Eyes peeled for things that go bump in night

Jason Karl, para-psychologist and presenter of Most Haunted, on Living TV, is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Ghost Research Foundation International (GRFI), by investigating spiritual behaviour from today until Sunday.

In a region rich with ghost stories, and where the dead haunt many of its historic halls and castles, Mr Karl chose York in which to hold the eerie examinations.

Reputed to be the most haunted city in Europe, he believes York is the obvious place to explore the spooky manners of our ancestors who insist on making their presence felt.

Mr Karl is the founder member of GRFI, a group that studies haunted locations around the world.

Psychic medium and half-gypsy, Diana Jarvis is the vice-president of GRFI and will be heavily involved in the search for supernatural activity.

Of the forthcoming events, she said: "People will spend time on ghost walks and cruises in the city, as well as investigating activity in Micklegate Bar Museum, where there is reportedly a poltergeist.

"During the night, tonight and Saturday, we will use scientific equipment and psychic powers to determine how haunted The Golden Fleece Hotel is."

The hotel is commonly accepted to be the most haunted hotel in York. After a buffet dinner, guests will begin their quest to sight a ghost.

Psychic mediums will get in tune with their sixth sense to determine any ghostly presence and night vision cameras will be used to pick up eerie behaviour.

Ghost manifestations called orbs, which look distinctly similar to a flash of light, are the most common sightings on these cameras.

Michelle Arnold, manager of the hotel, was sceptical about the existence of ghosts until she started working at The Golden Fleece nearly four weeks ago.

She said: "It is the spookiest building I have ever been in. There is a constant feeling that you are not alone. I have heard footsteps on the stairs and the jangling of heavy duty keys. Doors open of their own accord and glasses slide around on the bar and tables."

She is worried that the investigations may torment the ghosts.

"I don't know why people don't just leave them alone. The last thing they should do is upset the ghosts - they aren't the ones that have to stay in the building on their own on a Sunday!"

Those with strong stomachs will also visit the York Dungeons, the North's most famous horror attraction, where 2,000 years of gruesome history is brought vividly back to life.

All events have to be booked and cost between £3 and £10. For more information about getting involved in the activities, call Diana Jarvis on (07944) 855628.

Spooky apparitions of the past

DARLINGTON: For more than 150 years, the ghost of Thomas Winter has haunted the North Road Railway Station and the site where the museum now stands.

In 1890, James Durham, a night watchman at the station, was attacked by an apparition in the porter's cellar. A strange figure, accompanied by a large black retriever struck out at Durham, who felt the blow.

Durham struck back at the figure, but his fist passed through the air and hit the fireplace.

Durham's description of the figure corresponded perfectly with that of Thomas Winter, a man formerly employed at the station, who committed suicide and whose body was taken to the same cellar. The man had owned a black retriever in his time, though there were no marks on the leg of Durham once he returned from the cellar.

BLANCHLAND: The member of a very powerful family haunts an 11th Century hotel in Northumberland. Dorothy Foster haunts the Lord Crewe Arms, Blanchland, and many residents claim to have seen or felt her presence. She was the sister of Thomas Foster, leader of the 1716 Jacobite rising in Newcastle, who was captured at a battle at Preston and taken to Newgate Prison in London.

Dorothy Foster tried to help her brother escape from prison, but never managed to bring him back home before he died. She haunts the hotel to tell her brother that it is safe to come back to Northumberland.

YORK: Workman Harry Martindale, in 1953, saw a battalion of Roman soldiers marching through the cellar of the Treasurer's House in York. The troops, followed by a horse and legionnaires, appeared to be marching on their knees, with the rest of their legs hidden below the ground. The account was given credence when it was discovered that a Roman road did run under the room and the men would have been marching on that level.

CHILLINGHAM: A castle in Northumbria was once entitled the North's most haunted house. Aptly named Chillingham Castle has a team of phantoms that haunt the building.

The famous Radiant boy is said to fill the castle's pink room with moans and cries, a medieval soldier has been seen at the gates to warn off impending invasions and a Dominican abbess gazes out towards the Scottish hills.

The 12th Century castle also boasts a headless soldier, the ghost of a chef who had committed suicide and a spooky figure sitting in the dungeon.

LUMLEY: The Ghost Girl of Lumley, Anne Walker, haunted mill worker James Graham in 1632 until her murderers were hanged.

After wealthy widower William Walker got his young housemaid, Anne, pregnant, he took her away and she was never seen alive again.

She appeared one night in front of Mr Graham in a frightening condition. She was soaked to the skin and her hair was dripping wet. Her face and shoulders were covered in blood.

She told him who murdered her in gruesome detail and haunted him until he carried out her wishes to report it to the Durham magistrates.

After a search for the body, Walker and an associate, Sharp, were arrested and hanged at Durham for her murder.

The body of the distressed girl was buried in Lumley and she ceased her nightly hauntings.

SAND HUTTON: In the Busby Stoop Inn, at Sand Hutton, near Thirsk, there is a high-backed, wooden armchair that is said to carry an evil curse cast by Thomas Busby.

It is reputably capable of bringing death to anyone who sits on the seat, and its powers have been seen at work in the past.

A young labourer from the area was egged on by friends to sit on the chair. An hour later he was dead, after falling from the building on which he worked.

Two airmen scoffed at the reputation of the chair and both sat on it. Later that day they both died when their car hit a tree on the roadside.

And when a fit and healthy Army sergeant major asked permission to sit on it, he died suddenly two weeks later.