Traders in Aberystwyth’s Market Hall at the top of town have spoken of their spooky experiences as a paranormal investigator claims she has discovered the identity of two young ghosts that haunt the 200-year-old building.

The Victorian hall has been a hub of commerce for two centuries, but traders and customers may not be the only people inhabiting the building.­

Traders at the hall have had their fair share of unnerving experiences inside, including moving objects, the unexplained appearance of a child’s footprint and things flying out of one trader’s hands.

One trader has even conducted paranormal investigations in the hall and attempted to speak to any ghosts potentially haunting the hall.

Skye Lester-Lee, a paranormal investigator who also runs a shop in the market hall called Spirito Santos, has investigated the market hall multiple times – and believes she has spoken to the ghosts that call it home.

Skye claims the hall is visited by the ghosts of at least two young children, as well as a woman named Edna, who Skye believes to have been the manager of a wholesale fruit and vegetable stall in the market during the 1960s.

She said: “Edna is a misunderstood lady that just wants to go about her day without being asked any questions.

“She seems to be religious and may have been the boss or manager of a fruit and vegetable stall back in the 1960s.

“She generally keeps to the southern end of the hall.

“The children are down at the northern side of the hall, and when I asked them, they said they were happy and with their parents.

“I’ve had two names come through, one is Evelyn and the other one David, but I think there may be more there.”

Skye uncovered these names through the use of an app, known as ‘spirit talker’, which claims to allow its users to communicate with the dead.

She then uses a variety of touch-activated tools to validate what the app says. If the device is pressed once, it means yes, and if it’s pressed twice, it means no.

Shortly after the children’s names were announced in one of her investigations, the surname Davies came up.

Pursuing the name led Skye to a news article in the Cambrian News dated 17 July 1885, which reported the deaths of three men in a fire at the old college. One of these men was named John Davies, who left behind a widow and six children.

Cambrian News reporter Alex Bowen attended one of Skye’s investigations. This time Skye used a form of communication known as the Estus Method.

The Estus Method involves the use of a device which cycles through radio frequencies. Skye, who is blindfolded and wearing noise-cancelling earphones, listens to the device and repeats the words she hears from it.

The idea is that someone asks the spirits questions and Skye then repeats what she hears, which are supposedly the responses given by spirits.

Due to the use of noise-cancelling earphones, as well as static sounds coming through the device, she cannot hear the questions being asked of her.

Skye isn’t the only trader to have investigated the potential paranormal activity in the hall.

Jackie Ireland of Nicely Hung Frames has seen some “odd things” over the years, one of these being the discovery of what appeared to be a child’s footprint in paint she had left out overnight.

Jackie said: “Over the years there have been some odd things. It’s one of those things, the place is so old you’d expect something to be there.

“One night we were working late doing some painting, and when we came back the next day we noticed a child’s footprint in the paint. It definitely wasn’t ours.”

The discovery led her to do some investigation work of her own, which only added to the mystery.

“After this we put a small bike in the hall and marked the position of each of its wheels with chalk,” she said.

“We came in the next day and it had moved. We were the last ones leaving the hall and the first ones the next day and we made sure that it was on flat ground, so it wouldn’t roll by itself.”

Fay Yeomans of Fay’s Cake Boutique said she hasn’t had any major experiences of ghosts, and has never felt scared to work from the market hall in the 10 years she’s been there.

Although, one experience has left her wondering if “something’s playing a trick” on her.

She said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something there, but I’ve not had any major experiences that were out of the ordinary.

“Occasionally things do fly out of my hands, and I do wonder sometimes if it’s something playing a trick on me.

“I don’t know if it’s just me being clumsy either, but they do fly across the room, it’s not that things just drop to the floor.

“I’ve never felt under threat or scared, so if there is anything here I’d imagine it’s quite friendly.”

If you’ve experienced something paranormal at the market hall, or somewhere else locally, share your story – email [email protected]