Mystery of “Knocking” Boy.
Schoolmates run after 11 years old Ernest Hinchliffe in the tiny village of Tintwistle, in Hyde, Cheshire, calling him “Knock-Knock” Ernest because of mysterious noises his mother says are heard when he is in his bedroom. His home is a 300 years old house, once the Black Bull Inn. Mrs Hinchcliffe said: “The doctor came at night to see my boy, but there was complete silence while he was there. When he went out the knocking came again. You can often feel Ernest’s bed shaking.”
Mrs Hinchcliffe, whose husband is in hospital suffering from paralysis, has four sons and two daughters. She became so worried by the knocking that she called in police. They thought the noise was caused by rats or mice and pulled down a partition, but still the knocking continued.
Some time ago Hawkshead, Lancashire, doctors investigated a similar case and found a seven years old boy became a “human echo” when asleep, producing the sound of knocks.
Hull Daily Mail, 30th April 1938.