Derby Gaol - November 2005

Twelve of us spent an overnight at this interesting establishment, which is owned by Richard Felix. Alison, Evan, Penny and myself were joined by a group of eight people from Coventry composed of my friends Michelle and Mel and their friends and relations. The first difficulty encountered by everyone not coming in Mel's car (with its sat-nav) was finding the place (and Evan who had arrived before us had quickly decided that the local pub was a good place to pass the time waiting). Michelle and her husband had arrived in Derby fairly early but had become lost, unable to find the Gaol. Fortunately, after we met up with them at a local garage, we found our destination (having initially driven past it); the entrance was far from obvious and not signed. Another surprise then ensued as Alison found she knew the guide for the night from her days at college in Cheltenham. This turned out to be CJ - researcher for the first three series of Living TV’s ‘Most Haunted’ and writer of a (much duller) paranormal investigation programme. CJ used to work with the ‘Most Haunted’ team, and of course, Richard Felix. Apparently it was only when his friend, Phil Wyman, was removed from the ‘Most Haunted’ team that he stopped working with them. CJ, who describes himself as a parapsychologist, kept us entertained with stories of his association with ‘Most Haunted’ and other matters for most of the night - in fact getting him to stop talking during the vigils was a bit of a problem. We started off with a pleasant sausage and mash meal and then went for a short but entertaining ghost walk round the local block with CJ and the other guide, Becky, and learnt some of the tales associated with the paranormal occurrences nearby. We didn't see anything paranormal but there were a number of staggering figures leaving the local hostelries. We returned to the Gaol and got ready to carry out the investigation part of the visit. It is worth mentioning at this point that all that is left of the old Derby Gaol is in the basement of a more modern Georgian house, so the area to explore was quite small, with the bar and eating area taking up approximately half of that. This also meant that any voices (especially those of the talkative CJ) carried a bit too well as a result. We split into three groups, with Penny, Alison and myself in one of them and Evan joining up with some of the Coventry girls in another. We each did short vigils in the Exhibition area, 'Condemned Man' cell, and 'Debtors' Cell. Nothing of note happened during these though both Penny and Alison thought they may have seen a flash in the same corner of the Exhibition area (but nothing showed on the video once a reflection off Alison's watch was ruled out, however this reflection could not have been what they saw). We then followed this up with a few attempts at table-tipping to no avail, then 'fingers on the glass' with it refusing to move more than a couple of inches obviously having Yvette (from ‘Most Haunted’) involved helps. Incidentally, according to CJ, Yvette never spent more than five minutes in the place without bursting into tears whilst they were filming because of the atmosphere she felt. This probably says more about Yvette than the Gaol, as even in complete darkness in the cells it felt very tranquil and no-one felt any strong emotions. We carried out further vigils around 3am, supposedly the most active time, with no success and then gravitated back into the eating area to listen to more of CJ's stories and ramblings. Apparently CJ himself, who has done over 50 of these overnights at the Gaol, has only ever encountered two odd events, though some groups have become so scared that they never lasted the night. On his second visit mysterious swinging of the heavy cell doors, muffled voices and moving furniture in the Exhibition area were enough to send him and a friend outside in the cold and rain to cower under the gallows until daybreak (and he's supposed to be an investigator!). On another occasion, when a medium was present, the medium's neck-chain stuck out in front of him as though it was raised by an unseen hand. It also became clear that the only apparitions seen in the Gaol had been seen during the day-time when a male figure has been seen walking through the Gaol and disappearing down a corridor - so if you want to go there and see the interesting displays I suggest you try the day-time, and you might even bump into Richard Felix, a man who has redefined the word 'sceptic'. CJ reckons that we were only the third group that didn't experience anything there - but this may reflect more on the level-headedness and lack of hysteria in the group - though it was amusing to watch the Condemned Man's cell empty rapidly when one of the dummies (a model of a former prisoner, not one of us) fell over!

I don't think we will return there, though it was interesting for a visit - I was going to give CJ a lift back to Cheltenham, but when he told me that he would be likely to keep talking the entire journey it seemed wise (for his health) to leave him to catch the train.

Since this was written CJ and Becky no longer work at Derby Gaol. CJ is a member of Parasoc and also runs Ghostly Stay UK.