Black Swan Inn, Devizes - October 2005

A group of us headed south to spend the night in Wiltshire. Nathan and Fay were on their first outing with us (though they had been on a previous event in Wales) and Evan had been to Tutbury, whilst Alison and myself were the 'seasoned' campaigners now - unfortunately Amanda suffered mechanical problems and was unable to make it. We first met up at Avebury at the Red Lion Inn (once investigated on 'Most Haunted') and headed out into the stone circle under moonlight at around 10pm. We visited the inner circle and part of the outer ring of stones, which looked quite imposing in the darkness. At one point we heard what appeared to be a repeated plaintive cry of 'Ben', only to find out it was one of the many sheep in the circle making the noise (presumably all sheep are called 'Ben' or 'Lar')!

We then proceeded on to the medieval Black Swan Inn at Devizes for the overnight. Here we met up with the owner Pam and her assistant Alison (referred to in this article as 'guide' Alison to make it clearer who is who) who were to be our guides for the evening - these were very friendly, informative people who helped to make the overnight very enjoyable.

After a bit of an introduction we started our investigation in the unused cellar - a large, old vaulted area containing just a table with a few stools and quite a bit of rubble. It had an unusually high ceiling for a cellar and a 'cold hole', though the cellar was still unusually warm (at about 24 degrees C) on what was a relatively cool evening, apparently the temperature down there fluctuates from night to night. With the area only illuminated by candle-light and the occasional torch it seemed quite dark at times and the group explored the various areas. Suddenly someone spotted that a suspended crystal in a frame on the table had started to move - it is possible, though, that someone had unknowingly brushed against the table as quite a few people were near it at that time. For this part of the investigation we were joined by another employee of the Inn who took video footage in which he believed he could see patterns of light moving alongside Pam as she was sat on one of the stools, though I failed to see this, and my own video footage also failed to pick it up. 'Guide' Alison, with other members of the group in the part of the cellar with the crystal, started to pick up on the name 'Charlie' as a possible presence - a name common a few hundred years ago. Unknown to the rest of the group, Alison came up with the name 'Michael' - she mentioned this to Pam who was visibly shaken by this when she mentioned it to her a few minutes later in the kitchen. It later turned out that her son, who was Michael, had said that (what was assumed to be) his 'imaginary friend' also had the name of 'Michael'.

We then moved into the Dining Room and carried out a vigil. At one point Evan was just about to say he felt a presence next to him (unusual for Evan) when 'guide' Alison said she felt the presence in the same place, an interesting incident or possibly coincidence. Whilst calling out for a sign (such as moving a glass or something) a loud crash was heard next to Pam and it really spooked her as no-one had touched anything. With the lights switched on it appeared that this was probably caused by a camera that had been resting on its strap falling over onto a plate - a bit of a shame as it was quite dramatic. We now moved upstairs quietly (as the hotel had guests sleeping) to carry out a vigil in the large Function Room. A camera was already set up and recording to video - loads of 'orbs' were crossing the screen in a manner that led me to believe they were dust particles. It seemed quiet in this room so 'guide' Alison asked if we wanted to go back down to the cellar; Alison, Evan and myself joined her whilst the other three remained in the Function Room. Little happened on our return to the cellar (which was still warm) other than a smell of digestive biscuits mysteriously being picked up by us all. However Pam, Nathan and Fay experienced the door in the Function Room mysteriously banging as they left despite an apparent absence of draughts.

We all reassembled in the front part of the bar. Fay (who is sensitive to these things) was sitting in a chair in a corner and had a feeling of the presence of a lady who was being forced to do something she wasn't comfortable with doing. When Nathan sat in this chair he felt a more relaxed and happy feeling and felt there was some association with the First World War. 'Guide' Alison suggested this could be interpreted as being that there were prostitutes around at that time who would have provided a service to the men in the bar. Also similar feelings appeared to have been picked up there before including a link to the First World War.

In the front part of the bar Alison and I sat down to observe these proceedings. Instantly Alison felt very uncomfortable with a strong feeling that there was someone behind her in the corner by the window looking at her. I went and sat in that seat (and predictably felt nothing) whilst Alison went off to mention it to Pam who was in another part of the bar area with Evan. It turned out that this was the corner where Pam had sometimes caught a glimpse of a man sitting - so realistically she had sometimes asked a member of staff to go and serve him. Pam mentioned this to Alison in the other part of the bar and 'guide' Alison (who hadn't been aware of what happened) also mentioned it to me independently.

We then went back down to the entrance to the cellar to view some 'orbs' on video footage taken by a paranormal group (that could have been insects) and spirit drawings.

Before leaving just after 4am we thanked Pam and 'guide' Alison for an enjoyable investigation. Then, on the way out, Alison saw a bright white light for half a second at midriff height in the corner where she had felt there was someone looking at her earlier. She waved goodnight to where it was but sadly an arm did not materialise to return the gesture! It was interesting that many of the things that were picked up on during the night were similar to other things that had previously been picked up - also notable was Alison who, after several events, seems to be sensing something.