The Nurses’ Quarter did not disappoint. While some members used the Ouija board, I placed my cat balls and REM pod on the stairs, hoping that any apparent activity around the table might coincide with the technology elsewhere in the room.

I must admit that I did not focus closely on the board because I remain sceptical of that particular method, so I cannot fairly comment on what happened at the table. I did, however, see the K2 meter spike in apparent response to questions while cat balls activated on the stairs. The timing suggested interaction, although equipment responses alone cannot tell us what triggered them.

Next came the medical gurney: a literal metal box resembling a coffin. This terrified me. I am all for trying new methods, but placing my head on a plastic pillow once used beneath dead people was a step too far. Chris and several other members of the group were braver — and all too eager to climb inside.

While each person lay inside, the rest of the group placed their fingers on the gurney. A K2 sat on top, while another remained inside with the participant. We asked questions such as whether anyone present was a child and whether they were male or female. People reported scratching, noises down the corridor and K2 activity both inside and outside the gurney.

After a ten-minute break, we moved into the Nurses’ Changing Room. Before the group had even settled, the cat ball near the back door began activating. That is not evidence of the paranormal in itself, but the fact that it was sitting on a concrete floor made my internal paranormal radar go boop.

Importantly, the Haunted Happenings room leader allowed us to ask critical questions and try to debunk it, even showing us the opposite side of the door where the cat ball had been placed.

The main investigation used the Estes Method alongside “yes” and “no” buttons. A participant wore a blindfold and headphones playing white noise, with two buttons in front of them. They could answer verbally or press a button.

The idea is to reduce contamination from the room: the participant cannot see facial reactions or body language, and cannot hear the questions. In theory, this makes it harder to respond through suggestion or subconsciously play along. I wish I could say something remarkable happened, but this was the quietest area in terms of memorable events.

Free time passed too quickly for serious additional ghost hunting. Accidentally getting lost while trying to return to the Nurses’ Quarter was hilarious and fun-scary at the same time: opening a door you are convinced is correct, only to discover that you have wandered back into the Naughty Boys Corridor.

Allowing guests to explore such a large site is a major strength of the tour. The limitation was time. As the saying goes, time waits for no investigator.

I must raise one criticism here. Haunted Happenings had an eclectic range of technology — K2 meters, cat balls and much more — but individual pieces were not provided to guests during free time.

That was disappointing, particularly for newcomers. There is nothing quite like the first response on a K2 held in your own hand or placing a trigger object yourself. Pre-positioned equipment is not automatically suspicious, but personally handling it creates greater confidence in the setup and helps guests learn how it behaves.

The Great Hall brought the smaller groups back together. Even in darkness, its high windows reveal how grand the room must once have been. A large collection of trigger objects and “spirit toys” had been arranged for the building’s reported child spirits.

Apart from occasional flashlight flickers, nothing significant happened compared with the rest of the night. That quiet group session marked the end of our evening at Newsham Asylum.