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There’s something exceptionally eerie about an abandoned location. Especially slap bang in the middle of bustling central London.

And although Aldwych tube station (formally known as The Strand station) has been disused for almost 40 years, there are thought to be a few guests lurking in the shadows. And I’ve been sent to try and contact them.

Luckily, I’m joined by professional ghostbusters, best friends Nick Groff and Katrina Weidman, who have been spending the night in haunted houses across America for over 14 years.

Their new series, Paranormal Lockdown, sees them visiting England’s most spooky spots, with Aldwych station first on their list. The premise? They stay for at least one night in haunted locations.

‘At home, we only visit residences that have a history spanning about 300 years, tops,’ explains Katrina. ‘In England the history is fascinating, and we picked up so much more than we expected.’

The station itself is smaller than most. It only had two platforms and two tracks, and was opened in 1907 purely to take passengers to and from an increasingly popular theatre, The Royal Strand that was situated nearby.

During the Second World War it was used as an air-raid shelter and held 2,500 people. Notably, it also held treasures from Buckingham Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Elgin Marbles.

(Image: Ash Knotek)

One of the tube tunnels runs directly under a site where something rather gruesome was uncovered.

In the 1830s a man was charging people money to bury their loved ones at a local church but what he was actually doing was dumping the corpses in a 6ft-deep, 60ft-wide pit.

Twenty years later, 12,000 bodies were found after the congregation complained of a foul smell and strange insects flying around.

As well as ghosts from the graveyard being reported by ex workers and security, people have also said they’ve seen a woman dressed in theatrical costumes thought to be the ghost of Francis Maria Kelly.

She was the star of a one-woman show at the Royal Strand Theatre in the late 1800s and is said to haunt the station in sorrow, devastated because they closed the theatre and put an end to her career.

Other sightings include a man in uniform who is thought to be a staff member who died on the tracks. Some people have smelt strong perfume or cigarette smoke and others have heard loud operatic singing echoing along the tracks.

I meet Nick and Katrina outside the station. They’re armed with cameras and a huge ‘telephone to the dead’ (which uses radio frequency to pick up ghostly voices from the other side).

(Image: Ash Knotek)

They also pull out from the ‘ghost kit’ a flat, motion detecting light panel which they’ll position on the platform edge in the hope of picking up any swooshing shadowy figures.

One hundred and ninety-three winding, creaking steps lead us down to the damp, cold depths of the station. With a torch each, we finally turn the corner onto one of the platforms where stands, ominously, a disused tube train, doors wide open, with the seats full of dust.

As one platform was closed off shortly after the war, the posters that line the walls are all promoting the war effort, calling women to recycle their dresses and asking commuters to save their kitchen waste for the farm animals.

When the tunnel was used as an air-raid shelter, the ceilings were painted in a lead-based paint to help protect the rare artefacts that were stored there from being damaged by damp. Because of this, and the way in which it was abandoned, the platform is perfectly preserved and is now a listed area. Although some of the posters are peeling at the corners, it’s like stepping into a time capsule.

It gave me chills, but nothing fazes Nick and Katrina, and they are keen to get stuck in.

Nick explains that they’ve had great success with the ‘telephone to the dead’, including a couple of clear, intelligent conversations that have gone on for over an hour.

In an American prison, an inmate told them her name, her crime, her sentence, and it made the pair want to cry. Electronic voice phenomenon, as it’s called, was founded in the 70s after researchers discovered spooky secret messages when picking up static and other background noises.

Often it can only be heard if slowed right down, but in some cases, it’s as clear as day. And, today, we’re in luck.

(Image: Ash Knotek)

We bundle onto one of the carriages and, although it is large and empty, it’s clear we are not alone. They switch on the device, and I immediately get goosebumps. We hear a loud, echoing, Cockney male voice clearly shouting ‘hello’ at us.

On the opposite end of the scale, we hear an old-fashioned sounding whisper from a female. Polite, curious and sweet. The two voices couldn’t be more different.

Nick calls out, ‘Can you try and talk to us?’ We hear the woman whisper, ‘What is it?’ followed by the word ‘actress’. Nick tries to explain that if she uses our energy to speak, we can hear her voice through the machine. Innocently, she asks ‘How does it work?’ (If we’re talking to Francis, we expect the technology is a little ahead of her time.)

A historian named Alan Brooke then joins us on our hunt to validate any names and places we pick up, and both spirits seem eager to

talk to him, despite him hanging back from the investigation. Both voices say his name multiple times, so he nervously walks onto the carriage with us.

Talking over each other in a desperate attempt to speak to the historian, the female voice asks, ‘Do you remember me?’ and ‘What year is it?’ while the male voice is trying to communicate something about a head injury and asked if anyone ‘is a medic’.

Alan explains to us that the man who died on the tracks suffered a large head injury. None of us can quite believe what we’re hearing.

Suddenly, a bitter coldness surrounds us and my chest feels heavy. Katrina explains that it’s common to feel tight-chested and have breathing difficulties when a lot of spirit activity is around, because they use your energy to connect more clearly.

(Image: Hulton Archive)

Interestingly, as the pair ask the ghosts to use our energy, my dictaphone stops working. As do a few cameras and torches. ‘This always happens,’ explains Nick. The stronger the connection gets the more we lose our power supplies. Even fully charged batteries can die in minutes.’

And the connection is getting even stronger. Nick and Katrina are so delighted to pick up such clear voices that they seem to think the ghosts might be able to manifest and show themselves to us, something I am without a doubt not ready for.

We don’t see any shadows, but I certainly sense a presence. That feeling of someone staring at you from across a room even though you haven’t made eye contact. The way you just know someone is stood behind you.

I feel the air move next to me as though someone has just walked past. Yes, your mind plays tricks on you in the dark, but the sense of being watched is unsettling. Especially as the ghosts seem to know exactly who we are – they say all our names over the course of the investigation.

The ghosthunters wanted someone to head to the driver’s carriage – alone – so I volunteer. As I anxiously wait for instruction from Nick and Katrina, a shivering cold and a heavy atmosphere take hold.

The male voice appears to be trying to scare me by taunting, ‘Don’t go in there,’ and shouting ‘Danger!’ the second I closed the door.

The ghosthunters explain that spirits often try to spook people out, but remind me, ‘It’s only the living that are able to hurt us.’

And they are right – I leave to rejoin the group unharmed.

In an attempt to spur on more activity, Nick tries to rile up the male presence. We hear the voice clearly telling us to ‘shut up’ and he then swears at us, followed by an almighty sigh.





Katrina says ghosts use bad language towards them all the time. But it’s all just more proof that there is something after we die. Even if that means the spirits aren’t all like Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Perhaps fed up with the bad language, the sweet female voice whispers that she is now leaving.

The contact starts to get more and more faint from both voices, and after about 45 minutes, all we pick up are odd sounds and words that make little sense. They are gone.

As we get ready to leave and venture back into the bright sunshine of the London streets, Nick explains that most ghost experiences happen when people are least expecting them.

‘No one is sat at home on their sofa with all this equipment trying to see something,’ he laughs. ‘If a spirit wants to connect with you, it will find a way.’

Hearing intelligent spirit voices so clearly, and having our questions answered directly by the ghosts, goes against all rational forms of explanation.

So the next time I travel on the underground, through any one of its 270 stations along 11 lines, I know that among the many living passengers, there might just be someone else there too.

It isn’t weird to believe in weird things, and if you open your mind to it, you may just meet some unexpected characters. You don’t have to have a gift or a ghost kit, but maybe the next time you hear a bump in the night you’ll think twice. It could be someone trying to say hello. Sleep tight.