Grimsby family quits house: It’s haunted, they say.
By Marjorie Stephenson.
No. 1, Newton-grove is a solidly built council house on the Nunsthorpe estate; a family house in a terrace of similar homes built almost half a century ago. “An ideal house,” thought Mr and Mrs Edward Barningham when they took it over 12 months ago. Ideal because with its four bedrooms, two reception, kitchen and bathroom there was plenty of space for their family of three daughters, teenage son, baby grand-daughter and the family pets. Delighted, they moved in from a little terrace house over the Marsh. Mrs Barningham and her daughters enjoyed themselves, as women do, choosing fitted carpets, having velvet curtains made and turning the house into a home.
But now the Barninghams are back “over the Marsh” again. They have left their ideal home to live with their youngest daughter, Joan, her husband and baby daughter in a two-up and two-down house in Ayscough-street – because they are frightened.
The house in Newton-grove is still completely furnished. Frilled drapes are at the windows, flowers on the tables and baby Debbie’s toys in the living room. Upstairs in the wardrobes and drawers, the family have left much of their clothing. The rent is still paid regularly. They have been driven out of the place where they had hoped to settle by what they believe to be a poltergeist.
Ted Barningham, a steel erector, is very much a family man who works hard during the week and enjoys his pint on a Saturday night. He is also a devout Roman Catholic, an intelligent man interested in local politics. Not at all the type of man to be frightened by things that go bump in the night… But after all he and his family have been subjected to over the past 12 months, he is a puzzled man. “For most of the time I tried to find a logical explanation for what was happening,” he told me. “But in the end I have had to admit that it is not at all natural. I have been forced, reluctantly, to the conclusion that there is something not of this world in that house.”
Looking back, Mrs Joan Barningham told me, the first indication that all was not well came when they moved in. Lady, 14-years-old Teddy’s dog, howled at nights. They put that down to the fact that she was in a strange house. Then the family began to notice that lights were switched on in unoccupied rooms. Each blamed the other for leaving the lights on. But then came the day when everyone was out and returned to find lights on in many of the rooms. It was when Mr Barningham went away to work earlier this year that things really started humming.
Mrs Barningham said: “Every time I touched a light switch the fuse would blow. Most nights we were in darkness and had to use candles. So many fuses blew it was ridiculous. They were going almost every day; when my husband telephoned home at nights I would tell him we were in darkness again.” She said the fuses were not just blowing, they were melting. It was impossible for a member of the family to replace them.
Grimsby Corporation electricians were called in. They, in turn, brought in Yorkshire Electricity Board men. As fuses continued to blow, the corporation rewired certain parts and eventually the whole of the house. “But it was still no better. Fuses would go immediately and we were still left in darkness,” Mrs Barningham went on. “Electricians were in the house almost daily. I was buying fuses continuously; on one occasion when I brought some straight home from a shop in Second-avenue, they fused as they lay on the sideboard.”
Eventually, the Y.E.B. took the extreme step of sealing all the lampholders and plugs in the house. From then on there were no more fusing, although lights would still be switched on mysteriously in various rooms. And added to this, said the family, would be sounds of footsteps on the stairs… doors would open and there would be nobody there.
About this time, Mrs Barningham said, her bedroom was attacked. She got up one morning, opened the curtains and went downstairs. Soon afterwards she was called upstairs by her daughter, Susan, to find the curtains drawn, light blazing, wardrobe door open, and contents spilled on to the floor and bedclothes pulled off the bed. Soon after this, she continued, she was sitting downstairs when one of her daughters smelled gas coming from the kitchen – and the cooker was found to be turned on. And a little later, when she was reading in the living room, she discovered that the gas fire had been turned on. She said: “There was no one in the house who could have done it – and I certainly had not… This is when we really began to get frightened. Before that it had been a bit of a joke. We had tried to look at it sensibly and find a logical answer. But now it was getting serious. I was afraid of the gas being turned on while we were all asleep.”
From this time on the family moved in convoy about the house. Each kept an eye on the other. And several times they all slept downstairs. Soon after this they packed up and left.
Judy Barningham (22) who is manageress at the Excel Bowling Alley, Cleethorpes, claims that she was sitting in the living room one day when the knob of the gas cooker “just left the cooker and disappeared.” Last week, when she went back to the house, the knob was on top of newspapers which had just been delivered. She told me: “When I saw the knob go I took up a crucifix and rushed into the kitchen shouting. It was as if all hell was let loose upstairs.” Judy said she often swore and shouted at “the ghost,” and the more she shouted, the more agitated “it” became.
One night when she went to the house with a group of friends, they saw a peculiar glow from an upstairs window. When they went inside there was nothing there. She said: “All along I have believed that there was something supernatural in the house, but the rest of the family used to laugh at me. Now they don’t.”
Mr Barningham said: “I am not only interested in my family, I want to get peace for whatever is in that house.” Mrs Barningham commented: “I will not go back to live in that house again.” A Y.E.B. official who dealt with the trouble said: “We have done everything possible to solve the problem. Technically, there is nothing wrong with the house.” A similar comment came from a Grimsby Corporation official who said: “The place has been thoroughly tested and no faults found.”
Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 19th August 1967.
Is ghostly reputation justified? Richard Kershaw.
The Nunsthorpe Estate has, for a long time, had the reputation of being haunted… by a monk. Is it a true ghost or has it just been used as a tool to get rehoused by unhappy tenants? Rumours have circulated the town of how the estate was built on the site of the old monastery. After looking over old charts in the library it has now been learned that the estate was actually built on cornfields, nothing more. Events do seem to correspond in some of the cases, however. So, is it true or false, that conclusion is left for you to decide.
Case one is on Kirkstead Crescent in 1959. This particular house had an unfamiliar smell and tall shadowy figures were seen. The council investigated and decided to rehouse the family. Later that year another family moved in and never had a problem.
Case two was situated in Newton Grove. The occupiers did not report any sort of aspiration [sic], but they did have severe electrical problems. Doors opened and shut themselves. The council rewired the house, the YEB checked the property but could not find anything wrong. The council once again rehoused the family. Nothing further was heard from the new residents.
Case three is in Langton Drive. This was not reported but kept in the family. Mrs Scott, now deceased, complained about how deadly cold the house was. And then she told family members about how she had seen a tall man who knelt by the bed and looked as if he was tending a grave.
Case four, this was the most publicised of them all. It has become known as the Langton Drive ghost, but the property is actually situated on Sutcliffe Avenue. Over a period of two years four people saw the apparition. It was identified in each sighting as being a monk. A well-known ghosthunter from Mablethorpe came in to investigate but found nothing. Later a type of exorcism was carried out. In the end the council found a family to exchange with the occupiers.
Case five was in Redbourne Road. This took place in 1989 but this family owned the property. Things were thrown at a family member sleeping in the bedroom, doors opened and shut themselves, cold spots were felt on the stairs. They, too, had electrical problems and ended up being rewired by the YEB at great expense. The problems never stopped, but nothing serious has happened since this time and things seem to be settling down.
A lot of details given. And certain of the cases seemed to be within seven or eight years of each other. From this it would appear that the ghost or whatever it is shows itself at intervals. It does not stay in one place for years as a lot of ghosts do. It stays within the boundaries of what was the cornfield, so can we take it the monks from the monastery that was actually situated near the centre of the town used to work in these fields. Or is it seeing to the grave of an acquaintance that was buried in the area. That would seem to explain why all of the sightings mentioned that the figure was either kneeling or was stooped.
We can only speculate as to what the problem is. People have seen it but others have had problems that cannot be disputed. Eventually someone will find the truth and someone will gain real evidence as to the existence of this parapsychological entity. But all we can do for now is to report on the facts given and draw our own conclusions.
Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 28th May 1994.