Paranormal Discovery

The Post Office Bar, Broughty Ferry, is housed in Broughty Ferry's former main post office building.  Built in 1907, designed by William Thomas Oldrieve, the original building has been extended and another storey added.  The second floor is now used as a function room but was formerly a staff canteen for postal workers.  Old photographs of the building from around 1910 show a single storey building with 1907 on the gable end.  The bulding today is a storey higher and the 1907 plaque appears to have been moved higher up the wall during the alterations.  The newer build is in the same style as the original.

The team had been informed of some strange happenings at the pub and were keen to find out more.  A pre-investigation visit with Jill Colbron, the manageress, hinted at poltergeist type activity.  A chest freezer kept in a locked room is often found open with no explanation as to how it could have been opened.  It is used infrequently when a function is being held upstairs.  Staff also report keys going missing from beside the cash register in the function room. The keys never reappear and have also been taken from the plastic key fob to which they were attached.  The staff members are adamant that they have not misplaced these themselves.  In addition to these events, most of the staff dislike going upstairs alone.  Perhaps this is due to the fact that the windows are shuttered and the area is dark, plus the light switches are not near the doorway. The staff have to first enter the room then go round a corner in order to switch on the lights.  Access to the function room is via a dark stone-walled staircase, which staff usually have to climb alone. In psychological studies these factors have been shown to be more likely to be attributed to a haunted building: low lighting, low room temperature, being alone or few people present, high humidity.

During our brief visit, Tori stated that she got no feelings/impressions whatsoever from the downstairs area of the pub. However, the atmosphere changed as we headed upstairs and felt stronger in the function room. Shortly after we arrived upstairs Tori commented that we were not alone and that she had seen a short male figure standing by one of the tables.

Date: 10th March 2008

Time: 23:00 - 02:30

Investigators Present: Katrina, Bozzie, Mike, Tori, Natalie, Steve

Outside Conditions:  damp, misty 

Temp 16C, Humidity 84%

The investigaion started off upstairs as the bar was still open to the public.  Trigger objects were set up on the worktop near to the cash register in the function room with locked-off camera and voice reocorder running alongside.  A second voice recorder was set up at the opposite end of the room.

 Glass divination was commenced without result.

Attempts were made to call out for spirit activity but without success.  Comment was made on how quiet the area was especially as the bar downstairs was still open.

A short time was then spent in the back stairwell where the cupboard housing the freezer is situated.  It was noted that this area was originally outside as evidenced by the numerous bricked up windows.  There was even a bricked up window directly behind the chest freezer.  The freezer was examined to check the seal and attempts made to get the top to spring open but to no avail.  The only way to open the top was to pull it open as normal.  Vibrations from passing trains did not appear to have any effect either.

 Back stairs

       Freezer with bricked-up windows behind.

Nothing interesting happened during our time in this area so we decided to move downstairs to the main bar.

We decided to spend some time downsairs so that the function room would be empty.  We were curious to see if anything would be recorded upstairs in our absence or if the trigger objects would be moved, one of which was, of course, a key.  Nothing of note was photographed or recorded during this vigil downstairs.  A  return visit was made to the function room and glass divination started.  Mike felt that there was a female spirit present who had perhaps worked in the building and really just wanted to be left alone.  Although the glass did eventually move, contradictory answers were given.  The information given was initially that the communicating spirit was a child  but later we were told that he was a man and had been pretending to us to be a child.  Tori had felt straight away that the spirit was not that of a child, however. He went on to say that he lived in the building in the 20th century but didn't work there.  He also indicated that he was a family member of someone who owned or worked in the building.  He communicated to us that he could and did move things in the function room and also hid items.  

During this time, Tori saw a male figure in the same spot as during the initial visit, ie in front of the end table by the corner opposite the entrance from the back stair.  She later drew him (see below).  Katrina also saw what she described as a patch of white mist float past the second table behind Mike as he was standing there. The investigation drew to a close soon after.

   Figure was seen on two separate occassions by the two pictures on the wall.

Trigger objects did not move & no unexplained images or sounds were recorded.

Nothing of interest was gained via divination or from calling out.

However, spirit activity was sensed by the team's psychics.  Notably, an older man, perhaps in his 50s, short stature, could have been a misfit, never married.  He was an employee in the bulding and still  feels that the buiding is his, although he didn't have a position of authoriy.  He was maybe a janitor.

No rational expanation could be found for the freezer to open by itself.  Human misadventure cannot be ruled out without more information.

Although the investigation was uneventful, the team did only have a short time at the location.  Events during the investigation may not reflect what is truly happening at the Post Office Bar.