Family lives in terror – of a ghost. By Jacinta Towndrow.
A South Humberside family is living in fear – of a ghost. And now mother-of-three Joyce Staight is hoping a vicar can rid her of the problem she has lived with for more than six months. The Staight family say the ghost – a woman – has made their lives a misery at their council home in Martins Close, Barrow, which is built over an Anglo-Saxon burial ground.
A series of unexplained incidents has left a mark on the family’s health, but Mrs Staight today vowed: “This is my home and nothing is going to push me out.” The occurrences have become so regular that her 14-year-old son is too terrified to stay in the house at night. And her youngest son, Edward (two), repeatedly wakes up in the middle of the night screaming and crying.
The mysterious happenings came to a head yesterday afternoon. Mrs Staight recalled: “I had tucked Edward up in his cot after bringing him back from the doctor’s. Later I heard him shouting ‘go away, go away’. When I went upstairs to see him there was nothing there.
Mrs Staight says the weird happenings started shortly after the family moved into the 12-year-old house. She went on: “I am convinced that this is a female ghost and she is watching over Edward for some reason. She is not evil, just a pest. It is like she is jealous of me because, whenever I go near his cot, I feel tremendous build-up of pressure in my head and I go cold.”
Mrs Staight watches over a sleeping Edward.
Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 26th March 1991.
Strange happenings in a quiet cul-de-sac.
Mysterious goings-on have been reported in this Barrow council house. Reporter Cinta Towndrow describes what the family living there say has occurred – and what happened to her last night.
The beginnings in the quiet Barrow cul-de-sac began with a video recorder breaking down. Within weeks the television, kettle and radio all stopped working and the washing machine had to be replaced. Joyce Staight put it down to coincidence – until she felt her quilt being pulled off her bed one night. The same thing happened to her 14-year-old son, Marcus. Now, after repeated incidents, he is too frightened to sleep in the house.
During the six months the family have lived in the house they have experienced: Quilts being dragged off beds at night; Furniture being moved around the house at night; Mysterious sounds, including footsteps in the hall; Centrally heated rooms suddenly becoming icy cold; Light switches being flicked on and off; A strong floral smell, like violets, whenever something is about to happen.
“At first I just put it down to my imagination, but the more it continued the more I began to think about it,” explained Joyce. “I have been trying to do this place up, but I have been left so exhausted after nights in this house that I cannot find the energy to do it.” She is convinced that the presence is a female spirit, which is deeply unhappy and remains close to her youngest son, Edward.
“He keeps waking up in the middle of the night screaming,” she said. “When he does he feels cold and clammy and the room is freezing cold. This whole thing just keeps us awake at night. It has reached the stage now where it is affecting the whole family’s health. I just want this whole thing to end and for us to be left in peace.”
Stunned by a sob.
I stood in the child’s bedroom and felt uneasy. Something was watching me. I moved nearer to the cot where two-year-old Edward Staight was sleeping and the temperature plummeted. The room in the warm house felt as if someone had opened a freezer door. I felt my whole body tingle as if something had passed right through me. An unexplained sadness began welling up inside me. I stood there with tears brimming in my eyes and then I felt genuine terror for the first time in my life. A tremendous pressure filled my head, and, gripped by terror and blind panic, I ran from the room.
I am one of the most cynical people and look hard to find a sensible, rational explanation for reports of ghosts, UFOs and other unexplained phenomena. But this time I am at a loss for an earthly explanation. It took the spine-tingling encounter with a presence from beyond the grave and three mysterious sobbing noises on a tape recorder to convince me that ghosts do exist.
The tape recorder had been left running on the bed next to Joyce Staight’s youngest son’s cot. The child had earlier in the day been heard telling something to go away, and we thought we might capture a similar experience on tape. Nothing could have prepared us for what we heard when we played the tape back. In the background myself, photographer Brian Frith, Joyce and her neighbour Jean could be heard chatting downstairs. The tape started to slow down. Then a noise like a sob or a sharp intake of breath could be heard. It was a woman’s sob. For those of you who read this and mock, thinking it is a reporter over-dramatising and over-sensationalising to get a good story – think again.
Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 26th March 1991.
Minister’s prayers command spirit to leave Barrow house.
Ghostly terror rests in peace. by Marcus Gardham.
The ghost which a Barrow family claim has terrorised them for six months has vanished, thanks to the prayers of a Cleethorpes priest. The Rev. Frederick Grossmith, of the Church of the Nazarene, led prayers commanding a female spirit to leave Joyce Staight’s home in St Martin’s Close. And members of the Staight family, who have experienced a series of disturbing incidents since moving into their 12-year-old house, are now returning to normal life after their ordeal.
“It’s my home again,” said Mrs Staight. “I feel to be floating all the tiem and there’s a lovely warm feeling in the house.” She added: “I just want to forget about it now and get on with my life. The children are back to their normal selves. They are happy children again.”
Mrs Staight, her three sons and Evening Telegraph reporter Jacinta Towndrow, who spent a night in the house last week, all felt the presence of a ghost which made noises, moved furniture and left heated rooms freezing cold. The horror culminated on Tuesday night with an incident so bad that Mrs Staight is still unwilling to talk about it.
And Mr Grossmith, who has dealt with around 100 similar incidents in the last 20 years, was strongly affected by th ehouse when he visited. He said: “When I went into the living room, where the central heating was on, I went frozen down one side and felt a terrible pain in my leg. I always get a headache when somethin gis there, but when I went into the little boy’s bedroom, where some of the worst experiences have happened, I felt that something had put my head in a vice.” But, following the prayer meeting, he is confident the house is at peace again. He and three members of his congregation joined in prayers with Mrs Staight and two neighbours aware of the terror.
“We commanded the spirit in the name of Jesus Christ to leave the house and go to the place Christ has reserved for it,” said Mr Grossmith. “We sat for around 30 minutes. I explained that we don’t have any magic ourselves but we do have authority in the name of Jesus Christ. And Mrs Staight did openly and verbally accept Christ before we prayed.”
Nothing has been heard of the ghost since that meeting. The family is hoping to arrange a final prayer session in Barrow to lay it to rest once and for all.
Mr Grossmith- felt pain in leg.
Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 1st April 1991.