It's a delightful old building, and exudes an atmosphere rich in history.

Recently, some renovations were carried out at the church and, in January, two open days were held so that visitors could see how things were coming along.

Two parishioners who attended were Doreen and Wilf Richardson, who, on a whim, decided to take a few snaps with their camera.

On several of the photographs were a number of anomalies which Doreen showed to John Corney, assistant editor at the Shields Gazette.

John, knowing that the world's greatest paranormal investigator actually penned a column for his own paper, sent them to me for analysis.

Several of the photographs contain images of small spheres, commonly called orbs.

Many people believe that orbs have no natural explanation, and are actually indicative of a ghostly presence.

The truth is that the majority of orbs are simply reflections of light or dust – and in an old church currently under renovation one shouldn't be surprised if a good number of them show up.

However, two of the orbs bear further scrutiny, as they are extremely large and even seem to contain faces.

Is it just possible, then, that Doreen and Wilf managed to capture an image of something "from the other side", so to speak?

It's hard to tell, but one of the images certainly does seem to contain what looks like a number of faces.

Indeed, in some ancient cultures it is believed that the spirits of the dead actually return as balls of light.

I don't think that's the case here mind you, but even if the anomalies on the photographs are merely dust reflections, the faces, as you can see for yourself, are quite startling.

During excavations at the church, a number of interred bodies were discovered including one of a young boy and another of a former priest.

One of the orbs, curiously, is hovering above the exact location where the priest's body was located.

Personally, I don't think it matters so much whether the strange globes of light in the photograph are "paranormal" in origin or not.

The important thing, I would venture, is that they increase our sense of awe and wonder regarding the world in which we live.

Many years ago, an old priest was shown a photograph taken in his church which seemed to show an apparition of the Virgin Mary.

A number of people were converted to Christianity because of the picture, and believed it to be miraculous.

Later, it transpired that the 'Virgin Mary' was actually a cleaner whom no one had noticed standing at the side of the church waiting for the photographer to finish his work!

She had moved when the picture was taken, and her blurred image did indeed look something like the Blessed Virgin.

The old priest never divulged the truth voluntarily, but neither did he lie about it. He was quite happy to let people assume what they wished.

"The real miracle", he later confessed, "was that an elderly cleaner could bring people into the Church without even lifting up her mop!"

Amen to that, I say!

The Reverend Derek Newton, associate priest at St Michael's, told me that an appeal fund exists to continue the presence of the Church and new Heritage Centre for the next 900 years.

If readers would like to help in any way, they should contact Jean Henderson on 0191 584 1967, or John Lambton on 0191 584 1591.

The St Michael & All Angels website can be found here

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