(Another Newbold, Chesterfield case in 1936).
A Haunted House near Chesterfield.
Householders alarmed by mysterious noises.
The people in the Newbold Moor district of Chesterfield are much concerned at present by reports of strange happenings at nights in a house in that neighbourhood. The tenant of the house and his wife took possession some six weeks or so ago, and he alleges that the very first time he went upstairs he had a strange feeling that something was wrong with the house. Three weeks ago his wife began to complain of queer sounds about the place, but these at the time were attributed to rats.
Ten days ago, however, about eleven o’clock, he heard a knocking on the wall, and this was repeated higher and higher until it went through the ceiling into the bedroom above. After going round the bedrooms the knocks were heard coming downstairs, round the kitchen, and back into the sitting-room, until they disappeared in the place where they began. Shortly afterwards he heard a sound of scuffling on the stairs, followed by a choking sound and a final crash, and this and other noises continued until five o’clock in the morning. Several neighbours are reported to have heard the noises.
Not a few people in the district believe the house to be haunted! It was occupied some time ago, they say, by an old man, almost dumb and subject to fits, and it was his custom to knock on the walls to attract the attention of his neighbours, and who made a choking sound. He was removed to the workhouse against his will, and died there in April last.
The cause of the happenings is said by some to be very prosaic – that a horse in an adjoining stable got loose in the night, and in moving about the place produced the unwonted noises. But lovers of the mysterious refuse to accept such a humdrum explanation.
Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 10th July 1906.
italics are additions in Derbyshire Courier, 14th July 1906.
[as above but includes]
The house is the end one of a row of four, just off the main road, and has four rooms.
There is also, it is said, a sound as of two persons struggling at the top of the stairs, and presently a choking noise is heard, as of somebody being strangled. Then there is a crash as of a window being suddenly closed.
Nottingham Evening Post, 10th July 1906.
[a different telling]
A Ghost Story
Mystery at Chesterfield.
Despite the materialism of the age, ghosts continue to flourish. Psychical research has failed to fathom the mystery of haunted houses and supernatural apparitions come and go in accordance with their capricious moods. The latest arrival from the shades is reported from Chesterfield, where in the most orthodox manner a well-regulated sprite announces his unwelcome presence by rapping at the wall. A peculiar feature, however, about this one is his remarkable industry.
Ever since he forsook his comrades in the spirit world about three weeks ago he has whiled away the night hours by persistent and uninterrupted knockings. Beginning near the wall of the sitting-room, he climbs to the upper stories, circumnavigates the bedroom, and then descends to the kitchen. After a reasonable stay there, he strolls through the door to recommence operations in the sitting-room. All of this of course is very disconcerting to the occupants, who, after all, pay the rent, but the worst is yet to come.
Grim tragedy is enacted each night on the top stairs, where two persons are heard in a death struggle. To and fro the combatants swing, but presently there is a horrible noise as of throttling, the crash of a falling window, and then all is still.
The haunted house is near the main road, and at the end of a row of four. It has four rooms. The noises commence at eleven o’clock, and continue until five o’clock. It used to be occupied by a strange old man, who is now dead. He was practically dumb, and used to rap on the walls to attract attention. It is said that he never went upstairs, but slept in the sitting-room, and at times would make a gurgling choking sound similar to that which is now heard on the stairs.
Nottingham Journal, 11th July 1906.
The “Haunted House” at Newbold Moor.
The house at Newbold Moor which is said to be haunted continues to attract a great deal of notice, and large crowds assemble outside nightly, much to the annoyance of the people in the neighbourhood, who find sleep impossible until early morning. On Tuesday night [10th], after the report in the “Sheffield Daily Telegraph,” there was a larger crowd than usual. The occupiers of the house went elsewhere to pass the night, as sleep there was impossible, owing to the noises.
During the night some person or persons forced the window-catch and entered the house. Once inside their interest was so great that, not content with viewing the house and smashing a jug, they forced up one of the flagstones in the sitting room. Whether they heard any mysterious noises or found anything under the flagstone is not stated.
The attention attracted to the spot is throwing unaccustomed work on the local police.
Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 12th July 1906.
A Night In A “Haunted” House.
Lamp goes out and knocking heard.
A Whittington Moor scare.
Whittington has this week become celebrated for something more than its Revolution House. It has had dealings with the “uncanny.” Not that anyone in the parish has seen a ghost, a real white-sheeted, shuddering, terrifying, sort of spook, but it proudly lays claim to the next best thing – a haunted house. The incredulous scoff and ejaculate “rats” when the uncanny noises are mentioned, but large numbers of people in the district do not intend to be bereft of their sensation by the unkind remarks of scoffers, and many have gone to gaze – in the daytime – with awe and wonderment at the house at Whittington Moor which holds the ghostly visitant.
To Interview the Ghost.
Thinking that an interview with the ghost would prove of considerable interest to readers of The Derbyshire Times, a special correspondent avowed himself prepared with this laudable end in view to take his life in his hands and brave the haunted house for a night. If he failed to meet the ghost he could at least hear his rappings. Not without inward forbodings we gave our consent to the rash enterprise, alone comforted by the fact that should the ghost take summary vengence on his proposed interviewer, the latter would suffer in the noble cause of duty. He survived the ordeal, and the following is his story:-
I was met at the tram terminus by my host at half-past ten p.m. On our way to the house he informed me that the knocking commenced about eleven o’clock, so that we should have time for a look round the place. Although it had been attracting crowds of people at night, we were relieved to find everything quiet. The house is one of a row of four which juts off from the street, and is the end one, furthest away from the street. We let ourselves in, and having lit the lamp and made all ready for passing the night, we went outside and examined the house and back premises. Having satisfied ourselves that no one was about we once more entered the house. The house, I may state, is a four-roomed one, consisting of a sitting room and a smaller room used as a kitchen downstairs, and two bedrooms upstairs. The stairs lead up out of the kitchen, and have a door at the bottom.
“It will Commence Soon.”
Having previously obtained a plentiful supply of tobacco, we settled ourselves down and began to smoke. When the clock struck eleven, Mr — exclaimed “It will commence soon.” We waited expectantly, but did not hear anything, and I began to wonder whether the ghost was going to show the white feather after all. “Where does the noise begin?” “Down in that corner,” replied Mr –, pointing to a corner of the room, “and then it works upwards into the bedrooms. You hear it at intervals in the rooms upstairs, and then it comes on the stairs and through the kitchen to where it began.” “Do you think it is the neighbours playing tricks?” I asked critically. “No, because it comes on all the walls and on the ceiling.”
A Dread of Going Upstairs.
“Rats?” I asked with immovable countenance, lest my companion might think I meant something disrespectful. – No! I have never seen or heard a rat in the house ever since I came.
A Weird Experience.
The ‘witching hour’ of midnight arrived, and shortly afterwards there came a sound from the room above as if someone was thumping the wall. We turned the lamp low, and sat waiting. “Did you hear that?” – I listened. From the bottom of the stairs in the next room came a sound like a groan, – an absolutely indescribable sound. Surely the ghost was coming, and I began to turn over in my mind the questions I should ask him – or would it be her? Then the ghost played me a low trick, for out went the lamp. “It always goes out at the first groan,” exclaimed Mr –.
Ghosts or not ghosts it was far from pleasant sitting in the dark with the thumps on the walls still sounding as from upstairs. Suddenly again that peculiar sound came from the bottom of the stairs. In the light it was creepy, but in the dark, I began to speculate as to where the fun came in, in playing at martyrs. I was quite satisfied that i had got more amusement out of other pursuits in life.
“Do you think anyone is outside the door, making that noise”? I asked. “Wait a minute. Listen for it again,” my host replied. We had not long to wait. It came again louder than ever. We rushed past the place, and threw open the back door. All was as quiet as the grave. We again searched round the house, but saw nothing. On going inside again, my host, evidently just to add to my jauntiness, remarked, “The shuffling noise as of a struggle generally comes just before the groans. But you can only hear it distinctly upstairs. We will go upstairs.”
Personally I preferred to contemplate the landscape outside, but I did not intend to show my host I was more nervous than he, so lighting a cigarette, we went upstairs, and sat in the back bedroom. Immediately the knocking upstairs ceased, and we heard it below.
The Unaccountable Thumpings
“I hear there is a stable behind. Do you think the horse in the stable is making that noise?” I asked cheerfully. “Well it may make some of that you hear downstairs,” replied my host “but if you listen carefully, you will be able to tell the difference. When I have been in bed at night, I have heard the noise on the ceiling directly over my head, and then on the floor. No horse could make that noise.”
A False Alarm.
We had a small night-lamp with us, and as we sat quietly, the room was filled with a slight hissing sound. We could not at first locate it, and my companion began to think that the ghost was going to vary the performance. We put our heads outside the room, but did not hear it at all then. A brilliant idea struck me. Back I turned to the lamp. That was where the hissing came from! My host was almost sad. “We do not hear any shuffling.” Mr — was extremely anxious that I should hear this, as he said it would make my hair stand on end. I appreciated his good nature, but had no desire for my hair to perform acrobatic feats on its own.
The shuffling did not occur, and about five o’clock a friendly neighbour came in and made us a very welcome cup of tea. I took this opportunity to ask my host a few questions. First of all he told me he did not wish me to publish his name. “How long have you lived in the house?” I asked. “Seven weeks,” he replied. “My wife first heard the noises four weeks ago. When she told me about it, I put it down to rats, but after hearing it, I – well I cannot understand it, at all.”
“Has the horse been in the stable behind all that time?” “As far as I can make out the horse has only been in a fortnight. Saturday and Sunday nights were the worst nights. I heard a struggle on the stairs the first time on Sunday morning. I was making the fire about four o’clock, and my wife had just gone out for some sticks. Suddenly I heard a sound of a struggle on the stairs, followed by the groaning noise you heard. When I heard it the second time I waited for no more, but rushed from the house.” “Have others heard it besides you?” “Yes. On Sunday night a lot came, but they did not stop after hearing it once.”
The House Broken Into.
“Is it correct that the place was broken into on Tuesday night?” “Yes. We were all sleeping out that night. When we went next morning we found the window catch had been forced, and a flagstone forced up. A file and chisel had been taken off a shelf, and were lying on a table.”
I did not interview the ghost, but as I took a cursory glance at the horse in the stable at the back, prior to returning home, I was rewarded with a most knowing wink. That horse if it could speak, could throw more light on the subject than the ablest psychologist. The rattle of an energetic pair of heels on a wooden board in the dead of night is excellent material for a sleepless mortal with fertile brain to weave a marvellous phantasy!
Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald, 14th July 1906.