‘The Mitch’ is a funny looking building and is reminiscent of the old Pontins days with its porthole style windows and Formica tables. This little theatre was built on the foundations of the previouse building 'The Whitehouse' and was built as a fitting memorial to Reginald J Mitchell designer of the "Supermarine Spitfire, " fighter plane who sadly would never see his plane fly in combat, as he died of cancer in 1937 at the age of 42. It is the principle venue for amateur and youth theatre locally and was official opened in 1957 by Group-Captain Douglas Bader a Royal Air Force fighter ace who flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain. The area was dominated from the early 17c by the pottery industry. The Mitch has had a history of paranormal phenomena, Employees have experienced many strange occurrences over the years.REPORTED ACTIVITY
Theater Auditorium;
- A man has been seen sitting in the middle section of the seats and standing by the safety curtain mechanism side of stage then vanishing as if walking through wall.
- A Little boy in shorts and clogs walking along the gantry above the stage, whistling.
- An employee felt as if she was being hurried through the tunnel at the back of the stage, almost pushed.
- Vanilla smells on stage.
- Children in casts have experienced brushing past someone that wasn’t there and having their hair touched whilst in the wings waiting to go on stage.
- Sour milk smells in Dressing Room 1.
- Several people have experienced different sensations in Dressing Room 4, i.e. being watched, hearing children singing, icy sensations even though heating was on, feeling they must leave as they were intruding, a horrible rotting smell.
- Pens and keys being moved on the desk in the office. The kettle turning itself on.
- a small lady wearing a black cloak with a cowl shaped hood was seen standing at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer.
CASE REPORT
Areas investigated
- Main Auditorium and Stage
- Dressing Rooms 1 and 4
- Theatre Office
- Workshop
- DR1 - magnetic letters,
- Dr4 - Old pennies
- Stage tunnel- toy car
- Suspended pendulum enclosed in a perspex box.
- Evp's
- The Spirit of a little girl was sensed, Squeaking sounds emanated from the seated area, Mary Blackeman's seat had come down in the main Auditorium.
- A Shadow was seen moving along on the gantry in the workshop, and tapping sound from the piping along the wall (this was not connected to any water/electrical supply)
All in all it was a very quiet (but a typical one)nights investigation. The staff and players of the theatre obviously feel there is something unusual happening in the theater. Activity is more prevalent when productions are in full flow. It was very strange that Mary's seat came down, and when investigated our team found that when we moved one of the seats downwards it made the 'squeaking' sound we heard earlier in the evening? DR4 which is one of the rooms that most people reported feeling 'frightened' in, had NO activity or experiences from our team. The room had been checked for EMF and hidden cables so there were no concealed wiring (except the plugs of course).
We recorded 2 EVPs, 1- feint whispers in the auditorium, 2 - a response to a question recorded in the corridor adjacent to DR4.
In conclusion at this point in time there was nothing that could not have been explained by natural means.
AND FINALLY there is the 'Ghost photograph' seen here on the right. Yes on first observation itDOES look like there is a face in the background, but on very close inspection it is just the patterns made from the background and doorway.
The theatre is undergoing major renovations over the next 2 years, so we shall be asking the staff to note down any further phenomena with a view to another investigation.
