Haunted Merseyside Takes Skiddle along to investigate Liverpool's Spooky Past

Saira Kewley faces her fears as she joins Haunted Merseyside on a Ghost Hunt at Liverpool's spooky Heritage Market.

 Haunted Merseyside are a charitable organisation who facilitate guided tours, skydives and parties throughout the region to raise money for charities and other worthwhile groups and individuals. 

Tonight's sponsored ghost hunt took place in aid of Amber; a two year old from Liverpool who has sadly lost two of her limbs due to meningitis. Through events such as this, Haunted Merseyside hope to raise enough money to send Amber to Disneyland. 

The event on Friday 13th (yes, I did agree to go on a ghost hunt on Friday 13th) saw Haunted Merseyside take a group of amateur paranormal investigators to one of Liverpool's most haunted locations; The Heriatge Market on Stanley Dock. 

The towering body of the building, with its broken windows and rickety staircases, stirred uneasy feelings from the start. Once inside, we met the group and were told what to expect from the tour, being shown recordings and photographs of past sit-ins so we could see exactly what we were dealing with.

Just before we started we started our sit in, we were given a health and safety talk. As Heritage is such an old building there are hazards such as abandoned lift shafts, huge holes in the floor and sheer drops where, in the pitch black building, you could easily fall down three floors to the ground! 

After this we were all told to stand in a circle outside in the court yard and join hands. We were then “protected” by Haunted Merseyside's Annette, with a golden ball of light which cascaded over all of us to keep away evil or unwanted goings on from happening to us.

Throughout the tour the group were taking photos on their digital cameras, with many of the photos showing up small white balls of light - or 'orbs' as they're known in ghost-hunting circles.

My friend Kirsty, who bravely accompanied me to the event, kept saying that she could feel her legs tingling, and was told this was because the children or small spirits were latching on to something about her that they liked and they stayed with her because they felt comfortable around her. And sure enough, a photo taken by another group member showed there to be lots of orbs surrounding her legs. 

I have to say that a first I was very sceptical of the event - and more afraid of the dark itself than the things that supposedly go 'bump' in it.  However, there was one thing that convinced me that there might indeed be something out there. In one experiment, the group stood in a circle around two fully charged batteries. Sprits were asked to respond to questions by turning the lights on and off and - to my surprise - the torches did indeed do this. 

Whether you're already a believer or you're a cynic like me - get yourself along to a future event, where you might be surprised by what you experience. 

And with all Haunted Merseyside's events raising money for charitable causes, there's all the more reason to get involved. 

For further information and dates of events, take a look at www.hauntedmerseyside.org.uk.

Words: Saira Kewley

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