The day a priest saw a bedspread get up and walk downstairs.
By Henry Macrory.
Odd things seemed to be happening to a family living in an ordinary semi-detached house in a city suburb. The husband, a science technician, and his wife, both sensible and level-headed people, complained they were deeply disturbed by the strange atmosphere around them. They spoke of objects moving across rooms of their own accord, and of lights switching themselves on and off. Eventually the couple became so upset that, though not religious, they sought the help of the Church. And now an extraordinary story has emerged of what happened when an Anglican priest visited the house in the Handsworth district of Birmingham to give his assistance.
According to the priest, the Rev. David MacInnes, 44, preceptor of Birmingham Cathedral, a bedspread suddenly got up off the bed, walked down the stairs as if on legs, and threw itself angrily against the front door. It happened, he says, in full view of himself and members of the family after he called at the house to say prayers. And his astonishing account has now been given full backing by the Bishop of Aston, the Rt. Rev. Mark Green. The 59-year-old bishop, who visited the house himself and says he sensed its odd atmosphere, is so sure of the story’s authenticity that he told it last weekend to a 500-strong confirmation congregation at Solihull, Warks, during a reference in his sermon to the after-life.
He said later: “There is absolutely no doubt that this happened. I did not see the bedspread moving myself, but I have complete faith in the priest and I have met the family. It was one of a number of remarkable events that took place in the house. Five years ago, before I became a bishop, I would not have believed I would ever find myself talking about such things occurring. I never came across them as a parish priest. But as a bishop I have discovered these things do happen because one of my duties is to oversee the way they are dealt with. Also, I think they are more likely to occur in the big cities.”
The day the bedspread appeared to walk downstairs was the culmination of weeks of inexplicable happenings in the house. The bishop said: “At night time a heavy sideboard would move itself across the living-room and block the door. The only way the family could get in the next morning was by breaking through the window. The family were non-believers and not at all inclined to believe in these sort of things, though I think they have changed their minds now.”
What caused the bizarre happenings at the house? The bishop said: “I think it was a disturbed soul. It may have been trying to draw attention to itself and asking for help. The house was 30 or 40 years old, but whether it was the soul of someone who once lived there I don’t know. I’m sure it didn’t mean to harm anyone. David MacInnes and I both said prayers at the house and over a period of weeks the phenomenon gradually subsided.”
Mr MacInnes, who has been a priest in Birmingham for 10 years, confirmed the incident had happened but refused to discuss it. He said: “These things do happen, but I think that making too much of them can create an unhealthy interest. I also want to protect the family involved.”
Sunday Express, 20th February 1977.