WHINING and whimpering sounds in the scullery and a humourous spirit in the dining room were among the ghostly manifestations awaiting paranormal investigators when they made their first visit to Presteigne's Judge's Lodging Victorian museum.

A group of investigators called Paranormal Friends visited the venue last year, and have now reported the ghostly goings-on that they found there.

"I’m delighted to say that we had a pretty eventful investigation," said group co-founder Christopher Morris.

"It’s not often that investigators, such as me or the rest of our experienced team, come away from an investigation having witnessed something that they have never seen before and for which, after careful consideration, they just can’t explain away.

"That was the case on Saturday. The opening full group vigil in the Dining Room was great, what a strong Spirit we encountered at the one end of the room.

"Something of a humorous individual it would seem, but for him to light the K2 meter closest to him so many times on request and generally to full deflection was brilliant enough. But then to do it in the same location even when we randomly swapped K2s – wow.

"We then placed a small plastic trigger ball on the heavy dining table, which had a substantial table cloth over it. Once again the Spirit moved the ball for us and it lit up for some time.

"There was absolutely no chance that the ball was interfered with by anyone present so again, WOW," Mr Morris added.

He continued: "But not even that is really what impressed me – in the basement, rear the scullery/kitchen, we all heard "whining/whimpering" on several occasions, seemingly emanating from the kitchen range. It was sparked off when we mentioned the chairs nearby.

"This encouraged us to try table tipping but with a twist. We placed a trigger ball under the centre of our table on the stone flagged floor. I can confirm, without hesitation, that nobody was close to said ball, nor was it possible to cause the floor to move to cause what happened next.

"We asked Spirit, once the table was moving, to light the ball for us. She did this almost immediately and for some six or seven in all.

"Several believe we were communicating with a young female called Mary, possibly a kitchen maid or similar.

"This is what really hit me on Saturday and will last in my memory for years, simply unexplainable and truly amazing," said Christopher.

The trigger ball referred to is a small plastic ball, the sort of thing you might give a cat to play with, and when it is moved, it flashes coloured lights. It won’t light up unless it is moved.

"We have had a lot of requests to make a return investigation and we have already secured Saturday, November 28, and tickets are already available. Full details can be found on our website www.paranormalfriends.co.uk/book," Christopher added.

The Paranormal Friends will also be returning to the Town Hall at Montgomery on Saturday, October 24.