Intrepid paranormal sleuths who hunt for evidence of other worldly beings have conducted an investigation on the grounds of a former mental health facility and abandoned West Country graveyard. During various parts of the investigation it is claimed a disembodied figured told them to eat s**t while another seemed to direct them to a grave.
Gloucester Paranormal Investigation Services is run by lead investigators Paul Cowmeadow, 48, and Ed Francis, 51, who are both from Gloucester. They are the best of friends and share an interest in the paranormal and held their first investigation at the Rose Garden in Matson in 2018, and have continued on a quest to find conclusive proof of other worldly beings in different locations across the county.
Paul and Ed had previously tried to investigate the former mental health facility and ‘abandoned graveyard’ in Horton Road, Gloucester, yet due to poor weather they had to abandon their plans. They have said an entity at the investigation recognised the pair from the previous stake-out, and said ‘nice to see you’.
The investigation took place mid October and was recorded during a Facebook live stream and paranormal fans were able to join and watch the spooky goings on for themselves.
Paul said: “The most recent investigation we carried out took place at an abandoned graveyard on Horton Road opposite where the former Horton Road Hospital was, which was Gloucestershire’s first mental asylum which was open from 1823-1988. This graveyard is said to be part of the hospital and patients from the asylum are believed to be buried there.
“We briefly tried to investigate it a few years ago but unfortunately the weather wasn’t on our side and we had to leave just when we were starting to make a connection with the spirits there.”
The pair arrived to the area around 9.30pm ready to start the live stream at 10pm. The stream drew in fans of the team to watch on as the night’s events developed.
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Ed said: “This investigation was a bit different from some of our previous investigations as it felt like the spirits there really wanted us to return and communicate with them which makes sense as it is an abandoned graveyard and we were probably the only visitors they had that gave them some attention.”
Paul said: “After our first visit there back in 2021 where we had to leave because of bad weather, we felt like we had only just scratched the surface of what spirits were there and definitely felt like the spirits really wanted to communicate with us.
“This year we were again held back a bit by the weather but as soon as a clear evening was forecast, we seized the opportunity and went back to Horton Road Graveyard to see if we could pick up from where we left off last time.”
Paul and Ed felt they were going to get responses from other worldly beings from the off. They have documented the highlights of the live video and feel responses they had many intelligent responses from paranormal entities
For example, Paul takes a small box out from his bag and the spirits produced the words ‘what’s that box’. Then Ed explains to the spirits what to do with his digital recorder during a burst EVP session and the spirits produced the words “explain that device”.
Paul said: “We use a ball which is a cat toy that lights up when it moves, and while we were talking away the name Thomas comes through on the Alice box, which is a voice generated word device, and the spirits pick and choose what they would like to say. When the name Thomas came through and a cat-eye ball went off, the cat ball actually moved onto a grave with the name Thomas on it which was amazing.”
Ed said: “This ones quite funny. While moving around the graveyard a spirit asked a question through the Spirit Talker app asking “Am I dead?” We responded by telling them ‘yes, you are, sorry’ and then the spirit generated two more words for us, ‘eat s**t’. We came to the conclusion that it must be a spirit in denial, doesn’t want to believe they are actually dead.”
The engagement rom the entities did not stop there. The word ‘abandoned came through on the word box and the pair believe this was in reference to the abandoned graveyard where they were investigating.
Paul said: “The spirits produced the word ‘abandoned’ which made us think about how the graveyard is abandoned and nobody takes care of the graves any more causing them to become overgrown and almost invisible in places. Ed started removing some of the ivy and leaves away from a nearby grave making it more visible and the spirits produced the words ‘thank you so much’ and also said that it was ‘nice to see us again’.”
Paul and Ed have been busy in the paranormal investigation work in recent months and it has taken them into a new realm of television.
Ed said: “It’s been a busy couple of years for us. Last year we were in the Forest of Dean at Littledean Jail filming for a new series called Weird Britain which was featured on Blaze earlier this year and is now being shown on Sky History.
“We are also involved with three film festivals. The Fortean Film Festival, the Magaflix Movie Awards and the International Celebration of Cinema that are run throughout the year. We’ve appeared as extras in a horror movie and are involved in filming for other documentaries which we cant say too much about at the moment which is always an adventure and a lot of fun.”
Paul aid: “Our hopes for the future are to continue on our paranormal journey with the spirits and travel further afield to continue to take their stories to a wider audience through documentaries and media.”