Let's hope the weather people are right when they say we're in for a lovely, sizzling summer.

In these days of credit crunchiness a lot of us will be foregoing foreign shores in favour of a holiday in dear old Blighty.

Cornwall is a definite hotspot, and not just for surfers and sun worshippers. Just about every town, village and old smugglers pub has a ghostly tale or two to tell.

The most famous smugglers pub of all is Jamaica Inn which makes an ideal first stop as you enter Cornwall. I've been there a few times and have definitely felt an eerie presence, especially in the bar area.

If you fancy doing a bit of ghost hunting, but don't fancy spending the night in a dark cellar with a bunch of nutters like me, then there are lots of hotels around that have some rather ghostly guests.

Birmingham Ghosts and Hauntings have conducted several investigations at the Station Hotel in Dudley. The building dates from 1936, but there was a hotel here for many years before that.

A particularly strong presence in the hotel is that of a spirit called George who seems happy to respond to "yes or no" questions by occasionally tapping on the walls and ceilings. He is most active in room 214. Be warned though, George is not a friendly chap and has been known to slap and push people, especially women.
It is thought that George is the ghost of a former manager of the hotel. He was having an affair with a maid called Elizabeth. When she threatened to tell his wife he flew into a rage and murdered her. It could be that George's guilt and anger has kept his spirit imprisoned at the Station Hotel where he takes great pleasure in giving the guests a good fright.

If you decide to visit the Station Hotel remember to pay a visit to Dudley Castle just over the road - you never know who or what you might encounter!

You may recently have seen a news item about ghostly activity going on at Derby City General Hospital. Staff and patients reported seeing an unearthly figure dressed in a long black cloak. Other reports stated that a Roman soldier had been seen marching around the hospital grounds (the hospital is sited on part of an old roman road).

Some witnesses were quite frightened by what they had seen. Hospital managers were so concerned that they apparently contacted the Church of England to ask if an exorcism could be carried out.

As a paranormal investigator I believe that spirits are all around us. For the most part they remain invisible, but there are certain places (and certain people) that give off extremely strong energies and emotions. Spirits are able to use these energies to make themselves known to us.

Hospitals, with their daily human dramas, are ideal places for a ghost to manifest his / her / its self. Britain is full of old hospitals, many of them dating back to Victorian times. For decade after decade these places have soaked up the intense feelings of sadness, fear and joy of the countless people that have passed through their doors. The ghostly sightings at Derby City General are by no means unusual and there are some haunted hospitals in and around Birmingham.

An essential piece of equipment we use on our ghost investigations is a digital voice recorder with an external microphone.

These are placed at various points at a haunted location in the hope that a spirit can utilise the electrical energy of the device to implant a message.

There has been interest in EVP ever since the first telephones and gramophones hit the Edwardian high street. It is thought the great American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (pictured) was convinced that the voices of the dead could be picked up on a particularly sensitive recording instrument. He was rumoured to be working on such a device when he passed over to the world of spirit himself.

A great many people since then have claimed to have heard or recorded unearthly, discarnate voices on different types of electronic gadgets. The phenomenon seems to have grown along with the technology.

A few years ago I was unfortunate enough to find myself lying on a hospital bed, in great pain, surrounded by doctors and nurses (I will spare you the graphic details).

As I slipped into unconsciousness I began to experience something very strange indeed. The pain simply melted away and my mind became sharper and clearer than it had ever been before.

I suddenly realised I was moving at great speed as if the race against time had begun. My body was hurtling through dark, twisting tunnels but I wasn't in the least bit frightened. In fact I felt immense happiness, excitement and an overwhelming feeling of love. There was a distinct feeling that something incredible was about to happen to me.

A soft female voice whispered to me, "Don't worry, everything will be alright". The next thing I remember was waking up in intensive care with a tube down my throat helping me to breathe.

The doctor told me that my heart had stopped but they had "jump started" me back to life. I was in fact lucky to have survived my ordeal.

I believe I had a near death experience. Though uncommon, an NDE is not rare. There are many, many accounts throughout human history and in all cultures. It is an amazing experience which is becoming more prevalent because, as in my case, medical technology is capable of bringing people back - even when they have "flatlined".

My experience is quite similar to the majority of others. Some people embark on profoundly spiritual and timeless journeys which takes them right up to the point of no return.

The classic NDE differs from person to person, but a pattern seems to be evident. As the body and brain begin the dying process, a person seems to have an out - of - body - experience.

A well known American musician called Pam Reynolds "died" during brain surgery. She felt herself "pop" outside her head and found herself looking down on her lifeless body. Pam later astonished doctors by describing complex surgical instruments being used and recalling the actions and conversations the surgeons had while working on her body.

The next stage seems to be floating or travelling at great speed down a long, dark tunnel (s) towards a pin prick of light which gradually grows bigger and brighter. As they travel along the tunnel some people report undergoing a "life review". They watch their whole lives pass before them in incredible detail. (Time does not exist in an NDE, at least not as we understand it). Every pleasure and every pain is re-experienced in vivid Technicolor. Every action and every decision is re-examined. People feel as if they are being made to pass judgement on themselves.

As a person moves closer to the light an overwhelming sense of love envelopes them. At this point people become aware that they are not alone.

Spiritual / religious beings are encountered and the presence of a god - like entity shines through everything.

However, for those who will return, the near death experience is about to end. The final stage is some sort of impassable boundary which can take many forms. In the case of Pam Reynolds she was stopped by several deceased relatives led by her grandmother. She was told it was not her time and that she had to go back. Reluctantly, she allowed a favourite uncle to escort her back down the tunnel. Re-entering her body was like "diving into a pool of icy water".

Other barriers are encountered such as fast flowing rivers that have no bridges to be found, or beautiful gardens cut off by never ending fences.

People are always reluctant to return to their physical bodies but, once back, they find that their lives have greatly improved.

Appreciation of life is massively increased and so is compassion for others. There is a heightened sense of self esteem and a voracious appetite for learning and knowledge. Problems become easy to solve.

After my experience I became much more spiritually aware than I ever was before.

Not all near death experiences are positive. Some people report having travelled to a frightening place of utter blackness. They felt as if they were in a massive crowd of tormented souls, but were unable to see, feel or speak to anybody else. Sometimes the presence of a demonic entity is felt to hover nearby.

However, even with such "hellish" experiences, people who return to life also seem to develop a more positive attitude to their lives.

One woman had a negative NDE after attempting suicide. She reported that she had been trapped in a cold, dark room. Black, hooded figures circled around her and she felt an overwhelming sense of fear and loneliness.

After returning to her body she decided to work hard at improving her life which had been beset by drug problems. She eventually found love and happiness.

One particularly interesting NDE I remember reading about concerned a young man involved in a terrible accident. He suddenly found himself walking through a baking, red desert. He eventually came across an uncle who had died a few years previously. The uncle was a picture of abject misery, sitting crossed - legged on the hot sand, head in hands, sobbing. Yet nearby was a beautiful oasis full of cool water and delicious fruit.

The young man was about to help his uncle when suddenly he felt himself being pulled back into his body. He later realised that this strange experience was some sort of lesson or, perhaps, a warning.

He remembered that his uncle had been an unpleasant and selfish man. He took no pleasure in life and was often the cause of distress and misery in others. He had taken these horrible characteristics with him to the afterlife and was now suffering as a consequence.

Like the woman who attempted suicide, the young man, not wishing to end up like his uncle, developed a more positive attitude to life.

Now, some scientists and sceptics will say that the NDE is nothing more than a hallucination brought about by chemicals flooding the dying brain. The afterlife, they say, does not exist...how can they be so certain?

For those who have experienced near death, it is all too real. We should never dismiss the possibility that when the brain begins to die that we embark on a different kind of journey.

Life is much more mysterious and complex than we are able to imagine and I think the NDE could be proof that our consciousness (or soul?) can exist outside of our physical selves.

There is no more compelling question than "what happens when we die?"

Every single one of us will eventually find the answer.

Every now and again I find myself sitting in the damp, black cellar of a creaky old building. It's 3 o'clock in the morning and I'm tired and cold. In the silence every sound is eerily magnified. A colleague thinks a spiritual presence is with us and I half expect some long dead old man to suddenly appear before my eyes.

Every now and again I ask myself this question: "Why am I doing this?"

The answer is that I, and my colleagues (and about another million ghost hunters around the world) believe that there is a spiritual realm beyond our physical existence. Most of us have had some sort of paranormal experience and we are determined to find some answers.

The whole subject is fascinating and once you have been on an investigation you can't wait for the next one - even if it means spending hours in a cold, dark cellar.

Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in paranormal phenomena. The internet has loads of sites (some good, some bad) on all sorts of subjects ranging from aliens and Bigfoot to Yetis and zombies.

Ghosts seem to be of particular interest to a great many people. This could mean that more and more people are witnessing ghostly activity and / or they are more prepared to talk about their experiences - the internet, of course, makes all of this a lot easier.

"Mercy! Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me? Why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?"

On a wintry evening in 1852 a rather special event took place at Birmingham Town Hall. Charles Dickens gave the first ever public performance of "A Christmas Carol".

Dickens imagined a series of ghosts haunting a selfish old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, one Christmas Eve. The ghosts showed Scrooge the error of his ways, that his wealth meant very little unless used for the benefit of others.

By the end of the story Scrooge had heeded the warnings and changed his ways. From now on he would endeavour to help his fellow man - starting, of course, on Christmas Day.

Since Dickens gave the first public reading, his "ghostly little book" has become an integral part of Christmas. In fact the book played a major part in helping to revive the Christmas tradition in Victorian times.

It seems strange to us now but after the English Civil War the celebration of Christmas nearly died out. (Cromwell and his Puritans didn't like Christmas at all, he really was the Grinch).

The publication (to great popular acclaim) of "A Christmas Carol" seemed to awaken some distant folk memory in Europe and America. Like all great Christian festivals there are strong elements of Paganism in the Christmas tradition. Dickens gave us a good example of this in the Ghost of Christmas Present - an early version of the modern Santa Claus.

On the 15 September 1830, an English politician by the name of William Huskisson had the dubious distinction of being the first man in history to be killed by a train.

George Stephenson was demonstrating his famous "Rocket" locomotive along a specially built track between Liverpool and Manchester.

Crowds followed the slow moving engine, fascinated by this noisy new invention.

Huskisson, however, was much more interested in speaking to the Duke of Wellington, inconveniently standing on the other side of the track.

So intent was he on getting the Duke's attention that he failed to notice the great belching, steaming contraption rolling towards him.

"Stephenson's Rocket" hit poor Mr Huskisson and crushed his legs. The stricken man was taken to the nearby village of Eccles where he died shortly afterwards.

I grew up near a pleasant little bit of woodland known as the Harborne Walkway. This is a lovely disused railway line popular with dog walkers, joggers and cyclists. Over the years I've heard many stories from people who have had strange experiences around here.

This was a busy railway line from 1874 to 1963. Bowler hatted Harborne gents would use it for the short commute to their offices in town and Chad Valley Toy Co, would send their tin plate penny toys and train sets to kids all over the world.

A lot of people will remember the noise of the old trains and the sight of their steam and smoke billowing over the rooftops. A later generation will remember playing in the derelict remains of the old station (now Rose Road Cop Shop).

In the midst of modern Harborne, the walkway can be an eerie, secluded place, especially at twilight or in the dark. The haunting sounds of owls hooting and foxes crying can be heard most nights. But these are not the only haunting sounds coming from the walkway.

In Birmingham's famed Jewellery Quarter we have the neighbouring cemeteries of Key Hill and Warstone Lane. You can't get buried here any longer, but you can have a fascinating stroll amongst the gravestones.

Some distinguished Brummies were laid to rest at Key Hill including the Chamberlains and Alfred Bird (the wonderful chap who gave the world custard).

Key Hill was opened for business in 1836. Anglicans had to wait until 1848 to get their very own cemetery at Warstone Lane. The area seems to have been associated with death long before the cemeteries were built. The junction where Warstone Lane meets Icknield Street (the site of the Birmingham Mint) was once known as "Dead Man's Lane".