This was our first trip here, no pre-investigation as we had to get in before various team members went on holiday and had surgery. As it happened, no pre-investigation was really necessary as the house itself is not too big.

When we arrived at the relatively remote location, I really had no idea what to expect. The front and back gardens are overgrown, and the house itself looks a little rundown from the outside. Renovation works are due to take place, which was part of the reason why we were there – if anything paranormal was present, then building works may result in some unexpected phenomena. Standard work-a-day hazard within construction…! The house is semi-detached – the neighbouring house is in pristine condition and really shows how this house could look after some work. The closest neighbours to that are some distance away on the farm the house was once part of, after that, a fair old drive away. My point here is that the isolated location of the property could easily have made us all fell a little uneasy – but this wasn’t really the case.

Before I went into the house, I went for wonder around the back garden. I was drawn to the end of it – which leads onto a field with crops growing quite happily – and stopped over an overgrown patch which looked like any other part of the garden. Something was buried there – an animal (non-human) – but certainly wasn’t haunting the place. Could just as easily be a fox that happened to died there, and has since been consumed as nature tries its best to reclaim the land. So this was no major discovery.

When we entered the house and began setting up equipment, I immediately picked up on something. That familiar feeling struck me the second I crossed the threshold. Not in anyway forboding or negative, I just knew that something was there. We were given a tour of the place by Clare – who knows the current owners – and we were all quite surprised by how much dust, dirt and dead flies there were. The last time the house was occupied was in November 2009. I did not know this at the time, but the husband of the aged couple who lived there, died there – tragically falling down the stairs. The wife was moved to a care home when she detoriated to the point that she could not look after herself. I mention this now because I did not pick up on the husband at all (nor the wife). The house itself was surprisingly warm – which may have proved significant later – although the last few days had been very warm, and the house was locked shut and sealed.

I picked up on something in one of the bedrooms, which was not confined to that room. As I moved about the house, one room I would feel a presence where I had felt nothing just a minute or so before. I was actually finding it quite frustrating  - being unable to pinpoint what, or rather whom, was there. It wasn’t until we sat in one of the bedrooms for a vigil that I actually got some information. I think I could have picked up on it in any of the rooms if I had sat in them long enough. As the other guys asked questions out loud, the phrase “this is George’s house” entered my head. After a little more pressing, it was established that whatever/whomever was feeding me the information was not it/themselves George, but was looking after George’s place. George was married to Joyce, or at least this house was “George and Joyce’s”. This information did take a while to come through, but whoever was offering it was in no way threatening. Although I did get the impression they were not entirely convinced they were dead. I got a surname: Meeker. So, whoever this was, they were looking after George and Joyce Meeker’s house. When asked who he was, the speaker identified himself as Rupert, and that he was 17. Asked why he was originally here, Rupert stated he was hiding. This didn’t really mean until he answered the date of his death with “1943”, and so far as he was concerned, the year still was 1943. Pure speculation; but Rupert should have been fighting in the Second World War – so, had he gone AWOL and had been hiding here? When asked how he had died, Rupert just said “cold”. This may have something to do with why the house was so warm, perhaps Rupert preferred the warmth for obvious reasons? When asked if he minded us being here, Rupert answered “stay”. A feeling of isolation swept over me at this point – I think Rupert had been alone for quite some time. Quite possibly mentally stuck in the year he died. Poor guy. He responded with “George wouldn’t care” when asked about whether or not he minded if changes were made to the property. When asked about his family, all he would offer was that his father was a baker.

As is turned out, no more information was forthcoming from Rupert. As mentioned – he was not at all threatening. He seemed to be self appointed protector of the house. I couldn’t pick up on anything about him, no surname, no mention of other family and no other names. I am positive Rupert was not entirely aware of his current situation. And he didn’t stay around long enough for us to press him on it. Although lonely, he didn’t come across as depressed or otherwise unhappy.

We moved back downstairs – which was now notably cooler than upstairs. Apart from making friends with the neighbour’s delightful cat, nothing else for me to report!

When told a little about the history of the house, I was disappointed not get confirmation about George, Joyce and Rupert. And the fact I picked up nothing on the death of the previous occupier’s husband. Ah well, at least it meant he was not haunting the place.