Chat It’s Fate – September 2019

Dodds’

Paranormal

Investigation

Report:

8:00pm: I’m waiting in the

brightly lit reception area of the

entrance to the caves with my

photographer Judi. All around us

there are historical photographs

and maps of the sprawling maze of

tunnels in the walls. This place is

far too dangerous for us to tackle

on our own - aside from the many

supposed ghosts, there are

unexpected drops, uneven fl oors

and not a shred of natural light.

That’s why we’re joining

another group of professional

ghost hunters, Dark Souls, for

this investigation.

‘I don’t know what’s

more scary,’ Judi says,

‘The ghosts down there

or being in the pitch

black with

you for hours.’

‘I’m more worried

they might think you are a troll

and keep you here as an exhibit,’

I reply with a smile. ‘Then how

would I get home?’

8:30pm: The Dark Souls team

has arrived. We decide to split up

into three groups to cover as

much of the caves as possible.

‘If anything happens,

we all meet up back

here,’ Andrew, the Dark

Souls’ team leader, tells

us solemnly.

Going under

We slowly make our

way through a dark door

and start descending the

steps. The smell hits us

straight away; 1,000

year’s-worth of damp

and stale air. There’s fi ne

sandstone dust

it’s fateit’s fate

Words: Barry Dodds Photos: SWNS and Alamy

Every month, comedian

Barry Dodds spends a night

in a different haunted location,

on a mission to discover the

UK’s paranormal hotspots!

BARRY DODDS’

THE VENUE:

City Of Caves,Nottingham

THE HAUNTING:

The City Of Caves is a

man-made network of over

800 caves beneath the streets

of Nottingham. Dating back

over 1,000 years, they’ve

been used as everything from

business premises to air raid

shelters during World War 2.

They were inhabited from at

least the 17th century to 1845,

when the St.

Mary’s Inclosure

Act banned the

selling and

renting of cellars

and caves as

homes for the

poor. The only

Medieval

underground

tannery in the

country is located

in the caves, and

you can still see

where the

underground

public houses

would once have

been. There are

This month:

Goin’deeper

underground

investigation

Paranormal

many lifetimes of history in

the soft sandstone walls, and

unsurprisingly there are also

countless tales of hauntings

and murders - and many

sightings of entities from the

people who restore and

preserve this underground

labyrinth. With this in mind,

it’s time for comedian and

intrepid ghost hunter Barry

Dodds to spend the night and

report back with his fi ndings...

Tannery:

Medieval

Memorabilia:

Air raid shelter