Camerons Brewery

Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool is a mixture of old and new buildings. The old sections have, in places, become derelict and unused, so much so part of me wondered if they should be condemned. The newer areas are in use 24/7 and are spread over a wide area.

What was meant to be an investigation ended up being an in-depth guided tour. It was an interesting place nonetheless and a fascinating insight into beer production – but paranormal activity? Nothing. The tour took us all over the vast site which began in a traditional pub called The Brewery Tap and led into the huge brewery behind.

The team and I walked though a museum display that provided a time line of beer production and history of the company. All was interesting so far but what I wanted was to experience something paranormal. It seemed as though there were miles of corridors and staircases. Our guide showed us various parts of the site that included abandoned areas that were originally the heart of the plant but could no longer support the production yields. These dead areas were fascinating - huge empty tanks stored in even larger decaying rooms. Rooms that looked as though they were ransacked as paper, boxes, test tubes, bottles, equipment and broken furniture filled the entire floor space.

Apart from the smell of damp and decay, other lasting memories were the amount of dead pigeons dotted around the derelict areas on the upper floors. Through a few of the broken windows, the newer part of the brewery was revealed. This was equally fascinating as what seemed like large tanks in the old section were simply dwarfed by the mega structures that had taken their place. These shiny metal tanks held millions of gallons of beer (couldn't see any taps though!)

Some of the staff gave the impression that the building is haunted and relayed tales of their experiences. Although I had no reason to doubt their perception there was a few factors that could possibly explain some of their 'paranormal activity'.

One supposedly haunted room where labels and promotional material is stored revealed the quiet hum of machinery and a slight vibration through the floor. It has been found that infrasound may cause the person who experiences it to have the sensation of ‘something’ happening and that they may perceive it as paranormal when in fact it is the low frequency sound playing with their brain waves. There were also many light sources and broken windows that allowed light to reflect into areas where there is no light and drafts to carry smells and breezes deep into some areas of the building.

Rooms were piled high with boxes, rubbish, labels and packaging. I wouldn't be remotely surprised to see a variety of wildlife scurrying about in the dark and birds becoming trapped and flapping in a wild panic to get out. All these noises and sounds, especially in the dim lit rooms and darkness can have a major influence on perception.

In a large storeroom we tried calling out to try and invite some activity. Sounds were heard but they were clearly people in other parts of this vast building and movement of people within the creaky room itself. Just walking across the floor caused shelving to gently rock! After ten minutes it was clear nothing was going to happen. Staff from the brewery could be heard sniggering and even the NGI team members had become frustrated with not being 'let off the leash' and go it alone. But health and safety put pay to that!

I enjoyed the ground level room that looked like a huge dingy basement with it’s arched ceiling, tunnels and miles of pipes and cables that ran in every direction. It was only in here that I had the strange feeling of not being alone for a brief moment. Before I could explore the feeling it had gone. For me, that was the only unexplainable event of the night.

Other people felt they saw shadows and sensed presences. Maybe they did but considering the influences mentioned earlier I doubt they were of a spiritual nature. But that is something we'll never know. When 10.30 arrived the tour came to an end and to be honest, I was quite happy to leave.

We left from the pub it all began in. Before leaving we nipped upstairs to find this too in a state of disrepair and abandonment. Still no ghosts though.

Conclusion
No I don't think the brewery is haunted but then we didn't get to investigate it properly or spend time alone to tune into the atmosphere due to a hasty guide who wanted us to move quickly through the building and back out.


Links

• Camerons Brewery
• Camerons Photo Gallery

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