A group of paranormal investigators have recently been exploring the ghostly goings-on at The One Stop Shop in Eldon Lane.
Spectre Detectors, led by Elaine Kelly, aim to capture evidence on camera, CCTV and other recording devices and have recently had fascinating results from investigations at The Merry Monk pub and The Hippodrome in Bishop Auckland.
The group first investigated The One Stop Shop around two years ago.
Elaine said, “The building was once the South Durham Hotel public house (The Top House), so we knew that it would have a few stories to tell!
“We had a great night and caught a man moaning on the camcorder but we didn’t really have much in the way of recording devices. We now have lots more equipment for recording night vision, so decided to return to this fabulous building.”
On Saturday 8th April the group returned and set up night vision CCTV cameras around the building.
They also carried hand held infrared handycams in the hope of capturing evidence of the spirit world.
They started their investigation by holding a seance in the meeting room, using equipment to allow spirits to speak directly.
“As we picked up some children playing hide and seek under the table, one of the group had her ankle squeezed,” continued Elaine. “We also picked up on a miner called Thomas who had black lung.
“After about an hour, we made our way to the office where we picked up the name Charlie (who was a bit grumpy) but felt that he needed to warn us about going down the cellar. We also picked up that women shouldn’t have been upstairs as it was for men only. We felt that maybe it was where they did gambling.
“In the cellar we were hearing taps, seeing lights out of the corner of our eyes and a fluorescent tube seemed to move on its own.
“We then made our way up to the cafe to join groups and we kept seeing a shadow figure in the kitchen blocking out the light. We were getting tap responses and
Hannah picked up a landlord called Robert aged 52 who was related to one of the group.
“The One Stop Shop is an amazing building, with a fairly tragic past with links to suicides, but the spirits did make us welcome and were certainly eager to chat.
“It is now used as a drop in centre, they have meeting rooms, a community cafe, a gym and a laundry room. And the spirit world are happy that it’s such a big part of the community… even if it is in a very different way.”
To find out more about the Spectre Detectors, visit www.spectre-detectors.co.uk, check out their Facebook page or watch their footage on their YouTube channel.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
