High spirits at Govanhill Baths

Spot anything spooky? Shadows at the steamie door left reporter Gillian feeling uneasy

Govanhill Baths may be celebrating a £1.2 million promise from Heritage Lottery, but fundraising to bring it back to working order continues — and on Saturday, that included a ghost hunt.

The Lanarkshire Paranormal-run vigil began at 9pm in the slipper baths, with a gruesome tale about ‘Victor’, who had attacked a young girl and still wandered the stalls in spirit form.

Now, I’m no skeptic — I love a ghostly tale. But was I convinced by the K2 meter flashing green; supposedly answers to the questions thrown at Victor? I’ve yet to decide — although it has to be said, the machine went off with perfect timing. Case still open...

The group moved to the basement next and formed a circle. Mediums present said they could see menacing shadow figures — I couldn’t see much, and the same went for my ghost hunting pal (you didn’t expect me to go alone, did you?) Still, there were bumps, shuffles, footsteps from every dark corner.

A vigil in the steamie had an uneasy atmosphere, and it was hard to keep my eyes off the open door, where shadows seemed to move of their own accord.

But it was the Turkish Bath which proved most interesting.

Our experts suggested using the old fingers-on-the-glass method to commune with the spirits. Finger upturned (making it harder to fake), five of us waited for the glass to move left for no, right for yes.

Would you believe me if I told you it twisted right more than once? Probably not — but I promise it did, indicating that a male entity wanted to chat.

Were we moving it? Not consciously anyway — and I’ve yet to figure out how to replicate that twist — magicians, I’m all ears.

Just as I was focusing on that glass, no longer wondering what would go bump in the night next, I felt a determined finger poke my left shoulder. “Was that you?” I asked the girl closest holding a torch in my direction. She swore she hadn’t touched me — and I’m tempted to believe her.

After another hour of chasing noises in the basement, we rolled out at 3am and home to our beds — hopefully no ghosts in tow.

So, do I believe Govanhill’s beloved bathhouse is haunted? I can’t say for sure — but scoop or none, I wouldn’t spend the night alone there...