Old hat factory ghost reappears – 34 years after exorcism.
Workers at a Bedworth engineering firm are convinced their factory is haunted. A shadowy figure has been seen numerous times at G.H. Wilson Engineering in Bulkington Road, Bedworth. Footsteps have been heard on the stone stairs leading to the offices – and there are tapping sounds on the enquiries hatch window every night.
“There is definitely something here,” said Chris Westhead, who has worked in the offices since April. “I am convinced of it. Once, I was in the lathe room when I saw this black figure cross the room and disappear through a blocked-up door.”
The building was once part of Wootton’s hat factory where countless Bedworth people worked long hours years ago. Thirty-four years ago, an exorcism was held in another part of the building, then used by Coventry Hood and Sidescreen. Workers complained of a ‘hoodoo’ after a series of inexplicable events.
“I reckon they must have moved whatever it was to here,” said Mrs Westhead. “It is a creepy place and nobody wants to stay here at night. The figure I saw was human sized and dressed in black and although the light can play tricks, I definitely saw it.”
Sounds of someone – or somethin g- tapping on the enquiries hatch window occur at around the same time each night. “It’s usually between five o’clock and half past six. We heard sounds like somebody walking up the stairs and then the tapping noise,” she said. “But when we open the window there is nothing to be seen.”
The company’s clocking-in machine has also worked on its own and a padlock once undid itself and fell to the floor – while one man was working a few feet away. Other workers have reported incidents over the years. “Whatever it is, it is not malevolent,” said Mrs Westhead. “But I would love to know exactly what it is.”
Company secretary John Thompson is also convinced there is a ‘presence’ in the building. He said: “There is something – a ghost, poltergeist or something similar. Too many sensible, honest and straightforward have experienced it for it not to be true.”
One of the first people to experience a strange happening at the factory was Steve Ward, who once ran what was his family business. “I heard a noise coming up the stairs and then the tapping on the window,” he said. “I shouted ‘come in’ but nothing happened. Then I went outside and saw this shadowy, black figure going down the stairs. Thinking it was somebody who shouldn’t have been on the premises, I chased it, but it had gone.”
The day an exorcism halted a Bedworth workforce.
Supernatural happenings were reported on the old Wootton’s hat factory site 34 years ago. On Friday, October 5th, 1956, a remarkable event took place in a part of the building then used by Coventry Hood and Sidescreen. Workers had complained of a ‘hoodoo’ in the factory in Hosiery Street off Bulkington Lane, Bedworth. Clergymen took the unprecedented step of holding a service of blessing in the trim shop. The service was conducted by Canon Bennett, Industrial Chaplain to the Coventry Diocese. He walked around the premises and blessed each department and his words were relayed to the 170 people attending the service. In a short address to them he said: “If there is any hoodoo in any part of the factory as some of you say, we ask God to drive it right away.” The ‘hoodoo’ fears grew after the sudden deaths of two directors of the firm and a foreman.
Canon Bennett said: “I have been told by some of th emen, tough but very friendly types, that they feel there is a hoodoo on part of the factory.” He said he believed the service was the first of its kind to be held in the Coventry Diocese. Canon Bennett was assisted by the Reverend Will Maggs, Rector of Bedworth. The Reverend Maggs led the hymn singing on an accordian he had carried around in the days when he was a missionary in Burma. Mr Maggs said he had been given permission to visit the factory on a regular basis. “We feel we have the kind of message that can bring peace to troubled hearts,” he said. The Reverend Geraint James, curate at Bedworth Parish Church, also took part. Among those present was Mr H.B.Dunn, managing director of Coventry Hood and Sidescreen.
Bedworth Echo, 2nd August 1990.
Is my home haunted by Wootton’s ghost?
More strange happenings in house next to old hat factory.
Insurance salesman Richard Menham feels his Bedworth home is also haunted by the ‘ghost’ of old Wootton’s hat factory. His house in Bulkington Road is attached to what was once the hat factory where strange happenings have occurred. He has been affected by a series of inexplicable occurrences since he moved there four years ago. “It’s weird,” he said, “and it is making me wonder if they are all connected. My house must have been built at the same time as the factory and people have told me that old man Wootton lived in it.”
He contacted the Echo after we published a story in our August 2nd issue about a ‘shadowy figure’ and strange happenings at G.H. Wilson Engineering which is housed in part of the old hatting works. We also reported on the exorcism held 34 years ago at what was Coventry Hood and Sidescreen in another part of the building.
A sales manager with an insurance company, Mr Mendham, who is 25, listed a catalogue of strange events. A ‘coldness’ occurs, usually in the kitchen, even on the warmest of days. Doors shut on their own and knocking sounds are heard. His music centre suddenly turned itself over from compact disc to tape while he was out of the room. Ornaments and mirrors have been moved while he has been out. He has come home from work to find the front door – which he always locks – opened. An alarm clock in a dustbin bag went off without being set. His electric meter suddenly sounded as if it has been ‘speeded up.’ The top of his vosene shampoo bottle is continually being removed and put on the side of the sink.
“Lots of little things have happened over the years and when I read the Echo I wondered if there was any connection,” he said. “One of the strangest experiences is the ‘coldness’ that comes over certain parts of the house for no reason. But the only time I have been really worried is when I was feeding my two kittens, who are 15 months old. I suddenly went cold and had goose pimples and the kittens arched their backs with their tails bushed and their teeth showing. The coldness went as quickly as it came and they returned to normal. I have never seen a shadowy figure or anything like that. Apart from the incident with the cats, there has been nothing scary.”
Richard Mendham outside his home in Bulkington Road, Bedworth, where he has also experienced strange happenings to those reported in the old Wootton’s hat factory next door.
Bedworth Echo, 16th August 1990.