Derek Acorah - Derek Acorah’s Ghost Towns

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Title Page Derek Acorah’s Ghost Towns

Introduction Introduction The enormous black-and-silver Ghost Truck rolled into town. This was the start of a whole new journey for me. Where would it lead? I felt very excited. I was taking my own show on the road, going out to meet people the length and breadth of the country and using my mediumship to investigate their Ghost Towns…

Faversham ‘I’d heard that Faversham had a lot of stories, a lot of spiritual activity. I was expecting something. I wasn’t quite expecting this much.’ Angus

The Shipwright’s Arms The Shipwright’s Arms ‘I felt really privileged to be part of that, with that activity going on.’ Danniella Neil Cole, who lives at the Shipwright’s Arms, and Honda Rye and Trisha Philpot, who work there, told the Ghost Towns team that there had been many strange events in the old pub. A customer had disappeared right in front of the barmaid’s eyes, a gas lamp had flown across the room, mysterious phone calls had been made from the pub when no one was there – it just went on and on. The level of activity had been constant over a long period of time and had been witnessed by many people. Even as we were in the Ghost Car travelling to the pub I found I was picking up energy. It often happens that as I approach a property I am able to start sensing the energies present. If there is negative energy there, I feel a kind of anxiety or depression and know I have to prepare myself. In this case, I could feel a pull of psychic energy and I knew we were going to encounter spiritual activity. Once we had arrived at the pub and been made welcome, we decided the easiest way to find out what was happening would be to hold a séance.

The Crouch Family Home The Crouch Family Home ‘My name’s Jo and I live in Faversham. And I believe our house is haunted.’ Jo Crouch Mother and daughter Janet and Jo Crouch are part of a local Spiritualist circle, so are familiar with spirits – they even have several at home! They told us their house was haunted by a little girl and three boys. ‘Tommy’s a bit mischievous,’ Janet explained, ‘and he runs up and down stairs and shakes stepladders.’ ‘And their father’s there as well,’ Jo went on, ‘and there’s a lady in the bathroom. She’s rather strict sometimes.’ This definitely seemed a place worth investigating! We met Janet and Jo in their dolls’ house shop and as they led Danniella and me through to their home, I was hit by the atmosphere. A whole congregation of energies was coming in! We went up the stairs to the first floor and as we paused outside the bathroom I was aware that a lot of psychic activity had been going on there. As the ladies themselves were so sensitive to spirit, Danniella suggested that we went straight into a circle to see what we could pick up. I thought that was an excellent idea. There were so many spiritual energies there that someone was bound to communicate in one way or another.

Via Mystica Shop

Faversham Brewery

Shrewsbury

The Parade Shopping Centre

Pengwerne Books

The Old Post Office Hotel

The Haunted Flat

Maidstone

Profile Selection and Recruitment Agency

Maidstone Museum

Doorstep Divination

Feng Shui Chinese Restaurant

The Ringlestone Inn

Northampton

The Haunted House

The Grosvenor Shopping Centre

Greyfriars Bus Station

Snappy Snaps

The Wig and Pen Public House

Royston

Banyers Hotel

Walsh’s Garage

Doorstep Divination

Henrick’s Hairdressing

The Old Police Station

Bedford

New York, New York Nightclub

The Swiss Garden

The King’s Arms

Twinwood Airfield

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About Publisher

The enormous black-and-silver Ghost Truck rolled into town. This was the start of a whole new journey for me. Where would it lead? I felt very excited. I was taking my own show on the road, going out to meet people the length and breadth of the country and using my mediumship to investigate their Ghost Towns…

How did it all start? Since 2001 I had been working on the highly successful Most Haunted television show, but after five series and over 100 investigations I felt it was time to move on. I was asked to stay for one more series and when that was over I was ready for something different. When LIVINGtv offered me the chance to host my own show in a new format, I was delighted.

Richard Woolfe, then director of television for LIVINGtv, and Paul Flexton, managing director of Ruggie Media, who had worked with me on LIVINGtv’s Loose Lips and I’m Famous and Frightened , had a great idea: putting a show on the road – literally. We would go out to the public and investigate their stories. That meant we would investigate shops, offices, pubs, hotels, houses – anywhere in fact where paranormal activity had been reported. Anything could happen – and probably would. I was only too happy to take part.

‘Derek loved the idea. He was ready for a new challenge. He was really excited about the show and he’s loved it ever since. And we’re delighted to be working with the best medium in the country.’

Paul Flexton, executive producer

The show was commissioned in the middle of June 2005 and we had to get moving, as the first series was to go out in October.

Joining me on my journeys around the country would be Danniella Westbrook and Angus Purden. I first met Danniella on Granada Breeze’s Psychic Livetime , though I knew of her work as an actress and, later, as a programme presenter. She had been intrigued by the paranormal ever since she had seen a ghost in her own home and had described presenting a programme on the paranormal as her ‘dream job’, so when the show was put together her name was top of the list.

Strangely enough, Angus also worked as a presenter, was interested in the paranormal and had seen a ghost. As a child he had lived in a house on a hill surrounded by trees, and once he had looked out of his bedroom window and seen a ghostly shape silhouetted there. Later on he had felt guided by his deceased grandmother and had had an accurate psychic reading, but he still didn’t accept everything uncritically.

‘I have always been fascinated by everything from déjà vu to reincarnation, but I’ve always had a certain amount of scepticism too – a healthy scepticism, if you like! I’ve always had to analyse and question everything.’

Angus

When I met him we got on very well and I knew that his open-minded approach would be an asset to the show. And in spite of a few scares along the way, he is loving it!

‘A mad, crazy job that involved working through the night – I had to do it. And it is great fun!’

Angus

Angus and Danniella had never met before, but they also hit it off straightaway and now they enjoy spending time together talking, drinking coffee and going shopping. I have heard a rumour that Danniella has bought clothes in every town so far. She and Angus have even started shopping for colour-coordinated outfits for the show. As we’re usually filming with night-vision cameras, unfortunately the viewing public don’t often get the full benefit!