Wallpaper shop is haunted claim staff.
By our resident ghost writer Helen Knott.
Strange things have been going on at the Wallpaper Warehouse on the Hollycroft Road in Hinckley, according to staff who work there. Some people may think it is all in the mind but Sharon Pocock the manageress firmly believes the place is haunted. “The first thing we ever saw was a mark on the floor for three days running before we even opened the shop, something was dripping onto the floor and it was sticky because I remember cleaning it up, then it went and never came back.”
Other strange things began to happen, paint tins were messed up, toilet rolls were stacked up and wallpaper rolls were moved around at night. One morning they opened the shop and a ceiling rose had been taken off the wall where it was displayed and stuck to the balustrade.
Members of staff have not escaped the ghost’s attentions, one assistant was alone in the warehouse at the back of the shop when she was hit on the head by some paper. She went into the shop to tell the others to stop messing around but they denied all knowledge of it, as she walked back into the empty warehouse she was again hit by the bit of paper so this time she picked it up and threw it back, only to see it come flying back towards her.
Mrs Pocock’s suspicions were confirmed when a lady visited to buy wallpaper, “I was standing at the counter one day when a customer came in with a young man, she looked around the shop for a bit and came over. She said ‘Would you mind if I told you something’ and all the hair on the back of my neck stood up, she said ‘Did you know there is a presence in the shop, he is standing by the door’. ”
“She said she was a spiritualist in Hinckley and described the man, he’s an old fashioned butcher with a blue striped apron tied in the middle, a bowler hat, a big tummy, a gammy little finger on his right hand and a bad knee.” Mrs Pocock has spoken to quite a few of the older people who walk past the shop and has discovered the building used to be home to the Co-op and that it had a butchers department inside. “Where the butchers department was is where most of the activity goes on.” The butcher, who was called William, seemed to match the description given by the spiritualist.
In the two years they have been at the shop nearly everyone has seen or experienced something but no-one has left because of it. Mrs Pocock says this is because “He’s friendly, he doesn’t make people feel uncomfortable.”
She would very much like to contact the spiritualist who told her about William and hear from people who remember the Co-op and William the butcher. If you think you can help contact the Hinckley Herald.
Hinckley Herald and Journal, 21st July 1994.
Staff scared by ghostly goings-on at local store.
Ghostly goings on have got staff at the Wallpaper Warehouse in Hinckley pleasantly spooked. Sharon Pocock, the manageress at the store on the Hollycroft Road, firmly believes that the place is haunted. She said “The first thing we ever saw was a mark on the floor for three days running before we even opened the shop. Something was dripping onto the floor and it was sticky because I remembe rcleaning it up.”
There have been other unexplained occurrences, such as the messing up of paint tins, toilet rolls being stacked up, and wallpaper rolls moving around at night. The shop was opened one morning to reveal a ceiling rose which had been removed from the wall where it was displayed, and stuck to the balustrade.
At times, the ghost’s attentions have become a bit more personal. An assistant was alone at the back of the shop when she was hit by a piece of paper. When her colleagues denied all knowledge of it, she returned to the empty warehouse and was again hit by the paper. This time she picked it up and threw it back, only to see it flying back towards her.
Mrs Pocock’s suspicions were confirmed when she met a mysterious spiritualist. She said “I was standing at the counter one day when a customer came in, looked around the shop for a bit and came over. She said, ‘Would you mind if I told you something’ and all the hair on the back of my neck stood up. She said ‘Did you know there is a presence in the shop, he is standing by the door.’ She said she was a spiritualist in Hinckley and described the man as an old fashioned butcher, with a blue striped apron, a bowler hat, a big tummy, a gammy little finger on his right hand and a bad knee.” Mrs Pocock has learned from several local older people that the shop used to be home to the Co-op and that it had a butchers department inside. She said “Where the butchers department was is where most of the activity goes on.” The old butcher was called William, and seemed to fit the description given by the spiritualist.
Since the shop has been there nearly everyone has had some sor tof ghostly experience with William the Butcher, but it hasn’t driven anyone to leave. Mrs Pocock said “This is because he’s friendly, he doesn’t make people feel uncomfortable.”
Hinckley Herald and Journal, 22nd February 1996.