M and M Embroidery Factory

Arrival
This Washington based factory is located on the Crowther Industrial estate. The factory during the day is the workplace of Julie, a fellow ex-NGI team member. Julie had suggested we investigate here one night due to apparent paranormal activity. So, why wouldn't an embroidery factory be haunted? One way to find out is to visit - and so we did.

Around 8.45pm on 24th January 2009 we all arrived at the shuttered factory. Before entering I decided to take some external photos of the building. The unremarkable building was not your typical creepy looking haunted location, but nonetheless an interesting photo occurred at the front entrance. I checked the shots after each take to make sure the focus had worked. On the third photo there was a mist that covered the entire shot. No one was near me and I’d held my breath prior to taking the shot after discovering a while ago that exhaled breath can cause the same effect. I showed Phil (Julie's husband) and took another shot to see it happened again but it was clear.

Inside at around 9pm we started to look about. The long rows of sewing/embroidery machines stood silent. In the far corner of the room Jay said he could feel a pressure on his head. I walked over to see if I got the seem feeling and funnily enough I did. It was a heavy sensation of having my head pressed down. I noticed the machine I was beside was still switched on. I left the area to get my EMF meter as this would show if it was radiating a strong electromagnetic field. Julie in the meantime switched the sewing machine off. The pressure had ceased when I stood back in the original spot. The EMF reading was nil but when I placed it under the machine the needle went off the scale and gave a high pitched wail - this was also where the transformer was housed so it must retain a lot of power. If this was the case the racks of other machines that filled the floor space would do this too.

Kirsty, who claims to be a developing medium said that her throat felt really dry and her chest tight. She added that the energy of a male was with us. Apparently he'd had an accident and she got the impression that he was dragging the right side of his body. Kirsty added that she felt teary and quite emotional.

The heater suddenly came on which startled everyone and confused Julie as she said it was not meant to come on at this time. The settings appeared to be set to auto. The noise and draught it threw out meant we could not start properly as it would influence how we perceived the location. Eventually it stopped so we could begin.

Location 1
We split into two teams. Jay, Claire, Mark, Carol and Di went into the office section while Myself, Julie, Phil and Kirsty remained in the workshop. Just as we were about to start the heater came back on. After tapping randomly on the settings it went off. We took a few photos and prepared to sit around a table to see if we could get it to tip when the heater went off yet again, blowing warm air and making a loud noise. We managed to switch it off again and finally sat around the table.

I asked Julie about the experiences staff had while working here. She said that items moved by themselves, some fell off shelves for no apparent reason and a few strange feelings were felt around the building. It was a sense that you were never alone and being watched. I suggested that the vibrations from all of these machines could be responsible for some of this activity but Julie said that she'd tried recreating some of the situations but it never occurred while she watched.

I noticed the battery had died on the EMF meter so I walked over the kitchen area to change the battery. While I stood at the bench trying to fish a spare battery out of my bag I sensed someone walk up behind me. I turned to speak to them, expecting to see one of the group there but I looked into empty space – everyone was still sat around the table. I turned back to continue with the battery. I then heard what could only be described as a single footstep while at the same time I felt the sensation of someone behind me. This time I was sure someone had come over but again, I was alone. I shouted over to the group if they’d heard the sound and they had. I paused for a moment to see if anything else would happen before I re-joined the group to begin the activity.

In the quiet of the workshop Kirsty called for confirmation of any spirits to move the table or the plastic cup we had placed on top. Nothing happened. Knocks and taps were heard all over the workshop but we put these down to being completely natural. More focussed requests for taps, such as on the table in front of us remained unheard.

The group split up and went to different areas of the factory to see if, as individuals, we'd pick anything up. But after 15 minutes of quiet contemplation we returned to the table disappointed at the inactivity.

We sat and chatted about various things while we waited for something to happen. It has been suggested that if you don't try to influence activity but let it occur in its own time you're more likely to get a result. But all we had was the usual settling sounds and wind slapping the air vent on the roof occasionally. After an hour our session in the workshop was over so the other group joined us for a drink and chat before swapping locations.

Location 2
At 11.30pm we went into the offices. I noticed that every time I walked between the two locations, the small room that joined them gave me a weird feeling, more uncomfortable than anything else. But I carried on regardless in the hope this may develop later.

After a few minutes looking about in this smaller location we decided to group in the office. Julie took photos while I chatted to Kirsty about what spirits could be, mediums and why I was sceptical about paranormal activity in general.

I realised as I was relaying my experiences that I didn’t sound very sceptical and Kirsty noted this. At this point the conversation was more interesting than the location. We continued to talk about our various experiences and opinions. We could hear someone from the group next door scream and then laughter. Then the location was over and we regrouped.

The End
The other group seemed to have more success with the evening and Mark said he'd captured a light anomaly on his camcorder. The screamer turned out to be Jay who felt there was a 'ghost dog' running about and had knocked a box near him. Jay was adamant that he didn't knock the box himself and that the dog had gone inside the stack. Mark tried to tempt it out with a dog chew he happened to have with him. But the ghost dog wasn't biting!

It was now the early hours of the morning and we were all getting droopy eyed. Diane and Kirsty decided to see if I had ‘The Gift’! They did some ‘stuff’ around me and asked some questions while I was relaxed. They claimed that my aura was very high and I had a psychic ability that with training could be developed to be quite strong. I felt a bit daft doing this but it's all part of the fun I suppose.

Claire tried some relaxation techniques to see if I could ‘open up’ but as far as paranormal activity was concerned, there was nothing. I suppose my sceptical side was hampering the occasion!

Links

• M&M Embroidery Factory Photo Gallery
• Factory Website

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