Family flee home of terror.
Hauntings go back 10 years.
A terrified mother-of-four has fled her council house claiming it is haunted. The woman pleaded with council officials to re-house her after strange goings-on at her ordinary-looking three-bedroomed house in Church. The frightened mum, who has asked not to be identified for the sake of her children, complained of poltergeist activity. She terminated her tenancy and is now living a quarter-of-a-mile away in a terraced house where she declined to talk about the matter.
It is understood a medium was called in to exorcise the premises but according to neighbours the ceremony was unsuccessful. The house in Queensway is now empty, the net curtains drawn closed to hide the mysterious happenings. But the Observer has traced another family who suffered similar eerie experiences in the same house a decade ago!
The previous tenant recalled the nightmare of bizarre events that finally made her quit her home. She said: “One time when I was in bed I saw this big shape looming over me. I automatically thought I was dreaming but later on I discovered that my daughter had seen it too. It kept returning to haunt us. I used to feel a cold hand on my forehead and hear strange noises. My son was affected the worst. His guitar used to play on its own and he was so frightened upstairs that he would only go into one bedroom – and he didn’t feel altogether safe in that. Eventually we gave up fighting it and moved. As soon as my son stepped foot in this new house he said it was ok – the ghost had stayed away.”
The woman, who does not want to be named, said that on the day she finally moved she went upstairs to find her bath filling rapidly with water. Unable to turn off the taps, she ran to a neighbour for help and the only way they could stop the water was to find the stop cock. She said: “As I was about to leave for the last time I found I could not budge the front door. It would not open so I had to go out through the back. Puzzled, I returned the following day to see if there was anything wrong with the lock. I put my key in and it turned quite normally. I shut it quickly and left – and I’ve never been back.”
Neighbours in Queensway have been reluctant to speak out about the happenings but many are aware of the strange phenomena that have forced the young mum to flee. There is a theory that maybe a tragedy had taken place in years gone by in old mine workings underground.
Hyndburn’s Director of Housing, Mr Edgar Bignell, confirmed yesterday that the woman had gone into the housing office in such a desperate state that officials were worried about her. He said: “She gave notice to terminate her tenancy and the reason she gave was that she felt the place was haunted. She was in a very distressed condition. Our staff know nothing about such issues so it was difficult to weigh it up. But they were sure that the woman was convinced about it. It was certainly a cry for help that was so persuasive it was difficult not to believe her. It’s all beyond my scope as a housing officer because I have no control over such phenomena.”
This is the ordinary council house in Queensway, Church, where two families have been terrified by unexplained happenings. Have you lived in the house or can you shed any light on the strange occurrences? If so, please ring our news desk.
Accrington Observer and Times, 1st October 1993.
Ghostbuster Terry steps in.
Ghost expert Terence Whitaker was this week called in to investigate Hyndburn’s most haunted house. The Burnley-based author is pictured climbing the steps of the house in Queensway, Church, from which a young mother-of-four fled in terror last week. Terence thought that most of the spooky happenings could be explained by natural causes as the house was built on top of old mine workings.
But he conceded that there could have been some poltergeist activity linked to the presence of young children in the house.
However, a THIRD family came forward this week to say they too had been terrified by ghostly happenings while living in the house. This means that three of the four tenants since th ehouse was built have had frightening experiences there.
Families tell of more weird happenings at spooky semi.
Ghoulish activity remains a mystery.
Ghostly happenings have been experienced by three of the four families who have ever lived in Hyndburn’s most haunted house. They contacted the Observer after last week’s amazing revelations about the spooky semi in Queensway, Church, from which a young mother-of-four fled in terror. Vivid stories of the weird goings-on at the house prompted its first tenant to relive her five years of horror in the council house, which now stands empty.
Mrs Pauline Moore, now 35, recalled sharing the house with a ghostly shape lurking in the corner of the rooms and more than 20 years later she is still haunted by its memory. She said: “The house was always damp and in one bedroom we had to use a bucket to catch the drips – sometimes ice and snow would drip through even when it was sunny outside.” She revealed that the family was often plagued by a stuck front door, which was experienced by the next tenants and their four children, whose story we told last week.
But an authority on ghosts, Burnley author Terence Whitaker, believes the eerie events can be put down to natural causes. Mr Whitaker, who has written nine books about Britain’s haunted buildings and worked for the BBC, accepted an invitation to tour the premises with the Observer and a representative from Hyndburn Council, which hopes to re-let it. He concluded that many of the things that go bump in the night could be put down to subsidence in a warren of old mine shafts thought to lie beneath the estate. Mr Whitaker said: “Air can start circulating, which could account for all sorts of vibrations and bumps. Subsidence deep below ground could result in eerie noises being heard at ground level, making bumps echo through the house.” He added: “I think it is due to natural causes – no doubt about that.”
But his findings did not explain why one occupant, who lived there for 11 years, regularly felt a cold hand touching her forehead, or why the latest occupant, who begged officials to rehouse her, is reported to have experienced someone tugging at her children’s jumpers.
Only one tenant seems to have lived at the house undisturbed. Mother-of-five Mrs Joan Hesmondhalgh, who now lives in Norfolk Grove, Church, said: “It seemed like a normal house to me, although it was always cold. I put that down to its design.”
Accrington Observer and Times, 8th October 1993.