Are these pictures of ghosts? Huddersfield paranormal group look for answers

GHOST hunting is alive and well in Huddersfield.

Members of the group Out of the Dark Paranormal believe the truth is out there – in haunted houses, castles, pubs, hospitals and theatres.

The group of eight people goes searching for spooks at sites across the country.

One of its founder members is Graham Jenkinson, a 53-year-old father-of-three, from Cowlersley, who is a mental health worker by day.

He said: “We decided to come together because we are all searching for the truth.

“There is a lot of rubbish out there about the paranormal which certain television programmes spread. We try to remove the fear factor.

“I would say I’m 99.9% sure there’s something beyond this life, simply because of the things I’ve seen and heard.”

Graham’s fascination with the paranormal started when he was 16 when his grandmother, Winifred Sheard, died.

He said: “I kept thinking there has to be more to life because death is so final.

“I started looking into different faiths, different belief systems, all of which I found lacked in a lot of areas.

“They all had a truth but then they added to the truth, which spoilt it.

“I embrace all religions because I think they all have an element of truth and goodness, but I couldn’t subscribe to one.”

He joined a group called Spiritual Renaissance which specialised in ghost hunting.

Graham remembers going with a spiritual medium to a house in Hull whose owners claimed to have been plagued by the spirit of a dog.

“We went in and were looking round,” he said.

“There were three of us that saw a big black dog.

“It had been causing the children problems.

“The medium managed to get the spirit to move on.”

He later joined a group called Haunted Yorkshire and was at an investigation at Bolton Abbey where it was claimed the ghost of a monk was spotted.

On a visit to Skipton Castle the ghost hunters said they made contact with the spirit of a witch.

Out of the Dark Paranormal was set up a year ago.

Two other members are couple Ben Hardcastle, 25, and Carrie Harrison, 30, from Heckmondwike.

Ben, a case manufacturer, said he grew up in a haunted house in Heckmondwike.

He said: “When my parents moved in they found two big pictures in the shed, had them cleaned and put them in the hallway.

“If you took them down to clean them you would hear footsteps that night up and down the landing.”

He said a spiritualist told them the portraits were of the former owners of nearby Firth’s Mill.

Out of the Dark Paranormal carries out overnight investigations at any buildings suspected of being haunted.

As well as traditional methods of contacting spirits – like ouija boards and mediums – they use CCTV and machines to detect so-called electronic voice phenomena to detect the presence of the dead.

During one investigation at Helme Church they took images of what they believed were spirits at the church gate.

Graham said: “It was a very clear night and there was no mist or fog. It was only when the photos were downloaded that you could clearly see the spirits.”

Among the group’s other investigations have been an old convent in Anglesey, North Wales.

Graham said: “We made contact with a spirit through a ouija board session and it spelt out the name ‘Jones the Death’.

“We asked it a few more questions and it wanted us to get out.

“We later found out that there had been a man called Jones who would come in to carry out abortions on nuns who had got pregnant.”

Ben said he had a close encounter with a ghost at the George Inn in Cleckheaton.

“In the mead hall upstairs, I had my chain around my neck pulled,” he said.

At the Queens Hotel in Heckmondwike the group believes it made contact with the spirit of a former landlord who fell down the steps and broke his neck.

Ben said they also picked up strange noises on a recording.

“When you played it back you could hear dogs barking. There were no dogs in the bar at the time,” he said.

“On CCTV you could see a child sat inside a bar stool and a shot glass flew off the bar for no reason.”