A well-known cave system in the Lake District has been branded as one of the UK’s most haunted locations by a paranormal investigator.
Ghost whisperer Tony Ferguson, 38, from Hampshire, investigated Cathedral Caves near Ambleside last week, whilst stopping off on the way to Scotland.
During his investigation, he claimed he picked up disembodied children’s voices and a more sinister male voice that told him to ‘just get out’ – both of which he captured on video.
He decided to visit the caves after receiving an email from a man who explored the area during an evening and heard things he could not explain.
Tony said: “The man that got in touch with me said he didn’t actually believe in the paranormal, but that he had heard things he couldn’t explain like children’s voices late at night.
“He also said he’d heard other strange sounds and claimed he’d had a stone thrown at him. He didn’t record or document anything because he was just out camping nearby and exploring the area – but he said if I was ever in the Lake District that I should go and investigate.”
Tony, who has amassed over 400,000 followers across his social media platforms, set out to explore the caves during the day whilst no other people were around.
He said: “There was several things there that I just couldn’t explain. The caves felt very eerie and I didn’t feel alone, I felt like I was being watched.
“Hearing children’s voices in a cave or dark place is disturbing, you wonder why children are there. The male voice I caught sounded really stern and it felt like something didn’t want me there.
“I didn’t stay there long because of that, but the whole experience was just bizarre – we captured stuff on camera that just shouldn’t be there.”
People commenting on the video also claimed that the shadowy figure of a child can be seen amidst some of the caves rocks – but Tony said he would personally need clearer images and a bigger investigation to be sure the shadows were actually paranormal.
He said: “Sometimes I do investigations for six or seven hours and nothing happens. It’s very hard to go to a location and capture so much in a short amount of time like I did in the caves and I’ve been to some of the UK’s most haunted places.
“I would put Cathedral Caves in the top 20 haunted locations in the UK because of that.”
The caves date back to the 16th century and are tucked away in the Langdale Valley, making them considerably difficult to get to.
The main cave, known as Cathedral Cavern, is forty feet in height and forms part of a network of caverns interlinked by tunnels.
There is an extensive mining history in the area and in the 19th century, the caves were used to provide slate for house building – it was a period of time where child labour was considered normal, working hours were long and conditions were dangerous.
Despite some of the disembodied voices appearing to sound chillingly clear on camera – Tony said he doesn’t scare easily.
He added: “I’m more grounded as an investigator, if you’re screaming and shouting you miss a lot, so being calm results in more activity. It doesn’t phase me.
“For me I’m quite sceptical, the screenshots people have taken would have to be clearer for me, I think that’s the logical thing to do, but I’ve left the screenshots on social media to let the viewers decided for themselves.
“But I can say with certainty that I heard and captured several different disembodied voices on camera.”
Tony, who works as a personal trainer by day, has been interested in the paranormal world since being a child, when he witnessed the figure of a man in his grandparents home.
He began investigating haunted places in his twenties, keen to document his experiences, and now shares his findings on social media under the channel name Tony Ferguson Ghost Whisperer.
The 38-year-old is also currently filming for a TV programme taking place in a haunted pub.
