The Ghost Of Bridge Street.
A Hadleigh family have spoken of how their home has been taken over by the ghostly presence of a small boy who smashes crockery, frightens visitors and terrorises their small dog. The ghostly activity began in January only days after Tolly and Shirley Solvey and their five children moved into their three bedroomed Victorian cottage in Bridge Street, Hadleigh.
“We first noticed something was not right here one Sunday afternoon,” said Mrs Solvey. “We were arranging the furniture in the dining room when suddenly the dresser moved forward and fell on my ten-year-old son Mark.” The Solvey’s claim since that afternoon cups unhook themselves and are dashed to the floor, followed by glasses, saucers and plates as if lifted forward and then dropped by unseen hands.
“Sometimes we watch and cups seem to struggle to get off the hooks as if a small child was standing on a chair and almost over-reaching to get them down,” claims Mrs Solvey. “So far we have lost about two hundred pounds worth of crockery: we shall soon have to start buying unbreakable things.” Mr Solvey says, “Sometimes it turns its attention to the children. They will be holding a cup or plate when suddenly something will grab it from their hands and smash it on the floor. The dog is absolutely terrified of it. It sniffs around some unseen object and then dashes off upstairs and hides under one of the beds.”
The five children, Sharon, 12; Mark, 10; Alisa-Jane, 8; Letonya, 3; and Darrell, 2; have mixed feelings about the ghost. “The kids generally are not frightened by it. In fact, they call him Ferdinand,” said Mrs Solvey. “Although Mark is not sure about it since the dresser fell on him. The two smaller children are quite unperturbed by it all. They regard him more as a playmate and talk to him. I’m convinced it’s the ghost of a small child of about eight because it does mischievous things. I also think it’s a boy because toys mysteriously disappear and reappear days later in a different place, but they are always boys toys like cars, never dolls.”
Now the Solvey’s claim the latest inexplicable incident in the house involves the electric lights. “I always turn the lights off downstairs last thing at night myself,” said Mrs Solvey, “but they are always on in the morning. Also, both a painter and my husband on separate occasions have had light bulbs thrown at them in the bathroom.” “I’ve checked those lights myself in the bathroom,” added Mr Solvey, “they are the bayonet type and there is no way they would fall out on their own.”
But it’s not just the Solveys who claim to have experienced the ghostly activity. Babysitters have also had eerie moments in the house. Mrs Candy Linden, 25, of Hadleigh, was babysitting late one night when she heard a noise as if someone had opened the door to the room where she was watching television. The next thing she saw was the shape of an indentation in the cushion on the settee beside her as if someone had sat down. Another babysitter Carolyn Smith, 17, of Lyham, has also witnessed ghostly incidents. “I got this funny sort of feeling the first time I came into the house,” said Carolyn. “The vibrations are very strong. I get the feeling it is a small child. I walked into the dining room the first day Mr and Mrs Solvey moved in and I could feel this cold shape behind me and I was definitely touched on the shoulder, but no one was in the room. It was an icy touch and I didn’t like it. I’ve been here alone some nights and I’ve actually seen crockery come off the dresser. Sometimes it seems to hold one cup and rattle all the others. There’s also something wrong with the pantry door which leads off the dining room. It just will not keep shut. I’ve even put chairs in front of it but when I go back the chair has been moved and the door is open again. I don’t like it when it becomes violent and then it frightens me but normally it’s just playful and mischievous.”
Pictured (from left to right) are Alisa-Jane, 8; Letonya, 3; Sharon, 12; and babysitter Carolyn Smith, 17; with some of the crockery they claim has been destroyed by paranormal means.
Mrs Shirley Solvey and two of her children – Sharon, 12, and March, 10, with the dresser said to be a focal point in the alleged haunting.
Suffolk and Essex Free Press, 2nd April 1981.