Skipton Social Club 
23rd January 2007 & 21st January 2008
Whether you’re a believer or sceptical of the Paranormal, Ghosts, Orbs, EVP or little green men in UFO’s, it vital go into every investigation with a clear and open mind. Over enthusiasm or total denial holds the potential to cloud ones judgements. Despite being sceptic’s we also enjoy the belief that something may be out there, green men or grey ladies, but what exactly is it that thousand’s of ‘ghost hunters’ every week are searching for? Answering some of our own questions on our return visit, we re-enter a location we only wish to call a Skipton Social Club.
During our two visits to this location we carried out many vigils of the reported active areas. The stairwell and toilet area and the most active area, the Bar! Reports of a gentleman wearing a tall hat and carrying a walking cane is said to come through one wall of the bar area, then walking out the other side of the room, through the door, out into the stairwell and toilet area, where sightings have also been reported. The owners and regulars who claim to have witnessed this figure and other incidents suggest that it may be the presence of a former employee from before it was a pub. The area the pub has access to, was once the living quarters for the Manager of the Bank that once occupied the ground floor and from the description they give the figure was probably from the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. The one other distinctive feature is the way the male figures appearance change from approximately the knees down. All the witnesses have reported that the bottom half of the legs are not visible, yet the knees appear where they should be and the walking cane appears to turn into a dripping substance half way down it, rather than solid wood to the floor.
Unfortunately we didn’t find nor captured any evidence of this gentleman and EMF readings returned normal.
Reports of objects going missing and then turning up at a later date have been made and this may have been strengthened when cables for our equipment appeared to not have been packed, rendering some equipment unusable. Only for the cables to reappear days later, packed away with the equipment it belonged to. Was it paranormal? The equipment concerned was unpacked three times on the night as it was disbelieved the cables where not packed for the investigation.
At the end of the first visit and from the original article published, it was suggested a bell was rung by possibly an unseen person. This particular piece of ‘activity’ was further investigated on the next visit and it is with regret to announce this has been proven, without doubt, to be of natural means.
Behind the bar we located a connected telephone, not a modern digital style one, more like from the nineties and when we lifted the receiver and dropped it back onto the base unit it made the bell sound. Very good you’re thinking, but who is lifting and dropping the receiver? Nobody did and certainly no spiritperson.
During the night hours, to preserve the energy it takes to manage a busy telephone exchange system the operators reduce the power that is required compared to that of working hours. At 4am the exchange system is restored to ensure maximum strength to cope with the opening of office’s, businesses and homes. When this is ‘switched’ back on, it creates a surge of energy that causes these and similar style phones to give a little ring, as if someone is attempting to call. We actually heard three very faint rings before a fourth and final louder ring and if you listen very carefully to the video footage you’ll also hear these three very faint rings.
Footage of the sound heard during the first visit. Later proven to be natural.
We’re under no illusion that maybe other investigators with bigger brains and a bit more clout would have probable sussed this out immediately and we had and do not have any desire to deceive anyone, especially ourselves and this is why, rather than continuing with the mystery of the Bell Ringer, we felt obliged to inform our readers of our findings.
This isn’t to say this location isn’t haunted nor has a spirit attached to it. Maybe the investigators with the bigger brains could declare this, but not us. Not after we heard some interesting EVP we captured. Of course EVP its self doesn’t indicate a haunting, EVP can be performed anywhere, with the right equipment. EVP is more of a link to other realms and spirit, it’s random who comes through.
Whilst setting up for an experiment we had audio recording equipment running. This ‘voice’ was capture as soon as the recorded was switched on. Recorded on an Olympus Digital Voice Recorder, it is clear to hear a huge sigh and the ‘voice’. Both investigators can be clearly heard having a conversation before the ‘voice’ disappears and with nobody else in the building and the location being several floors above ground level, what other source could’ve created this EVP?
This EVP was recorded in the Bar Area, early into events, but this wasn’t the only odd recording. Listening back to the audio recordings taken whilst carrying out a vigil in the stairwell is two loud, what we can only describe as ‘barks’. Neither investigator made or acknowledge these sounds at the time, only leaving the source of these sounds also UNEXPLAINED.
EVP captured at the start of the second visit.
