A Ghost Story.
A Brigg correspondent says that some of the inhabitants of Change Alley, Wrawby-street, Brigg, have lately complained of nocturnal noises, and one night they called in a policeman, stating that there were sounds as of someone running up and down the stairs. The officer on entering the house could neither hear not see anything to cause alarm, but his assurances did not allay the inmates’ dread of impending evil.
Suspicion was aroused that something was wrong in an adjoining unoccupied dwelling, which many years ago was a lodging house. Part of the floor of this building was dug up, and there were discovered a number of bones, some of which are said to be human remains, whilst about others there seems to be considerable doubt. People are now connecting the sounds with this discovery, and so terrified were one family that they have removed.
Manchester Evening News, 15th June 1901.
Priest calls an end to flat’s ghostly goings-on.
A century-old ghost may be haunting a Brigg flat where the two tenants have called in a priest after a series of “unexplained happenings”. These include: A cascade of water streaming down an interior wall; A cassette which went haywire and tuned itself into the radio; An unusual spell of the telephone going on the blink despite an assurance from British Telecom that the line was in perfect order; And, most unnerving of all, a ‘horrible groaning noise’ in the middle of the night.
Two girls who share the flat had read the story of the ghost that was said to have haunted No. 56 Wrawby Street and the adjoining premises – the former offices of the now-defunct Lincolnshire and South Humberside Times. One of them, Nadine O’Neill, moved into the refurbished flat about five weeks ago. Everything was normall until she was joined by friend Rachel.
“When I saw water streaming down the wall I thought there must be some flooding from the flat upstairs, possibly a tap that had been left running,” said Nadine. “I went upstairs to enquire but there was nothing there that could have caused any flooding. When I came down again, the wall was quite dry.”
It was that unearthly groaning in the middle of the night that proved to be the last straw.”We were both terrified and on top of everything else that had been happening, we seriously thought about moving out. Then I thought about getting a priest in,” said Nadine.
Fr. Roger Maher, of St Mary’s, recited prayers and blessed the house, leaving the girls with a crucifix and holy water. This week the girls said that peace had been restored at the flat. There had been no untoward incident since Fr. Maher’s visit.
No. 56 Wrawby Street has long been associated with the ghost of a certain Dr. Abbott, who committed suicide on the premises.
Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 25th June 1994.