Ghost busters!
Strange goings on at army surplus store.
By Lesley Sleight.
Weird and strange happenings at Andrew Wood’s bikers’ spares shop in Norwood are enough to send icy cold chills down the spines of even the most hardened ghost-busters. For upstairs in the Army Surplus showroom, is a presence that is definitely surplus to requirements. A spook is in residence in the shadows, harmless enough, but full of mischief as it causes things not just to go bump in the night, but during the day as well.
And its eerie charms are wearing a bit pale with the Woods and their partner Tim Coles, as it sends unmovable boxes flying from shelves, setting them gently down in the middle of the room, moves things about, turns off the showroom lights and gently closes the door. It even activates electronic heat sensors, immune to dust, and sensitive to heat and movement.
“It’s all a bit much,” sighed Andrew. “Not that we are scared of the thing, but it is definitely spooky. Heavy boxes that could not possibly fall off the shelves suddenly appear in the middle of the shop. If they had fallen they would have landed directly beneath the shelf – not yards away in the middle of the floor, it’s just not possible.”
But it must be, because that’s just what happens. And all the time! “Really heavy motorbike spares have also been moved from the shelves. If they had fallen they would have gone with a thump and been damaged, but never since we took over the shop – and the spook – a year ago, has anything been damaged. Only last week an Army helmet which was well secured to the wall upstairs came bounding across the floor. We were downstairs with a customer and heard the bangs. The woman asked what had happened and we told her it was only the ghost. She couldn’t get out of the shop fast enough.”
Neither Andrew, his wife Yvonne, or Tim, have seen any manifestations, but quite recently there was a strange occurrence with the Wood’s two-and-a-half year old daughter, Jennifer. Jennifer was sitting in her buggy staring towards the ceiling, pointing and laughing. “She was fascinated,” said Yvonne. “But we didn’t know what with. When we asked her what she could see she pointed to the ceiling, laughed and said ‘look at the pretty lights’. There was nothing there. It was really weird.”
And while Andrew and Tim insist they are not frightened by the phantom they do confess to sterring clear of the upstairs showroom at night. And he’s not on his own in his reluctance to mount the rickety stairs – his dog won’t either. There’s no clue to the identity of the lost soul. It came with the premises which are about 100 years old and stood derelict for six years before the Woods, and the spook, moved in.
Beverley Weekly Journal, 1st December 1988.