Hi spooky friends! I just got back from an awesome paranormal investigation at Newsham Park Hospital in Liverpool and I am buzzing!

This was a venue I have wanted to visit for a long time so when I got the invite, I snapped it up. It was an over 18s investigation, so my children had to stay at home, much to their dismay. But I’ve promised them some ghost hunting next weekend and we have events planned soon to keep them happy.

There was so much activity that I had to split my blog post into two parts. Read my second instalment of the ghost hunter diaries from Newsham Park Hospital.

The Naughty Boys’ Corridor

Later in the evening we were taken upstairs to the “Naughty Boys’ Corridor.” When the building was a Victorian orphanage, children were punished for bad behaviour by being shut into small cupboards built into the eaves of the building. They line a corridor approaching former wards or dormitories. While I didn’t feel any strong emotions in this space, I did not want to step inside those cupboards. One member of our group decided to sit in a cupboard and perform the Estes method of communication, listening to white noise through earphones and shouting out words or phrases that she heard. She experienced the sensation of something touching her arm during that experiment, and while she did that, we all sensed, saw and heard a child lurking in the dark space at the end of the corridor, further away from where we stood.

I captured a brilliant sound on a recording that clearly sounds like a child making a murmuring or whimpering sound, and I think everyone in our group heard it at the same time. You can see my videos on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube. I saw a child peeking out from behind a door but typically it happened after I put my camera away! Another member of our team saw movement, and after that, I thought I saw a child-like figure crawling on the floor, as though they were trying to escape without being seen, but it was very faint, and I can’t be sure. We then all watched a cat ball light up in a cupboard doorway and it appeared to roll from side to side. That was amazing!

Moving into the Boat Room and Beyond

Our last vigil of the evening covered a collection of upstairs rooms that were probably used as hospital wards and before that they would likely have been dormitories and living areas for the orphan children. The “boat room” is a huge space with arches built to make it look like we are in the upside-down hull of a boat. Now I don’t know the official history about why this room was built in such a way or what it was used for, but I do know that the orphanage was built to house the children of men that were lost at sea, so maybe that’s a connection. Either way, the room is beautiful to observe.

Unfortunately, we had no activity in the boat room, so we wandered around looking at smaller rooms and corridors, taking photos, asking for Spirit to communicate. We tried to stand in a former ward that has now been defaced when the building was used for a Halloween themed attraction and this room is now painted with upside down crosses and crude references to Satan. I did not like this at all, because I feel it is disrespectful to the fabric of the building. I am not religious, but I found this room in poor taste. And of course, we had no activity because I imagine that the ghosts do not like to spend time in that room either.

A Dilapidated Hospital Ward

We stood in another former ward where ceiling tiles have fallen so there is debris on the floor, the windows are drafty and mostly covered with boards where the glass has smashed (a feature throughout most of the building), and the whole area is dilapidated. There are metal bed frames around the room hinting at its former use, and scattered pieces of furniture. I stood in one corner of the room and felt as though the floor was uneven, but it wasn’t. I even asked a couple of other people to stand in the same spot and see if they felt the same. I think at that time there was an energy trying to communicate with me, but it was the early hours of the morning, and I was tired, so maybe I just couldn’t make the connection with them.

It was disappointing to get no obvious activity in the upstairs rooms of the hospital. I wonder if they are no longer occupied by previous residents, or maybe the spirits are transient and visit occasionally. The paranormal world is still so mysterious to us, hence why I am drawn to keep investigating and trying to make sense of life after death. There could also be the issue of human tiredness after a long and busy night. I am not as young as I used to be! The event lasted from 9pm until 3am so it was a long time to concentrate on ghost hunting.

Newsham Park Hospital Holds its Secrets

I will happily return to Newsham Park Hospital when I have the opportunity. There is so much of it still to explore, and I feel we could get some activity in the grounds outside the building on a warmer night. We were freezing at this event, despite wearing all our layers and thermal underwear! There is a separate school building that houses a swimming pool, so I’m told, but the building isn’t safe to enter unfortunately. I saw what looked like a chapel at one side of the hospital but I don’t know if we are able to enter that either.

What secrets does Newsham Park Hospital hold onto? I followed some creepy steps down into a series of storerooms at one point, only to be met by a closed door with a large, heavy-duty padlock on it. I wonder what we are not allowed to explore in this mysterious location. There was a room that could have been an office, and it has a lovely retro fireplace sitting amidst the debris. There is a balcony high on the wall above the galleried room that was used as the base room, but we could find no stairs leading to it. What is the story of that structure?

Have you visited Newsham Park Hospital? Tell me your stories in the comments.

Did you enjoy this article? Download your FREE copy of LGBT fantasy short story It’s Complicated (The Redcliffe Novels) and meet the werewolves of Cornwall, England.  Click here.