Chilling tales as the ghost-hunters gather.
Behind the doors of No. 10… things that go bump in the night.
Special report by Sue Robinson.
Two former tenants of a small terraced council house in Wilnecote spoke this week of a catalogue of chilling supernatural happenings that they claim forced them to move out. The frightened pair together with four of their friends made their way back to the now deserted property at 10 Kimberley on Monday morning for a meeting there with Tamworth spiritualist-medium Mrs Irene Leedham.
Tenants and visitors told Mrs Leedham they had felt unexplained ice-cold temperatures and had seen lights flashing on and off. One, at least, claims to have seen an apparition. Curtains had been moved out of place when there was no-one there to move them, they said. Doors had started to close when there was no wind or person behind them. And lights have fused continually, but electricians called in had found nothing wrong with the wiring, it was claimed. Neighbours have reported hearing sounds and movement, and plugs going in and out of the walls when the house was empty.
Now, more convinced than ever, after sensing the atmosphere in the house again this week, the group says further meetings have been planned. Tamworth councillor Mrs June Coggins, who has been helping them solve the mystery, wore a large cross around her neck when she went along on Monday. Mrs Coggins, who says she is a psychic, explained: “There is definitely a presence in this house. I believe somebody has been messing about with the ouija board.”
Former tenant, divorcee Mrs Ann Gorse, moved out of 10 Kimberley last September after about 10 years. She said it was only in the last year that strange things began to happen. Everything had been quite normal when she had lived there with her husband.
She said when the house was empty, clothes were moved about in the middle bedroom and neighbours reported lights going on and off and plugs being pushed in and out. “At the time some friends at work had been messing about with the ouija board. I am sure now this may have had something to do with it. I am convinced there is something in the house. We must find out what it is, or who it is,” she said.
Mrs Linda White who took over the tenancy on November 21 last year, still holds the key to the house, but is too frightened to live there. A divorcee, she asked three girlfriends to help with the decorating when she first took it on. “All of us felt eerie presence in the house but we carried on working and I moved in just before Christmas. Light bulbs kept blowing, the cooker exploded, the television wouldn’t work properly. But it was unexplained because all the electrics were checked and found to be in order.”
She says she became so frightened of staying in the house that she moved to stay with one of her girlfriends after a few weeks. But they and the others would go back to check on the property regularly. Each time, say the women, they become more and more frightened of the atmosphere. Mrs Diane Wheeler who had helped to decorate the house said: “One day I was alone upstairs in the middle bedroom cleaning windows. Suddenly it was as though someone was in the room. It went all quiet and the door started to close. It really frightened me.”
Other friends Linda Keeling and Pat Hadley both confirm the strange experiences. All the women say they hope that someone, like a medium, can put whatever is in the house at rest.
Neighbours at 11 Kimberley, John and Pam Allen, have mixed views about the events next door. Mr Allen says: “It’s all a load of rubbish. I haven’t heard anything unusual. All this about plugs going in the wall – what do people think the ghosts are doing – plugging in the telly?” But Mrs Allen says she’s not so sure it is all rubbish and says she has definitely heard plugs being put in during the night when the house has been empty.
Neighbours the other side at 9 Kimberley, the Wraxton family, think if there are spirits or ghosts they are friendly. Mr Curtis Wraxton siad: “We have definitely heard noises when the house is empty. We’ve heard footsteps, flushing of toilets, plugs going in and out and we’ve seen lights going on and off. We have been told that when these houses were built 14 or 15 years ago human remains were found on the ground. I know it was farmland here before the buildings were put up.” The only problems the Wraxtons have had is sending off noisy gangs of children. “One night gangs of them from all round the area came down with torches, screaming and making a terrible noise. They were looking through windows hoping to see ghosts. We had to send them away,” said Mr Wraxton.
A spokesman for Tamworth Borough Council housing department told the Herald: “We are not aware of any supernatural occurrences in that dwelling.”
Number 10 Kimberley. Empty now… but for the spirits?
Mrs Anne Gorse on Monday ,revisiting the middle bedroom, where clothes were mysteriously moved about. Others have reported strange happenings to the curtains and the door in this room.
Atherstone News and Herald, 9th March 1984.