Things that go bump.
By Nicola Pittam.
Strange noises in the night have prompted a Blackthorn woman to appeal for help in tracing the history of her home – because she believes she has a poltergeist. Edna Watkins, 58, who lives alone in Wysall Road has often heard loud noises and the sound of a woman crying coming from one of her bedrooms in the early hours of the morning. But her detached house is only between eight and ten years old and there are no records from the past which she can trace. Now she is appealing for help in finding out the history of the site her house is built on.
Mrs Watkins said: “The noises started just after I moved in here about four years ago. They have got louder and more frequent and this week I heard a woman’s voice. I would like to find out if anything happened here before the house was built so I can understand what is going on.”
The incidents always seem to occur on still moonlit nights and a few weeks can pass between ‘visits’. Mrs Watkins says she is not frightened but admits she dare not go into the room when the poltergeist is making the noises. “I have been tempted to open the door when I have heard the voice of a middle-aged woman in there,” she said. “But when I have got to the door, I just daren’t open it.”
Mrs Watkins has also thought about having the room exorcised and is inviting any local priests who are able to carry it out to look at the room. She has used the room at various times and people have stayed there – but the poltergeist only seems to manifest when the room is empty late at night.
“It seems strange that I am the only person who has heard the noises,” added Edna.
Anyone who knows the history of the site can contact the Herald & Post newsroom on 0604 24711 ext 2274.
Northampton Herald & Post, 3rd June 1993.
Helping Edna Exorcise.
Offers of help have come flooding in to help Edna Watkins get rid of her poltergeist. Mrs Watkins, who lives in Blackthorn, Northampton, appealed in last week’s Herald and Post for help as she believes she has a poltergeist in her home. She has often heard loud noises and crying in one of her bedrooms in the early hours of the morning.
So she decided to appeal for help in tracing the history of the site at Wysall Road. A number of people rang the Herald and Post offering solutions to the history which range from it being an old gypsy site to a burial ground for victims of the Black Death in the 17th Century. Mrs Watkins also said she might be willing to try an exorcism and two ministers have offered to help her out with this.
Northampton Herald and Post, 10th June 1993.