The Burton

The Burton-on-Trent Ghost Walk Investigation 31 Jan – 6 Feb 2004

Day 1

	Team

	Chris Thompson Eleanor Thompson Mark Hibbert Karl Ellis Chris & Tracey Cambell-Brown (Burton-on-Trent Ghost Walk)

Chris and Eleanor Thompson arrived in Burton-on-Trent at 15:30 to extensively photograph the Memorial Gardens in daylight prior to the evenings investigation. These could then be used for comparison purposes with any photographs taken after dusk to help eliminate any possible natural occurrences. After photographs of the general area had been taken we took the opportunity to examine the gravestones, which have been concreted in around a special walkway. These stones were collected from the graveyard that used to occupy the gardens. As we were interested in trying to find out the age of the graveyard we decided to try and locate the newest gravestone. Eventually Eleanor discovered a stone which appeared to be two years newer that the rest and called out the name and the year of death. At this point we were both overcome with the apparent fragrance of roses. Once again Eleanor said the name and date and once again the fragrance was clearly noted. An examination of the surrounding area showed absolutely no sign of rose bushes. At 17:30 we met up with the rest of Derwent Paranormal Investigators on the outskirts of Burton-on-Trent and guided them into a suitable car park in the Town Centre and completed our team for the evening by meeting up with Chris and Tracey from the Burton Ghost walk. The evening’s investigation commenced in another area of the ghost walk where we recorded high EMF readings along the side of an empty building especially in the location of the air vents. As in theory, there should be no electricity in use in the building we thought this a little strange and decided to check back later to compare the results especially as the rain was at this particularly heavy and we didn’t want to risk any damage to our equipment. From here we moved to the gravestones in the Memorial Gardens to see if any other members of the team would experience the aroma. Surely enough, within moments of our arrival, the fragrance was noted by the whole team. Examination of the vegetation in the area revealed a bush, which does have a similar smell. However, rubbing the leaves or buds between the finger and thumb produced no residual smell. Photographs have been taken of the offending bush and during this week Mark has agreed to become a Botanist and try to identify the bush. Whilst we were trying to locate the source of the fragrance, Eleanor and Karl had moved out of the gravestone walkway to try and trace the aroma from the other side. During this period both of them claimed to have witnessed seeing a monk, stood directly in front of a tree, with his hands at waist height, with the palms about 100mm apart. By the time the rest of the team had arrived, the figure had vanished. After a well-earned rest and chance to dry out in the Royal Oak pub, the rain abated, giving us the opportunity to visit Andressey Island, a location we hope co cover in more detail over the coming weeks. We then returned to the empty building covered earlier in the night to recheck the EMF readings. It was noted on this occasion that within 500 mm of the pavement there were once again high readings. However, at the height of the vents (about 1.3M) there was next to movement of the meter whatsoever. This area will also be investigated further in the coming weeks. The remainder of the evening was spent following the trail of the ghost walk.

Day 2

	Team

	Chris Thompson Eleanor Thompson Mark Hibbert

During our review of the photographs taken during the first days investigation we noted the following photograph:



The picture seems to show what would appear to be a monk just to the right hand side of the tree.

We decided to use our time during this investigation to try and find a logical explanation for what we had caught on camera. We printed off a copy of the photograph to help us locate the exact place from where the picture was taken. Numerous photographs were taken of the tree from all angles, which have as yet to be fully analysed. After careful positioning we used a laser pen to mark the exact position of the monk. Eleanor and Mark then took it in turns to stand closer to the tree and take further photographs. We were also able to determine that the figure would have stood about 1.5M tall. Our intention is now to visit this location again during daylight hours to determine if the monk is anything more than just a natural occurrence.

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