and I moved around, I might pick something up in one of the areas.
One group was in the area of the bothy. The group was an all woman one and I believe, some noises were heard. This group was in view of one of our CCTV cameras and several light anomalies can be seen on the tape during this time. Another group was at the opposite end of the building but other than some faint noises, nothing was noted. Yet another group was stationed near the control booths for the tub system. The groups each asked for any spirits to make themselves known but to no avail. During this time, I was moving around the various groups and at one point was sitting by myself near the control booths. I like to just sit quietly and listen, opening myself up as much as I can to anything nearby. I had been sitting like this for a few minutes when I distinctly heard the sound of several pairs of boots walking towards me. I thought at first that it was some of the team looking for me but as I opened my eyes I saw no-one! The noise disappeared as I lifted my head to look for the source of the noise. I feel that I may have heard miners’ boots walking the floor.
As none of the groups were having much luck on their own, we decided to get everyone together in a circle near the shaft. The circle allows the group to focus their energies and allow any spirits to make contact easier. Bill stayed outside he circle and asked any spirits to come forward. He contacted a man called ‘Charlie Fraser’. Charlie had worked at the mine during the first war and felt it ironic that he had missed all the fighting only to be killed in an accident in 1919. He was literally cut in two by a steel hawser!
The group noticed a very cold spot which appeared to move round the circle both inside and out. Some of the pictures taken at the time show orbs in the vicinity. The cold persisted for some time but then disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived. Bill wasn’t getting any further contacts and as it was almost 1am, we decided to end the investigation at this point.
Conclusion
Several spirits were contacted.
The Pit Head.
- Paul (died in 1962) worked in the pit from 1919 - 1936
- Alexander ‘Sandy’ Carpenter
- Charlie Fraser. Killed in 1919 in an accident.
The Coal Washer.
- Two men and a woman. The name Bone connects the woman to one of the men. The two men were killed in an accident in April 1944.
- James Selkirk. Injured in a serious accident in 1927.
- A murder believed to have been carried out on 17th August 1896.
- Peter. A process sorter? Last worked at the mine in 1955.
- Unnamed spirit seen near Peter.
The Stairwell.
- Andrew Nesbit. No further information available.
We would like to thank the museum and staff for their cooperation and hospitality during our visit. The museum is, in our opinion, definitely haunted and has a huge amount of residual energy which is only to be expected in such a historic place.
We hope to return for another visit later this year.....watch this space.
Ralph .
