The Hippodrome Theatre Eastbourne 16/05/09

Members : 14

Guests: 6

Weather : Mild

Duration: 22.00-04.30

Just under a year since our last visit it was great to make a return to The Royal Hippodrome Theatre in the seaside town of Eastbourne. We met up once again with Dave who has always made the whole group feel incredibly welcome. We remembered from last time out where our camera setup would be so we got to work. The cameras covered the first balcony, the stage, the stalls and the grand circle, an area of great interest. During the setup Clint D, Clint S and Ed were setting up a camera in the grand circle, when Ed heard a noise of something being dragged in the corridor, and then Clint S who is very rarely spooked, experienced a sensation of being touched softly on his head. Once the group was all accounted for, we had a quick walk round to see if there were any areas of particular interest that we could concentrate on. Before opening up Clint S and Clint D gathered the group around the stage area to go over safety tips and areas of interest within the theatre, it was around this time that a very audible and loud noise of somebody walking on the stage was heard by everybody. At first it was thought that it could have Ben who was nowhere to be found, it was then announced that Ben was outside on his phone. Thoughts then turned to our host Dave walking around backstage, it turned out Dave was sitting right at the back of the theatre, he went on to the stage and walk round to investigate. The noise that everybody heard and verified was that of walking followed by a noise of as if someone then came through a small door under the stage which led to the orchestra pit. Upon Dave's return form the inspection he told us that nobody is backstage and all doors are locked. Very interesting, and great that the whole group could back one another up on this one. Definitely one of the best examples of audible paranormal phenomena that we had heard. This put a few nerves on the line, but it was time to get underway.

The groups covered the fly tower area backstage, the bar area, and the rehearsal room up by the grand circle which also covered the very unpleasant corridor area up there too. Lorraine S's group picked up a lot of information in the bar area. In particular a man by the name of "Geoff" who once lived and worked at the theatre. More information indicated that he would have been an usher and then a maintenance man. He passed away in the late 1950's. The name Elanor then came through to the group and led them toward the staircase that led back down to the reception area. Clint D's took Adel, Amy and two guests under the stage area, to see if there would be repeat of any of the audible phenomena that was heard at the start of the night, sadly nothing was picked up in this first vigil under the stage, it seemed the group covering the bar area had the better luck in the first vigil, the other group covering the fly tower experienced a few noises but nothing concrete.

Vigil two saw a few people swap groups. Clint D, Ben, April and Lorraine N went up to the rehearsal room, Clint S's group covered the fly tower and backstage area. Lorraine covered the staircase area. In this area the names "Jessica" and "Vanessa" were picked up. Around this time, "Geoff" who was picked up earlier on had came back through. Then a man by the name of "Lesley" was picked up, Lorraine S seemed to think that he would stand halfway up the stairs greeting people, it was then noted that this "Lesley" could have been a manager from some period of the theatres history. Then one or two embers noted a strong smell of perfume waft down the staircase. Clint D's group heard a few odd noises in the grand circle, the feeling of at least two to four presences was then felt by a few members which seemed to changed the feel of the balcony, almost as if the group was being made to feel very unwelcome. Suddenly a loud noise was heard from the balcony on the stage area again. Also again, the noise of the trap door leading form the orchestra pit was heard again. At this time Clint S called through on the radio to ask who was making the noise on the stage. Once again everyone heard it, and yet nobody was on or around the stage area at all.

After this vigil, it was decided to hold two séances this time round. One to be held on the stage and the other to be held in the corridor behind the grand circle near the rehearsal room. The group on the stage had no glass activity, however there was a build up of energy around the circle that felt as if there were perhaps some spirits around the circle, but they were holding back. The group upstairs seemed to be given information regarding former managers and a death, they also had glass movement too. Toward the end of the night, a large number of the group decided to conduct a big vigil on the corridor area upstairs behind the grand circle. This area always seems to have an uneasy feel to it, and many a person over the years have had an experience to tell whilst wandering this area. The dragging sound was heard again and Lorraine S seemed to think that a lady would have been killed and temporarily been stored in a secret cupboard somewhere before being disposed of. We were then led to a cupboard which Clint D found, and when opened this cupboard led to an area under the seats of the grand circle, an empty space but could this have been the area that Lorraine S meant in regards to a body being stored somewhere? As of yet no records from the theatre indicate any activity of foul play.

A few members and guests decided to use the base camp to get some rest before driving home, it was around this time that several of the people in the room were awoken and very shaken when a noise that sounded like a shriek followed by the crashing of what sounded like two metal containers coming down on top of one another, this carried on for around ten minutes or so. Dave investigated and nothing could be explained, this was certainly a night for audible phenomena! After this noisy unnerving incident it was time to head home.

Once again we at SPRG would like to thank Dave for being so trustful of us and giving us the run of the place once again, we hopefully will be returning to the theatre very soon. Also think you to whoever dropped by and made us jump by walking around or smashing things up! Until next time.

SPRG 2009