Terror-Stricken Women at North Lincs. Village
Bottles and stones thrown at Holton-le-Clay.
“Ghost” evades search parties.
Weird happenings at Holton-le-Clay have so frightened women and girls in the village that they have been too nervous to go out at night alone. The “manifestations” have taken the form of bottles flying around, apparently from nowhere, and bricks, stones and pebbles landing on roofs and flying through windows. Already the villagers have formed parties to try to discover the cause of the trouble, and the fact that they have taken torches, sticks and other weapons, shows that they expect to lay something more substantial than a ghost.
A Mr Lamb, of Tetney-lane, has received a severe wound on the temple from a flying stone, and a Mr Arthur Thompson, of “St Julien,” Tetney-lane has been confined to bed as a result of his expeirences. A Miss Atkinson, living nearby, fainted when a shower of stones descended on her bungalow roof.
Last Sunday night a villager went out with a double-barrelled shot-gun, and although he fired off one or two shots, he appears to have contracted only with thin air. Mr J. Brocklesby, also of “St Julien” told a “Telegraph” reporter today that he had been out at night with his fierce Labrador dog, and had laid a number of “footwires” to try and catch the “ghost.” Mr Brocklesby claims to have seen the “ghost.” He said that when he was out examining the wires in the garden of “St Julien” one night he had just stepped over a wire when he saw a figure in the bushes to the left. A couple of bottles floated through the air soon after.
Mr Lamb, who until yesterday lived next door to Mr Brocklesby, has been keeping a look-out with the latter, and it was on one of these “watches” that he received a nasty gash from a flying stone. Mr Brocklesby said that the trouble occurs roughly between dusk and ten p.m., and only on fine clear nights.
For about three weeks a continuous stream of missiles has fallen apparently “from above.” Windows have been broken by the missiles, and Mr Brocklesby showed a “Telegraph” reporter a pile of broken bottles which had also been thrown. The roof of “St Julien” is still covered with pebbles and stones.
Local police from villages around Holton have gathered in force to investigate the matter, and had organised a group of villagers to keep watch. One evening a group of Grimsby young men set out for Holton, armed with torches and sticks to lay the “ghost.” They were joined by villagers, and a party totalling between 30 and 40 people formed a ring round “St Julien” and the neighbouring bungalows, where the “manifestations” have been worst. The “ghost” managed to get away, however.
Inhabitants of the Tetney-lane will be relieved when the trouble ends. For weeks now they have been living in a continued state of worry.
Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 27th October 1938.
Villagers alarmed.
“Ghost-hunting” expeditions formed.
Stones and bottles thrown.
Mysterious happenings at Holton-le-Clay village, near Grimsby, have so alarmed women folk that they dare not go out alone at night, so the men are organising ghost-hunting expeditions and patrolling the fields and lakes. Showers of stones rattle on roofs, broken bottles crash in gardens, and pebbles patter on window-panes.
Miss Atkinson, who lives in a bungalow, fainted when a shower of stones descended on her roof. Mr Lamb, of Tetney-lane, who ran out of doors when he had a similar experience, was struck on the forehead by a stone and suffered a nasty cut. Mr J Brocklesby, who lives at St Julian, Tetney-lane, pointed to a heap of stones and broken glass which had been hurled at his house. “I laid wire snares and kept watch with my dog,” he said. “I saw a figure which was not ghostlike creeping along the hedge, but a couple of bottles came flying through the air near me and the figure vanished.”
Forty villagers searched on Wednesday night after similar stone-throwing, but saw no culprit.
Nottingham Evening Post, 28th October 1938.
Ghost or man?
Village reign of terror. Searchers eluded.
A few weeks ago the inhabitants of Holton-le-Clay would have laughed had anyone suggested that the village was haunted, but to-day, as a result of a number of mysterious happenings, they are not quite so sure after all that ghosts do not really exist. Weird happenings have so terrified the women and girls that many of them dare not venture outside their homes after dark, for almost every night, after dark, bottles fly around and stones, pebbles and brickbats drop from nowhere far too often on to the heads of innocent passers by.
Windows have been broken and property damaged, and although search parties have been formed and really exhaustive inquiries made, the reign of terror continues. If the “ghost” be some practical joker then all the local people can say is that the person concerned has a strange sense of humour. Ordinary ghosts, which might just haunt the neighbourhood with their heads tucked underneath their arms they could stand for they would not harm anyone, but when physical injuries are inflicted to harmless persons and no one is safe from the unknown danger, the whole matter is beyond a joke.
Some people are absolutely convinced that the root of the trouble lies in the spiritual world, while others of a more practical turn of mind suspect someone with a mental kink. If indeed it turns out to be some person who is responsible for the happenings, it will go very hard for them if they happen to be caught by any of the members of the several search parties which are on the look out.
The fact that search parties arm themselves with heavy sticks, and even shot guns, indicates that the majority of people expect to encounter something more substantial than a shadow. An inhabitant of Tetney Lane, Mr Lamb continued, complained that he had been struck on the temple by a flying stone, which inflicted a severe wound, while Mr A Thompson, of “St Julien,” in the same lane, has had to take to his bed as a result of his experiences. A lady, Miss Atkinson, living nearby, nearly fainted when a shower of stones cascaded onto the roof of her bungalow. One villager went out armed with a shot gun on Sunday night and although he fired two cartridges, he apparently sent his pellets into thin air.
Mr J. Brocklesby, also of “St Julien” claims to have seen the “ghost.” He has laid a number of trip wires in the garden and was out examining them when he saw a figure in one of the bushes. A couple of bottles floated through the air soon afterwards. He is walking around after dark accompanied by his Labrador dog.
For the past three weeks the mysterious missiles have been falling from above, windows have been smashed and the roofs are covered with pebbles. Police have been called in and an organised watch is being kept. On one occasion the “ghost” escaped through a cordon of about forty people who had formed a ring round “St Julien,” where the manifestations have been worst.
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On inquiry late last (Thursday) night, the “Standard” was informed that the perpetrator of the mysterious happenings at Holton-le-Clay was believed to be a 15-year-old boy!
Louth Standard, 29th October 1938.