Derek Acorah’s Ghost Towns. Derek Acorah

and so on – but their local knowledge is always invaluable to us.’

      Natalie

      In the case of Faversham, the local historian was a gentleman called Dr Arthur Percival. He told us:

       ‘The building was opened by a shipwright who had a yard there building sailing barges and, partly for his workforce and partly for people living in the area, he decided to open a beer house. Undoubtedly he did a very good trade with seafarers of various kinds and therefore it’s possible that somebody, some seafarer, turned up and was turned away. You know, it’s a feasible thing, certainly.’

The Crouch Family Home

       ‘My name’s Jo and I live in Faversham. And I believe our house is haunted.’

      Jo Crouch

      Mother and daughter Janet and Jo Crouch are part of a local Spiritualist circle, so are familiar with spirits – they even have several at home! They told us their house was haunted by a little girl and three boys. ‘Tommy’s a bit mischievous,’ Janet explained, ‘and he runs up and down stairs and shakes stepladders.’

      ‘And their father’s there as well,’ Jo went on, ‘and there’s a lady in the bathroom. She’s rather strict sometimes.’ This definitely seemed a place worth investigating!

      We met Janet and Jo in their dolls’ house shop and as they led Danniella and me through to their home, I was hit by the atmosphere. A whole congregation of energies was coming in! We went up the stairs to the first floor and as we paused outside the bathroom I was aware that a lot of psychic activity had been going on there.

      As the ladies themselves were so sensitive to spirit, Danniella suggested that we went straight into a circle to see what we could pick up. I thought that was an excellent idea. There were so many spiritual energies there that someone was bound to communicate in one way or another.

      Spirit communication

      The spirit world is on a much faster vibration than ours – that’s why most people can’t pick spirits up. A medium has learned how to slow these vibrations down so that they can see and hear spirits more clearly. Spirits, too, have to learn how to slow down their vibrations in order to communicate. Those who have recently passed may not have learned how to do it yet and in these cases Sam passes their messages to me.

      Spirits who are not able to communicate directly for one reason or another may be able to show their presence by a particular smell, perhaps a favourite perfume or the smell of something they were associated with – such as the tobacco and tar of Frederick Symes at the Shipwright’s Arms – or by sending a ‘psychic breeze’ swirling past.

      Some spirits can only pass on odd phrases. These can sound like snatches of conversation and you have to try to piece them together. Others can’t express themselves in words at all, so they pass on emotions and sensations instead. Sometimes these can be highly unpleasant, especially if the spirit is showing how they died, but they all have a purpose, and that is to communicate with the living.

      At the Crouchs’home, the first spirit that came through made himself known initially by a tight feeling across my chest. It was really painful. Then I saw him working with a hammer and metal. He was a proud and hardworking man, a strong man with thick-set arms.

       ‘I had a strong vision of barrels, so we’re pretty sure he must have worked in the brewery at some point.’

      Janet

      He had passed to spirit after a sudden heart attack at work. The pain I had felt was his way of showing me what had happened. I knew he was at the Crouchs’ home regularly but he was a spirit in visitation, not a grounded spirit.

      Spirits in visitation

      Some spirits aren’t in this world all the time but just pop in now and again for a visit. They often come to see loved ones or to visit places that were important to them in life.

      Grounded spirits

      Grounded or ‘earthbound’ spirits are those who stay on Earth after they have left their physical bodies rather than move on to the spirit realms.

      There are many reasons why this can happen. Sometimes spirits don’t realize they have passed. They may have died very suddenly, perhaps in an accident, and not understand what has happened to them. They may be very young and confused and so they don’t go into the light. They remain here, often in a very bewildered state. They can’t understand why people aren’t taking any notice of them, so they make noises or move objects and try to draw attention to themselves.

      Other spirits know they have passed over but are afraid to move on because they have performed wicked deeds and they know they will go to the lowest of the seven spirit realms. This isn’t a nice place. It isn’t the Christian idea of hell, with fire and brimstone, but it is a place where they will receive the justice they may have escaped on Earth. So they prefer to stay where they are.

      Other spirits may have suffered some injustice in their lives and want to stay to see justice done. Sometimes justice has been done but they are not aware of it and they remain in a state of limbo.

      Suicide is another reason why a spirit might not move on. Some people believe they will be punished if they take their own life, so again they are afraid to go into the light when they pass. In fact suicides are helped towards understanding and healing in the spirit realms – this may be a painful process, but it is not meant as a punishment.

      Whatever reason has led to a spirit being grounded, if they wish to move on, I can help them to do so. This is a very important part of my work as a medium. During the Ghost Towns investigations, if I find that a spirit is trapped I will always help it to move on. The cameras may not always show this, but it is always done.

      ‘My name is Alice, my name is Alice.’ It was a quiet spirit voice in my ear.

      ‘Who are you, Alice?’ I asked.

      ‘Oh, I feel so weird,’ Janet said suddenly. ‘Really sad.’ She was breathing heavily, almost breaking into sobs.

      ‘Is it a lady?’ Danniella asked.

      ‘Yes, it’s a lady.’ After a while Janet gathered herself together and went on, ‘She can’t leave. In her life she couldn’t leave. She was confined here. She’s so sad…’

      ‘What’s the reason for her sadness?’Danniella was concerned.

      ‘They won’t let her out.’

      ‘Who?’we asked.

      ‘It’s her family.’

      Then the spirit stepped back. That was all she could communicate for now.

      The next moment we all heard a knock. Spirit activity was coming thick and fast now. Jo heard whispering in her ear and was aware of spirit energies swirling around her. She had talent as a medium and I encouraged her to develop this further in a safe and disciplined way. Janet assured me that that was what they had been doing.

      We closed the circle, pleased with the results of our combined efforts. The effects of the energy were still being felt. Danniella felt as though she had a spider crawling down her neck, while Janet was really hot. She wiped her brow.

      ‘Your hands are really hot,’ Danniella told her.

      She nodded. ‘The amount of energy that’s coming – it’s just enormous.’

       ‘The best part of the investigation for me was confirming things that we already felt and saw. Derek’s just confirmed what we already felt, but