 | Mind
you, he had to bring along a friend (or eight) for moral support. After a night
of encountering strange 'orbs' and a rather large bump in the night, they emerged
to tell their tale. Here it is: | "A
month ago Hope House Hospice called BBC Radio Shropshire and offered one of us
the chance to spend a night in a haunted house. I jumped at the chance.
The idea was
that five of us would stay in the infamous 'room five' at the Tontine Hotel in
Ironbridge and get sponsored to do this. We were each meant to collect £100
for Hope House. The
interest was so great that five became nine and we all met up just after
nine oclock on the evening of Friday 28 November at the Tontine Hotel. After
getting to know each other in the bar, we walked up to our room just before midnight.
The mood can best be described as one of nervous excitement. Room
five is famous for being the home of 'Fred' the ghost. 'Fred'
or Frank Griffin to give him his real name, lived at the Tontine Hotel in the
1950s. He
murdered his landlady at a house in Ketley and then went back to the room, where
the police eventually caught up with him. He
was arrested, tried and then hanged in Shrewsbury. But
he's not the only apparition to be spotted at the hotel. People have also seen
a young girl walking about the hotel and we were told we might see her
too.
 |
| What
was that noise? | A
group of nurses who stayed in room five a couple of years ago claimed they heard
children in the room next door... which is odd because there isnt one! Staff
at the Tontine told us they'd seen lots of unexplained things while working there.
They'd
seen a bottle of polish slide across the room, they'd seen lights flicker and
taps switch themselves on mysteriously. We're
also told that 'Fred' liked his drink while he was alive... and staff are sure
they've heard someone moving around in the bar once it's all locked up at night. So
we went up to our room expecting to be impressed. Talking
among ourselves we worked out how best to spot a ghost. Laura
- an accountant from Telford had brought a digital camera, some dowsing rods and
a crystal on a chain. James, from Oswestry, also had a digital camera. And a camcorder
too. We
got very excited when James thought he had photographed an 'orb' - a ball of supernatural
energy floating above the bed. But
on closer inspection we realised it was the flash reflecting off the mirror. We
decided to cover it up by draping a carrier bag across the mirror and then holding
it in place with two spoons wedged in the top.
 |
| This
strange 'orb that appeared on some of the pictures taken in the room was probably
caused by a reflection of the camera's flash. | At
half past midnight we all got a huge shock when the mirror suddenly snapped in
two with an ear-splitting crash, sending the lower half crashing to the floor! Some
of us were clearly very shaken up, but with hindsight we decided that the spoons
were probably to blame. After all they had been putting a lot of pressure on the
mirror. At
a quarter to three in the morning we got out the dowsing rods and the crystal.
We wanted
to see if there was something in the room with us. The
dowsing rods, two thin L-shaped pieces of wire, twitched in Laura's hands and
started moving towards to another member of our group - Jackie.... She said she
felt a presence sitting beside her... The
crystal on the chain is supposed to be a way of talking to spirits.
It can only answer 'yes' or 'no' and makes a different movement for each. Our
one swang from side to side to indicate 'no' and moved in a circle to indicate
'yes'. Laura
asked it if 'Fred' was in the room..... it said no... I asked it if Telford United
would beat Dagenham and Redbridge the next day.... it said yes ! (the next day
Telford won 1-0). Just
after four o'clock in the morning we had our next 'weird' moment. The
main light in the room (w
 |
| Ghost
hunters in the room at the Tontine Hotel, Ironbridge | hich
hung from the middle of the ceiling) started to flicker... maybe it was bad wiring... At
5am we decided it was time to have a look around the hotel and with the help of
the owner we went on a short tour. Room
11 has also had some sightings and we went for a look around in there. Again we
photographed these 'orbs'. (make your own mind up - it's possible they could be
reflections, the flash, or even a dirty lens !) Then
we went down to the function room - it was very cold down there, but otherwise
there was nothing - even the orbs were missing ! At
six in the morning we thought we'd give the ghosts one more chance to show themselves
- so we switched all the lights off and kept very quiet.... listening... And
then there was a noise... At
first it was a tapping... Then
it was a scraping... and
then a very loud BANG !! it
seemed to be coming from a spot near the door (just behind me) and some of our
group leapt up in the air. They
were convinced the noise had come from within the room, but we couldn't find anything
which could have caused the noise.... Maybe
it was 'Fred' ? At
7am we packed our bags, said our goodbyes and went home to get some sleep. It
had been a long and eventful night. The
'believers' among us had seen and heard enough to think that 'something' had shared
the room with us. But
I'm afraid I'm still a sceptic. I
think if you looked hard enough you could find plausible explanations for all
of the 'weird' happenings in room five. And
I'm still not convinced that ghosts exist. But
maybe that wasn't the point. Believers
and unbelievers alike, we enjoyed searching for ghosts, even if the ghosts were
doing their best to avoid us. And
more importantly we raised around a £1,000 for Hope House Hospice - and
that's why we went to the haunted hotel after all.
| 
