Strange Noises are No Joke at this house.
Is someone from the spirit world disturbing the tenants of a Swaffham Rural Council house at Mundford? Mr Arthur Drew and his wife Ellen, who live at No.2 Council Houses, Lynford Road, Mundford, firmly believes this is so.
The trouble started about a fortnight ago when Mr Drew, who is 61-years-old, was woken up in the small hours by loud knockings. At first he thought these came from the nearby Stanford Battle area, but then he pin-pointed them as coming from a corner of the bedroom ceiling. They moved across the bedroom to the next bedroom where 11-year-old Beverley Drew was sleeping. The knockings continued off and on for about three hours. At the same time the electric cables which are laid on the floor of the loft above the bedroom ceiling, rattled violently.
The next night when the noises started up again, he knocked up his next door neighbour, Mr John Boles, who came round to listen. By means of questions and answers, says Mr Drew, with one knock representing “Yes” and two knocks standing for “No” they elicited the information that the noises were coming from someone called “Julie.” Further contact revealed that “Julie” died at the age of 11 years from appendicitis or some internal complaint about 28 years ago at Mundford. There was also a suggestion that she was accompanied by someone called “Ivy” and a boxer dog.
Mr Drew has been into the loft but can find no trace of anyone being up there. To get to the loft it is necessary to obtain a step ladder to climb to the trap door.
The noises sometimes occur in daylight hours. One person who has heard them is Miss Kathleen Pryer, a friend of the family, who lives at Buckenham Mill and who heard them when she visited the Drews one lunch time. Mrs Drew says that people who have visited the house have experienced a shivery feeling in their arms. One day when she tried to open the living room door she found it difficult because it felt as if someone was pulling on the other side to prevent her opening it.
Although she was scared when the noises first started she says that she is not afraid now as “Julie” has assured them that she will not harm them. Sometimes, Mrs Drew says, she asks “Are you there Julie?” and a knock will come as an answer.
Mr Drew is a bit annoyed because some people have scoffed at his story. “Would I be fool enough to knock up my next door neighbour at 2 o’clock in the morning if there wasn’t something strange,” he says. Other people have blamed Beverley, “But,” says Mr Drew “the child was frightened and we took her into our bed and the noises continued while she was in there. I never believed in such things but I have changed my mind now.”
Mr and Mrs Arthur Drew of Mundford, outside their council house with Miss K. Pryor (right).
Lynn Advertiser, 12th February 1971.