It’s been some time since the doors opened on the historic Botanic Gardens Museum in Southport…we were overjoyed to be back and the spirts seemed glad also (well, most of them!)
From the moment the team stepped foot in the derelict building, a door (held open by a hook on the wall) flung back shut. Followed with sounds of footsteps from upstairs, we knew we were in for a good night.
Could our absence from the venue for a time have made the spirits excited for our return?
As our great guests arrived and were greeted by the ever professional Jenny and ever-so-careful with their language; celebs Karl & Stuart (might have lied about the professional and language part), Wendi and myself at the back of room continued to be distracted by footsteps and the sound of cabinets upstairs clicking as if being opened.
Team 1:
Entering the lodge (the long way round!) was the most relaxing part of the night, we didn’t know what we were about experience once we unlocked the door!
As soon as we handed out our equipment, the lights on the k2’s started to indicate to us that we were indeed not alone! From communicating via dousing rods with a prior worker from 1913 who was sadly murdered whilst pregnant, footsteps and knocking which was as loud as if it was directly next to us, to a guests great grandmother coming through on a 20 minute ouija board session, the lodge left us all on a paranormal high!
The second vigil was a perfect end to the night with more prior inhabitants of the botanical gardens communicating with our guests on a ouija board on the top floor we learned that a 61 year old man called Tom was very happy to remain in the building and watched over all the daily activity. A traditional Victorian seance topped off our experience with incredible table activity and consistent temperature changes on cue. What an amazing, ethereal place Southport Botanical Gardens is and what an absolute privilege it was to remain behind closed doors to find out more about the people who lived and worked there from them directly.
Team 2
Once the investigations started and the lights went out, the spirits did not disappoint. Although a little shy upstairs in the main building at first, a man did come forward enough to tell us his gender before giving us the sound of his footsteps walking off into the night.
In the cellar there were breaths heard from unseen mouths and one spirit seemed to enjoy playing with the REM-Pod.
However, it was the old lodge where our less welcoming spirit made their presence known.
Due to respect for any living relatives or friends, I will say no more about this individual who confirmed who they were, apart from it was clear that they were particularly unhappy regarding the questions we were asking them.
The spirits made themselves known to us right to the very end of the night when Jenny even saw a spirit standing at the sinks in the toilets just before the team locked up the building.
Overall, it was great to be back in Southport and we can’t wait to be back! 👻
Thank you to all of our amazing guests for making the night so special. 🥰