Ghostly goings on

George Marsh, a protestant martyr, was burned at the stake after he was brought to the hall to be examined for heresy.

Apparently his beliefs failed to match those of the religious doctrine of the time, and as a result, he was executed at Boughton, Chester.

During the interrogation process, it is reputed that Marsh stamped his foot on the cold stone floors of the hall and prayed that an impression should be left to mark his injustice. And it is this same footprint that supposedly turns bloody on the anniversary of his death, April 24, every year.

One local group which is particularly interested in the speculation surrounding Smithills Hall - and that surrounding many other haunted hotspots in Bolton - is the Society of Paranormal Investigation.

Sonia Hutchinson, aged 43, from Little Lever, set up the society in 2004.

"The SPI was set up by a few investigators who have become very good friends," she said. "We just love going on paranormal investigations to try to prove to the world that ghosts do exist.

"We set up the society as a non-profit organisation that we did voluntarily and we now have 120 members."

Steve Beckett, Phillip Bond and Darren Green joined as members before Sonia promoted all three men to assistant managers, making up her core support team.

Together they scour the country setting up regular ghostly stakeouts to scientifically track and try to communicate with ghosts and ghouls in derelict manors, run down pubs and eerie castles.

Such investigations have unearthed legless Roman soldiers, floating orbs and spirits who, sometimes, are unaware that they are dead.

According to Sonia: "Since the society was set up we have encountered strange paranormal activity which we can't put down to natural causes."

Sonia, a dinner lady by day, a "sensitive" believer by night, has been interested in paranormal activity for as long as she can remember.

She said: "It started when I was eight-years-old and my grandfather passed away. One day one of my cousins came up to me and said they had seen our grandfather at the bottom of his bed one night and that's how I got into it."

She explained that as a "sensitive", "You can feel the energies about you when you're sitting in a dark room.

"You'll just sit there and I'll go, there's somebody here, it's a male and it's in that corner.' "I know when they are about because I can feel them and the more I go to church - Farnworth Spiritualist Church - the more I'm learning about myself. I'm finding my inner self, and finding what I can do. I'm developing more to pick up more and communicate with them."

Asked if she has ever been scared, Sonia said: "On the odd occasion I've been quite scared. They say spirits cannot harm you but they can physically touch you - I've been pushed.

"That was the most terrifying time I've ever had. It was in the pitch black - it was horrid."

The more sceptical member of the group, Steve Beckett, a tenancy support worker from Manchester, wants proof.

"I'm looking for the evidence," he said. "The solid evidence to what exactly is causing these bangs and bumps."

However, on the occasion of Sonia's physical clash with a ghost, Steve evidently believed her.

"I was sitting beside her and everybody was holding hands sitting in a circle so nobody's hand was free," he said. "Then I heard the material of Sonia's jacket being slapped - she was pushed off her chair."

In light of this, plus my itching curiosity about "ghosts", we - the SPI and I - decided to generate our own evidence by holding our very own late night vigil at Smithills Hall.

Rumour has it that, within its centuries old walls, spirits huddle around the distinctive furniture and its historic artefacts.

Unexplained drafts, scented flowers, the sound of children playing and a bottom pincher are four popular paranormal encounters that have been reported by visitors to the Smithills manor.

But of those mentioned, which are true?

Equipped with our ghost tracking kit - including dictaphones and night vision camcorders - we were ready to ghost bust.

While Phillip Bond checked the entire building for electrical magnetic forces, medium Steve Parkinson was left to trawl the premises spending some alone time with the spirits. Sonia all the while was frantically batting away a "spirit" from her right shoulder as Darren Green temperature checked the ornate mahogany furniture. This gives fence sitter Steve Beckett time to strategically set up infra red motion detectors, leaving me and two colleagues, Kat Dibbits and Jane Lavender, to check our torches for batteries.

With the ghost traps in place we headed to the Great Hall for seance number one. Standing in a small circle below a chandelier, the group held hands while Sonia attempted to verbally entice the spirit out of hiding. "We are not here to harm you. Touch one of us to let us know you are here," she said.

Then almost as if Casper came floating into the Great Hall himself, medium Steve dropped to his knees and started to breathe heavily. It was at this point I was slightly worried.

What Steve was sensing was a small child who was overshadowing him. The child was imprinting her features on to Steve's face.

"You take on their mannerism," said Steve. "You voice her words. The overpowering was caused by combined energies."

Steve ordered us to focus on a gold light to help guide the lost little girl home.

If she ever found "home" remains unknown. In fact, if the little girl was there at all, too, remains a mystery.

We quickly moved on to seance two in the "Solar Chamber". A small boy with dark curly hair has been seen in this room and, according to Janette Ricks, duty manager at Smithills Hall, the master bed often looks like it has been slept in overnight, despite having been made up perfectly the night before.

So with this in mind we opted to sit at the opposite end of the room to the bed.

The same procedure followed except this time Phillip Bond, a non believer of paranormal activity, or at least until he has video or photographic evidence, attempted to aggressively entice the spirits out of hiding by deliberately winding them up.

Then medium Steve started to giggle while holding his arm out in front of him almost pushing somebody away. He, apparently, was communicating with two spirits - one male "pervert" and another more mysterious figure. "He wasn't a nice person," said Steve. "I won't go into detail."

I assumed the pervert to be the "bottom pincher" and despite my earlier hanging around the stair area, he didn't come near my derriere.

Sonia smelt body odour and sensed an Emily, while sensitive Steve felt the presence of a Thomas. I, meanwhile, felt the presence of a numb bottom from sitting on the varnished wooden floor boards.

The only paranormal activity that took place in this chamber was the mysterious switching off of the camcorder. A camcorder that was standing alone near the bed and very near to a loitering spirit - a spirit that only medium Steve saw. With seance two coming to an end, where did my paranormal instincts lie? With those of Steve Beckett - on the fence.

Spooky haunts in Bolton

Ye Olde Man and Scythe: During a seance there were reports that a glass was hurled in one man's direction while another woman left the building with blood on her hands though she had no wounds.

Duke of Wellington, Chew Moor: The landlady of this pub decided to call in the ghostbusters after a spate of unusual happenings.

Hall i' th' Wood Manor House: A frequent spirit on the staircase and the spirits of two men and one woman have been spotted lurking in this manor house.

Octagon Theatre, Bolton: A former wardrobe mistress who died on the premises is frequently spotted near the stage control box.

Turton Tower: Two skulls stored in the towers have been blamed for causing two men to appear and start fighting, creating poltergeist activity.