Lesley Leman, Peggy Tolley, Shirley Blyth and Ruth Woolnough refer to themselves as spiritual mediums and do not consider what they do to be a hobby, as when they attend Chaplin’s weekly “Psychic Suppers”, on Pocklington’s Walk, they think of themselves as being at work. When most people hear the word “psychic” or “medium” they perhaps picture crystal balls, séances, and Ouija boards. But none of the four use these things and on meeting them it quickly becomes clear all four are rational, intelligent and very serious about what they do. All have different ways of tapping into what they call the “spirit” - the energy they believe surrounds every one of us, a force that guides us and is separate in its own right from our physical bodies. From looking at someone’s spirit explains Shirley, 48, a lot can be discovered about their personality and what the future may hold. “We all have different techniques, we say a good medium will never tell you a bad thing, as this can lead to people trying to change what is going to happen, instead we try to offer insights that help people.
 | | Lesley gives a ribbon reading. |
"If there is a hiccup coming then we try to see a way around it.” she says. Shirley also makes use of her talents during the day as she is a qualified adult education teacher who heads a course in holistic therapy. All four mediums are middle-aged, except Peggy, who at 84 has had 40 years of experience as a medium. Born in Coventry she now lives in Nuneaton and is seen as something of an authority in the trade having written a book entitled Stairway to the Stars which includes guidelines to help anyone with an open mind better understand themselves. While she uses tarot cards, Lesley, from Hinckley, uses a person’s choice from a bunch of coloured ribbons to read their personal qualities. She has always been spiritual by nature and became interested in becoming a medium at an early age. Once all of the customers have arrived they are led down to the cellar dining area, where they are seated around four separate tables. Each of the four mediums decides which group to start with and the evening begins. I had decided to approach the evening with an open mind, but none the less I am cynical in nature and felt it would take something pretty spectacular to make me a believer. My scepticism is dealt an early blow by Lesley who tells me: “Yes you do need to go to dentist.” For the last two days I had felt an on-off pain in a tooth and that same afternoon had been wondering if I should bother to have it checked out or not. This knocks me back a little, and she later goes on to use the ribbons to read my personality, with some general but fairly accurate comments. | "Tonight has made me more convinced, its made me think there’s something definitely in it. I would go to something like this again." | | Ross Cunliffe |
After 20 minutes a bell is rung and the mediums switch tables, and this time Ruth sits opposite me. Ruth, 58, comes from Desford and took up being a medium full-time after retiring from the catering business. She hits on some parts of my personality before describing a man she says is on my mother’s side of the family, saying: “Portsmouth is important, I’m getting seafaring, there is something about his chest, he has difficulty breathing, and he has this strange pipe.” This bore an uncanny resemblance to a late grandfather who served in the navy, sailing from Portsmouth. He also suffered from chronic asthma which meant he always had to have an inhaler close to hand. This sort of accuracy is not easy to dismiss as mere guesswork. After dinner is served, some of the customers offer their opinions on the mediums' mysterious skills and reveal some of them have also accurately read their personalities and described details of relatives. Ross Cunliffe, 23, originally from Huddersfield, and now a student at De Montfort University, said: “I have a granddad who was in the Canadian army, and one of the first tings she mentioned was a general from Vancouver.
“I’ve been to a tarot card reading before and a lot of that was completely unrelated to me, but this has been much better. Tonight has made me more convinced, it's made me think there’s something definitely in it. I would go to something like this again having seen what they can do tonight.” He was accompanied by Amie Mullen, 21, originally from Southshields and also now a student at De Montfort. She explained how the evening had encouraged her to get more involved saying: “I would like to maybe go on some kind of alternative therapy course, tonight has made me more convinced as well and I’d like to become more interested in it.”
 | | John Lockwood runs the nights. |
Other diners also had some accurate readings. Loretta Bowler, 16, had attended after her mother came to a previous session at the restaurant and recommended it to her, she said: “They got a lot right about what kind of person I am, and also that I had a nephew, his age and that he has a pushchair which is kept at our house and not where he lives. I did think there was something in it beforehand and still do now.” The natural reaction of a sceptic is to try to find a logical explanation for how the mediums could have guessed the more exact details, but many of the customers had been struck by the accuracy of the readings.
Whatever someone’s opinion might be, the best way to be sure is to experience the work of a medium at first hand. It was clear these mediums were a dedicated group and genuinely believed in what they did. As Ruth says: “We don’t come here just for what we get out of it, we love the work we do. If we can reach one person in an evening then that’s the reward for doing this job.” | 
