A Little History

The area of Bilton near Harrogate, west of the railway line was developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The parish church of St John, designed by Gilbert Scott, was built between 1851 and 1857. It is now a Grade II* listed building.

The area east of the railway has remained rural, with scattered houses now known as Old Bilton. Bilton Hall, east of Old Bilton, was once a hunting lodge built on the orders of John O'Gaunt in 1380. It later belonged to William Slingsby (who discovered the first spa well in Harrogate). The building was rebuilt in 1853 and is now a care home. It lies on a hill facing Knaresborough.

The main railway line through Bilton was closed in 1969. In 2013 it was reopened as a cycle and bridleway known as the Nidderdale Greenway.

The Investigation

N.Y.P.I was looking for new areas in which to film and decided to accompany another group (H.A.R.R.P.S) to Bilton to see what was going on there.  We had learned that a jogger using the disused railway line had reported being punched to the ground by a spirit. We checked that out and a week later had decided to go and visit the viaduct area and were pleasantly surprised by the activity found.
 
We walked the viaduct and decided to test with meters the Hot spots with KII and asked some questions.  As there was not much going on, we descended the bank to be under the viaduct next to the river and left the other team up on top.
 
We had our infra red cameras filming and also a thermal imaging camera which is very useful when wanting to get a different perspective of a complicated environment.  We kept on asking questions and noticed a dark shadow on an incline.
The temperature was very low in the area of the sighting.  I was getting charged more and more as I walked towards the area I was been directed to by the cameraman.  All of a sudden the entity vanished and the air around me was warm again.
 
We had another experience with our ghost box and had conversations with him for a long time but it asked us to leave so we accepted.
 
Our findings kept growing.  We had a good session on the fields at the top of the valley where we believe we met a spirit of a farmer. All in all a great night at Bilton Railway Viaduct.