‘Come and stay a night’ challenge by Sandfields family. By Maggie Errington.
In the fertile soil of our imaginations, ghost stories and legends find plenty of nourishment. Whether we believe in them or not, the whole subject of things that go bump in the night hold a morbid fascination for most of us.
But one Sandfields family is discovering that when ghosts descend from the mythical land of ancient castles and draughty corridors and enter the reality of their neat, orderly home, it’s certainly no joke. Since August last year, mysterious hauntings of the Morris’s council-owned home have held the family in real terror. Now Mr and Mrs Morris and their four children are so frightened they feel they can live no longer in their Citrine Close house. And they’ve issued a challenge to their local councillors – “If you don’t believe us, come and stay in the house one night.”
Mr Billy Morris and his wife Rhona are particularly concerned now because the hauntings seem to have taken a malevolent turn. Wardrobes have crashed from the wall for no apparent reason, furniture has been burnt and one member of the family felt she was being choked. “We’re really frightened now that this poltergeist, spirit or whatever it is, has turned to violence,” Mrs Morris said. “It now seems to be attacking individuals and we’re afraid to go on living here.”
Mrs Morris explained that the hauntings started harmlessly enough last August with mysterious footsteps, the sound of voices in the house, objects being moved and lights being turned on and off. Those the family was prepared to tolerate, but not the increasing threats to their safety. Matters came to a head last week when 13-year-old Wayne Morris went home in his lunch-break to feed the family’s two dogs. There was a sudden loud crash in the upstairs bedrooms and three wardrobes had toppled over. Wayne will no longer stay in the house alone.
On another occasion, an electric fire was blazing when the plug was pulled out and furniture was burnt. A new watch belonging to 18-year-old Gwyn Morris has been flung down the stairs and smashed to pieces and a daughter’s charm bracelet has been torn apart. Always the hauntings are accompanied by a foul, choking smell.
Some members of the family have seen an apparition. “We have seen a shape, grey in colour and the size of a football, floating across the room. It comes quite close to us and then vanishes,” Mrs Morris said. “It hovers in the air. John, my son, has seen it through a mirror.” The family’s dog, Kim, is also sensitive to the hauntings and refuses to go upstairs. “It’s as if the ghost is trying to catch us out. It will lie low for a few weeks and just as we begin to think it’s gone, something else will happen. We just don’t know what to believe, there seems to be no explanation. I’m a pretty matter-of-fact person but now I’m at my wits’ end. I know people will find it hard to believe, but I challenge anyone to spend a night here,” Mrs Morris said.
The family has received visits from two local churchmen. The Morrises have lived in the 20-year-old house for the past seven years. Coun. Bill Jones, the family’s local councillor, said he took the matter seriously and the family’s request for a new home was under consideration. “I had an open mind on the subject when I visited the house, but I didn’t have an open mind when I left,” he said. “I am convinced that the Morrises are not making it up.” He said he was concerned that the story had leaked out.
Port Talbot Guardian, 3rd March 1977.
We’re happy in ‘ghost’ house – say family.
Mrs Mary Jones is very happy with her new home at Citrine Close, in Sandfields, and is annoyed that people do not seem to accept that the reputedly strange happenings that once earned the house a reputation for being haunted, have not been in evidence since she took up residence with her family several months ago.
Mrs Jones moved from another part of the estate with her husband, Bryn, and five children last October. She said she had been informed by officials of Afan Borough Council that previous tenants had experienced mysterious events during their stay, but had been assured these had been investigated thoroughly, and everything was found to be in order. She said: “We were desperate for a house, and willing to take a chance. Personally, I don’t believe in ghosts, and I can honestly say it is great here. There is nothing wrong with the house, and it is very annoying when people keep coming on to me and referring to its history. The children are also getting it at school, especially my oldest boy, and a rumour has started around the estate that we want to move from here. This is certainly not true, and we are all very happy and contented with our new home, and can’t find a thing wrong.
“The housing manager told me about the history of the house before we moved in, but I did not realise then it was the same house there had been so much publicity about. He assured me that the strange occurrances experienced by the previous tenants had been investigated thoroughly, and that there was nothing there.”
The house hit the headlines in March of last year, when the previous tenants complained of experiencing a series of unexplained events, adn were convinced a poltergeist was active on the premises. Mr Billy Morris, his wife Rhona, and four children were eventually rehoused by Afan Borough Council, who felt that the distress obviously experienced by the family was affecting their health. During the period of mysterious hauntings the house received visitors from several local churchmen.
Neath Guardian, 23rd February 1978.