A small medium business

Mar 13 2007 By Sarah Dale, The Journal

Exploring the supernatural is all in a day's work for Nicola Ditchburn and Steven Kenny. They tell Sarah Dale about their spooky business, Ghost Investigations.

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After working full-time throughout the week, it is not surprising Redcar couple Nicola Ditchburn and Steven Kenny look forward to a weekend away. But what is surprising is where they choose to spend their well-earned breaks.

For Nicola, 33, and Steven, 34, travel up and down the country to stay in spooky dwellings to investigate any paranormal activity - and take members of the public with them.

"What started out as a hobby turned into our own business," says Nicola. "We used to go to a paranormal group based in Sheffield and travelled all over the country with them. We realised there was a gap in the market in our region so decided to set up Ghost Investigations."

The Ghost Investigations team - which comprises Nicola and Steven plus four mediums - has visited local sites such as Darlington Civic Theatre, Darlington Railway Museum and Marsden Grotto in South Shields as well as buildings across the UK. They use a scientific approach alongside traditional seances and psychic workshops. "We use basic ghost-hunting equipment so guests can use it as well," says Steven. "We have two types of thermometer: a surface temperature thermometer and a standard thermometer to measure room temperature.

"We have an EMF meter which checks for any electromagnetic fields. The idea is that spirit energy interacts with energy fields that we have. Temperature is energy too. We are looking for rapid fluctuations on the meter.

"We use things like motion sensors, trigger objects, video and audio equipment. We also use traditional equipment including a planchette which is what you use for automatic writing."

The team has visited Darlington Civic Theatre a number of times.

"We approach locations and they're either interested or not," says Nicola. "Peter Tate, a duty manager of Darlington Civic Theatre, is into the paranormal and welcomes people from all over the country.

"It's quite an active place. It's not a scary or sinister place, there are no malicious energies there. The original owner Signor Pepi, definitely walks the stalls."

One time the team went to the theatre they used a planchette, a triangular or heart-shaped board supported by castors which moves to spell out messages or answer questions, also called automatic writing.

"Planchettes are used by spirits to communicate with us," explains Nicola. "We were at Darlington Civic Theatre when the name William was scrawled on to a piece of paper. Also written on it was the date 1881. We did some research and found that the theatre wasn't built until the early 20th century.

"Peter did some digging with the local historian group and looked at the census of 1881. At that time there was a row of houses on the site of the theatre and the particular house that stood on the site we did the automatic writing there was a young boy who lived there with the surname William. Later another medium picked up another name in the same place and it was the first name."

Nicola's and Steven's interest in the paranormal began when they were both children. "There used to be a ghost in our house when I was a kid," says Steven, who grew up in Redcar. "I have been interested in it since I was very small," adds Nicola. "Anything weird or strange intrigued me. When I met Steven he was as into it as I am and we would go to ghost events together.

"Ghost Investigations isn't a big money-making scheme, we set it up because we wanted to share experiences with people. It's an interesting thing whether you believe in it or not. We get people coming along to events who are believers and others who are really sceptic and want to prove you wrong but then the experience totally changes their thoughts."

Ghost Investigations holds overnight paranormal investigations, psychic suppers, corporate and private events, spiritual workshops.

"We did a 21st birthday recently and the guests had a reading with one of our mediums. While the others were waiting we held a psychic workshop telling them about different techniques to contact spirits," says Nicola.

"We also do vouchers if you wanted to give someone an unusual gift."

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Ghost-hunting explained

What is a planchette?

A planchette is a triangular or heart-shaped board supported by castors which moves to spell out messages, or answer questions. A pencil is attached to the planchette, printing letters or other designs on paper to be later interpreted by a medium. The most common use of the planchette is with a Ouija or spirit board. In this instance, it is sometimes referred to as an "indicator" or "pointer". Used since the beginning of the Spiritualism movement of the mid-19th century, planchettes predate the invention of spirit boards.

What is psychometry?

Psychometry is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a psychic holds an object in his or her hands in order to obtain information about the object or its owner. It is also called "token-object reading".

What is a seance?

A seance is, on its most basic level, an attempt to communicate with the dead. The seance, or sitting, is led by a person known as a medium who will usually go into a trance that theoretically allows the dead to communicate through him or her. Seances were conducted in dark or semi-dark rooms with participants seated around a table.