That first evening at the Orrell Park Ballrom I began my demonstration with a short talk and then proceeded to approach people in the audience and give them messages from their loved ones in the world of spirit. Time after time I was met with tears of joy and gratitude from the people to whom I spoke. It was a wonderful feeling. At the end I received thunderous applause and I knew that the evening had been a great success. ‘This is the way it’s meant to be,’ I thought to myself…
Following the success at the Orrell Park Ballroom I decided to move further afield. Over the next year or two I appeared at civic halls and small theatres. Audiences were growing and interestingly I noticed that they were no longer comprised exclusively of women. I also began to notice that other mediums were following in my footsteps. The word of spirit was definitely being spoken to a wider audience now!
A Breeze (#ulink_d12e117b-8549-51f6-a261-9e88c786bfea)
Time moved on and eventually I was spreading the word not just in theatres but also on television. One day early in 1999 I was arriving at the Psychic Livetime studios when I was stopped by Rachel, one of the assistant producers. ‘Derek, can you please help me? I’ve lost my engagement ring. I don’t know how or where and I’m so upset. Not only is it my engagement ring, but it’s irreplaceable because it’s an antique.’
Rachel was dreading having to tell her fiancé about the loss. She had spent hours searching all the rooms she had been into since arriving at the studios, but to no avail. The ring was nowhere to be found.
I closed my eyes and asked Sam to help. I was shown a room full of clothes with dummies dressed in different costumes. This was all rather strange because I knew that Rachel was an assistant producer and would spend her days in the gallery or on the studio floor and not in the wardrobe department. Nevertheless, I decided to ask her whether what I had been shown was correct. She stood and thought for a moment and then remembered that when she had arrived for work that morning she had taken a telephone call from the wardrobe department asking her to send a runner up to collect an outfit for the presenter Becky Want. She realized that as it was still very early, none of the runners would have arrived at work, so she decided that she would go and collect the items herself. When she arrived at Wardrobe, she was directed to an outfit hanging on a rail in the corner of the room.
‘Whilst you were there, did you do anything else in that room?’ I asked. ‘Because I feel you were looking for something else and that is when the ring slipped off your finger. My insight is that if you return to the wardrobe department you will find your ring underneath the rail on which Becky’s outfit was hanging.’
With that I had to go and get changed and go over to the studios where the programme was to be filmed. I was very busy for the next few hours, but at the end of the filming, I came out of the studio to see Rachel waiting for me. She was smiling broadly and twiddling the fingers of her left hand in front of my face. On the third finger was her engagement ring!
‘You were right, Derek,’ she said excitedly. ‘I went back over to Wardrobe and I found my ring lodged in some clothes which were directly under the hangar which I had taken to Becky. Thank goodness! I had completely forgotten about going over to that department. In fact I think it’s the only time I’ve ever been over there in all the time I’ve worked for Granada!’
All’s well that ends well!
Before Rachel walked away she said to me, ‘Oh, Derek, I nearly forgot! The editor wants to see you.’
This was most unusual. I wondered what on earth I was being summoned to the office for. At the end of the programme I walked over to Dean Street rather apprehensively.
As I entered the editor’s office, she was smiling. ‘Come in, Derek. We’ve some good news for you.’ She went on to tell me that because of the popularity of Psychic Livetime it had been decided to create a new programme which was to be named Predictions. People would be brought to the studio to demonstrate the various disciplines of mediumship and I would be given the opportunity to demonstrate my mediumship to a live audience in the studio.
I was absolutely delighted. This would be a first for British television. I felt honoured that I was to be the first medium to appear regularly working with a studio audience.
The ISPR Visits the UK (#ulink_658ef3a9-e7f8-5c5d-b9b9-ed084dfc4e84)
The International Society for Paranormal Research (ISPR), headed by Dr Larry Montz, is based in Los Angeles, California. Dr Montz has been a paranormal investigator for over 27 years. His speciality is field parapsychology. Early in 1999, at his invitation, I had taken part in team investigations of various sites in Hollywood. (These investigations are fully documented in my first book, The Psychic World of Derek Acorah.)
After my return to the UK Dr Montz kept in constant contact with me and one day in March he phoned to tell me that the ISPR team would be travelling to the UK. They had teamed up with Dotted Line Entertainment and were coming over to conduct several investigations and make two videos.
On a breezy day in April the team arrived at Heathrow airport. It was wonderful to meet up with them all again. Dr Montz, Daena Schmoller, Linda Mackenzie, Shawn Roop and my good friend Peter James wearily walked into the arrivals hall and we were soon excitedly discussing the first of the locations they intended investigating the following day—the Jack the Ripper murder sites.
Jack the Ripper
The East End of London in the late nineteenth century was one of the most disreputable areas of the city and the Whitechapel district was witness to a series of horrible murders. It was to be the job of the ISPR team to uncover the identity of the murderer, who was known only as ‘Jack the Ripper’.
Donald Rumbelow, historian and Ripper expert, was invited to join the team on their investigation. Although Jack the Ripper has been ‘credited’ with the murder of six women at different locations, we would be visiting just two of those murder sites. It would be Donald’s job to authenticate any information the team members might produce.
The first place the team was taken to was Mitre Square. Today this is a pleasant flagged area where people may sit and enjoy a sandwich during a summer lunch break. Along one side of the square runs a schoolyard in which children play. However, the cheery sounds of a lunchtime game of football faded as I concentrated on opening myself up to the energies of the infamous events which had taken place over a century earlier.
I allowed myself to drift back in time. The April sunshine disappeared as the square darkened and it became nighttime. It was quiet, though I could hear shouting and merriment coming from a nearby hostelry. A woman’s raucous laughter echoed out of the darkness. The name ‘Catherine’ came into my mind. Clairvoyantly, I could see a woman dressed in dark shabby clothing. Wisps of greying hair could be seen straying from underneath a greasy bonnet. She had the raddled features of somebody who is no stranger to drink. I knew that she was a victim of the infamous Jack the Ripper and that Catherine was her name.
As I allowed myself to come forward to the present, I noticed a bench not six feet away from me. I walked over and touched it. ‘This is the spot!’ I shouted to Dr Montz. ‘This is where Catherine’s life was taken from her.’
Although the bench had been placed in the square at a much later date, I was able to use it to pick up on the residual energies of the woman’s dying moments. I could feel the dread and heart-stopping fear she had experienced. I was overcome by the stench of blood and something which I could not describe but which was horrible and offensive. I could also tell Dr Montz that Catherine had not been the first of this vile creature’s victims. By the time he met her, Jack the Ripper was a seasoned killer.
As I stood contemplating the spot, I became aware of another name. ‘Lily—Elizabeth!’ I said. ‘She was a victim too. There were two killings and both on the same night!’ I could sense the slashing of the victims’ bodies as they were disembowelled and butchered.
Donald confirmed that on the night of 30 September 1888 both Catherine Eddowes and Elizabeth Stride had fallen victim to London’s most famous serial killer. He had viciously killed and brutalized their bodies.
Then Donald guided us to another area. He stopped at a place called Durward Street. ‘This was Buck’s Row,’ he told us and stood back expectantly waiting to hear what we had to say.
I allowed myself to drift back in time once more. The small area of rough ground where I was standing bore no resemblance to the picture which unfolded before my eyes. Now it is a concrete jungle with high-rise flats and flagstones sprouting tufts of grass. There is a graffitiscarred concrete garage next to a fence with a wooden gate hanging off its hinges.
I was drawn to this break in the fence and as I walked over to it I could smell the same revolting odours which had assaulted my nostrils in Mitre Square. This time I could see the body of a rather stocky dark-haired woman; her clothes were obviously filthy but appeared to be soaked in blood. Her face was slashed and I could see that one of her ears was hanging off. In stark contrast, on the floor not far from her body lay what appeared to be a shiny black straw hat. I was impressed to utter the name ‘Nicholas’. Could this be the name of the murderer? The name ‘Polly’ was also strongly evident to me.
As I allowed myself to drift back to the present day, I relayed the picture I had seen to Dr Montz and Mr Rumbelow. They confirmed that it was in the area of the gateway that the body of a woman called Polly was found.
‘Can you describe the person responsible for the murders?’ Dr Montz asked me.
‘I feel that there were two people responsible,’ I said. ‘I believe that there was a “copy cat murder”. The man responsible for most of the murders is tall and slim—not heavy-set at all—and in his thirties. He has strong crease marks down the side of his face with high cheekbones. He has dark hair with touches of grey to the sides and he definitely has facial hair. He carries a pocket watch and seems to be constantly conscious of time. He certainly isn’t a poor working man. The person I’m talking about is used to mixing with the aristocracy and I feel he could have some connection with royalty.’
‘And a name?’ questioned Dr Montz.
Sadly, no. On this occasion I was not being impressed by the name of the man who became infamous as ‘Jack the Ripper’.
I would like one day to revisit the site of the Whitechapel murders and see what else I can uncover. I still maintain that more than one person was behind what I would describe as ritualistic killings. I feel that five of the murders were carried out by the same man but there was at least one other murder for which another individual was responsible.
The Euxton Mills Hotel
Following our investigation of the killing fields of Jack the Ripper, we travelled north and based ourselves at a hotel in Leyland, which is a suburb of the old Lancashire town of Preston.
The Euxton Mills Hotel is a 300-year-old establishment which was once a coaching house which accommodated travellers on their journeys from Scotland and the north of England to more southern areas. The manager, Keith Burgess, had kindly agreed to allow the ISPR team to conduct an investigation of the premises. Although Mr Burgess was sceptical of mediumistic abilities, he was interested to see whether the ISPR team could shed any light on the strange goings-on experienced by members of his staff.
Immediately I walked into the lounge area I was aware of a spirit man standing in the centre of the room. Wearing a dark cloak and stovepipe hat, he had the appearance of a Victorian gentleman. He said nothing but as he gently faded from my view Sam told me that his name was George Chapman and he had frequently visited the hostelry and enjoyed his stays there. He was a jovial soul who enjoyed the company of women and had a tactile nature. Indeed, to this day, employees of the hotel talk of being touched by an unseen person.
As the spirit form of George Chapman disappeared, Linda, Peter and I were simultaneously drawn to the washroom area at the rear of the lounge and in particular to the ladies’ toilets. As I entered the toilet area I had the feeling that things were not quite as they should be. It was a ladies’ toilet but I felt a distinctly male influence and that George would have visited these facilities when he arrived at the hotel in his earthly life.
At that moment, the temperature began to drop dramatically and a lady in a long Victorian-style dress and hat walked past and through us and exited through the door into the lounge. She seemed intent on what she was doing and appeared to be keeping a very tight hold of a small bag. I was not given her name nor was I told the reason for her continuing to visit the hotel, but it was confirmed by the staff that a ‘grey lady’ is often seen in the ladies’ toilet area.
Our investigation continued in the cellars. I was immediately aware of a male presence and knew that the male in question was not the jovial George Chapman. This was a different personality—not angry, but certainly mischievous.
‘You have problems down here,’ I said to Keith. ‘In particular I feel you have problems with the beer lines. There’s spiritual interference here. A man comes down and plays with the lines and I feel you could have experienced the gas in the kegs pushing back.’
Keith laughingly confirmed that on many occasions he had experienced just that and had been forced to go up and change his shirt because of the soaking he had received.
‘Well, the next time it happens, tell Tom to stop it,’ I advised.
I had the distinct impression that Tom had at one time worked at the public house and was still jealously guarding what he considered to be his domain.
Tonge Hall
Tonge Hall in the Middleton area of Manchester was built by the Tonge family in 1594. It is a beautiful Tudor-style black-and-white building and is owned by Norman Wolstencroft, who was our amiable host for the next investigation.
The main room of Tonge Hall, where Norman was seated with our expert for the day, Mr W. John Smith, was cosy and welcoming after the cold and rain outside.
