Staff spooked by ‘Ghost of Gold Street’.
Spooky happenings at a Northampton store are giving staff the shivers. Workers at Staks in Gold Street believe they have a resident ghost who takes delight in giving them a fright. Heavy furniture and other objects are thrown across the room, locked doors fly open and on one occasion the spook was actually spotted. Manager Michelle Winter has witnessed several incidents which she is convinced are the work of supernatural forces.
She said: “I have seen objects such as candles, vases and picture frames flying around the shop on numerous occasions. Once a plinth of wood with eight heavy bread bowls flew 10 ft across the room. I am no longer surprised what happens here and whenever I hear a smash I know he’s up to his tricks.” Assistant Sarah Hogg has also witnessed flying objects. She added: “I was sceptical and thought tales of a ghost were a wind-up but I was tidying up and a wicker basket came off a shelf in front of me with great force and flew through the air really fast from one side of the shop to another.”
Part-time worker Trudie Jones has seen an even more alarming apparition. “I was standing at the counter and saw legs with dark blue trousers walking up the stairs. I ran upstairs after him but there was no-one there at all.” Michelle added: “We don’t think the ghost is evil but it can be scary at times and there is no way that anyone will stay here alone.”
Northampton Chronicle and Echo, 29th March 1996.
Gold Street Ghost Was Seen Before.
More spooky tales about Northampton’s Gold Street have been revealed. In last Friday’s Chronicle and Echo, we reported how staff at Staks had been alarmed by weird happenings in the shop. And now John Kightley of Duston, Northampton, has revealed that, in 1957, he spotted a ghost in a cottage which stood directly behind Staks before being demolished two years ago. He added: “When I was 17 years old, I worked at Jeffrey’s furniture store in Gold Street. One Saturday, I was called in to take ornamental furniture to a wedding at Ringstead and went to the firm’s storeroom in a row of grey cottages in Woolmonger Street. As I got to the top of the stairs, I came face-to-face with a lady dressed in a grey hooded cloak. It scared the living daylights out of me and I went tearing down the stairs as fast as I could. People I worked with went into the building and made a thorough search, but they could find no-one.”
Gary Morris, manager of A Watts and Son (formerly Jeffrey’s), confirmed he and other staff had witnessed strange happenings in the old cottages. He recalled that heavy furniture used to move around without any rational explanation, lights went on and off and there were icy-cold spots around the oak staircase. He added: “When the first of the old cottages were knocked down, human bones were found. Maybe this had something to do with the presence there.”
During the 30 years since spotting the ghost, John Kightley has tried to discover the woman’s origins. He has been told a woman was murdered in the cottages in the mid-1800s and believes it is her spirit who still haunts Gold Street.
Northampton Chronicle and Echo, 3rd April 1996.