The Birmingham Poltergeist Case.
Poltergeist case is a little different in that it is not an individual or even a single family that is the target for the activity, but three families or rather five houses were the chosen target.
During the late 1970’ and early 1980’s the residents of five houses in Thornton Road, Ward End would have their lives disrupted by paranormal activity and their homes and gardens turned into a battlefield by unseen assailants.
Although five houses were affected by the incidents it appeared to be more concentrated on only three, numbers 32, 34, and 36.
 |
| The target houses in Thornton Road. |
Houses the occupants of the five homes in Thornton Road were shocked and startled by what appeared at the time to be an attack on their property by vandals. Stones and pebbles of all sizes were being thrown at the buildings, smashing through the windows and breaking roof tiles. The bombardment went on for a couple of hours and by the time the rain of stones ceased there was hardly a whole pain of glass left in any of the rear windows or doors of these houses, many of the roof tiles had been smashed and the families had a huge task of clearing up and a huge bill for the repairs.
The following night once darkness had descended once again the bombardment started all over again, breaking the windows that had been replaced and destroying all the repair works that had taken place. Although this attack went on week after week the residents of Thornton Road could never see where the stones were being thrown from or by who, this was strange as this was the rear of the house so whoever was throwing the missiles would either have to be in their gardens or the adjoining gardens, but they were not able to see any movement in any.
Eventually after the vandalism had gone on for some time the police agreed to set up night vigils and patrols of the area in an attempt to catch the culprits or to scare them away from this activity.
By now the residents who were fed up with having to replace the glass in their doors and windows, had put up chicken wire and erected corrugated sheets to protect their property.
The police turned up and took their positions in the gardens and waiting for the sun to go down, once again the rain of stones descended on the buildings, the police were amazed at what they saw, the stones did not appear to be thrown but rather to have fallen from the sky, the officers searched the area but were not able to find anyone who could be throwing the stones.
When morning came the stones were collected from the gardens and taken away to be inspected.
Chief Inspector Len Turley who had been placed in charge of the case was expecting this investigation to take only a couple of days to resolve, however as the reports from his officers on the ground started to land on his desk he became aware that his thoughts on this case may be wrong. None of the officers had seen or heard any other people around, they had searched the area but had found no one, yet the quantity of stones and the damage caused would have to have been done by a at least a small group of people. The officers described it as being on a battlefield.
 |
| Chief Inspector Len Turley. |
The attacks went on for several years but no one was ever arrested or convicted of the vandalism, Chief Inspector Len Turley later spoken of his frustration with this case.
He said: “We have spent more than 1,000 man hours on this case. We are keeping an open mind about the whole thing. We don’t know why it’s gone on for so long.
‘‘If we even knew the reason for it, we would be one step nearer.”
Baffled by who was causing this damage or even a motive for it, the police tried everything they could think off. The inspection of the stones proved that they were from this area and could be found in almost any of the gardens. The odd thing they did identify was that they all appeared to be smooth and clean as if they had been scrubbed or polished, none of the stones that were recovered from the properties had any dirt on them.
Going on the reports from his officers that the stones appeared to fall from the sky, CI Turley called in a ballistics expert to see if it was at all possible that the stones may have been fired or propelled from a distance. The finding from this ballistics investigation was that it was highly unlikely due to the relatively small area targeted and the accuracy involved.
The residents who were no convinced that the attacks were being made by something paranormal, called in the church to investigate, but the Vicar was not able to find a cause for the attacks either.
The residents were living in fear of being hit by stones or by flying glass from one of the windows. The noise caused by the stones hitting to roof and walls or breaking glass meant that they got very little sleep at night.
The police investigation was finally scaled back and eventually stopped. No one was ever arrested or convicted of causing the damage.
 |
| Sample of the stones from Thornton Road. |
Many people still believe that the attacks on Thornton Road were the work of vandals, but it is hard to see how this can be the case.
- The attacks occurred uninterruptedly for over three years.
- The attacks target five houses only, the people who lived in these houses had no disputes or issues with anyone else in the area. If it had been a case of vandals out for fun then surely they would have sought out another target of their entertainment once the police set up night vigils?
- Even with nightly police presence, no one was ever seen throwing the stones, nor were people even heard. The amount of stones thrown each night would make it impossible to stay concealed from the officers, the effort alone of throwing that quantity of stones would require a small group of people at minimum.
- No one was ever caught or arrested for this crime, even after an in depth police investigation involving many man hours the case remain unresolved.
____________________________________________________________________________
Aston Hall, Aston, Birmingham.
Aston Hall to me is a thing of beauty, and as a youth it is a place I would spend many an hour. As a child living in Birmingham I would often see this building in the distance as my parents and I would drive up the Aston Expressway, it intrigued me and in my infant years I vowed to explore its more deeply. Now days this spectacular building looks out of place amongst the factories and terraced house that surround it, but none the less it still remains a magnificent landmark.
 |
| Aston Hall |
Once I could drive and had the freedom to travel I visited this amazing property and it would become a place I was to visit often and spend many an hour exploring inside and out.
The building today is a Grade 1 listed property but it was back in 1618 that the building works began to construct the building, Sir Thomas Holte who was one of the wealthiest men in the country commissioned John Thorpe to design it.
 |
| Sir Thomas Holte |
As with many buildings that have such a varied and colourful history, Aston Hall has its resident ghosts.
The Grey or White lady.
One of the ghost who is often reported as being seen around the hall is that of the grey ghost, this spirit is thought to be Mary the daughter of Sir Thomas Holte. The story is that Sir Thomas had been arranging for his daughter to be married to a high standing gentleman but unfortunately Mary detested this man, she could not bear the thought of having to spend the rest of her life with someone she detested. Mary had been seeing and had fallen in love with a local man of lower social status. The pair arranged to run away before Mary could be married off to someone she could never love, however the pair did not get far before they were found and Sir Thomas dragger her back to the Aston Hall.
In Sir Thomas’s eyes his daughter was now spoilt goods and he was unable to continue with arrangements for the marriage. Humiliated by his daughter actions he locked her away in one of the upper rooms in the hall and vowed to never let her out again.
Mary was imprisoned in that room for sixteen years, the only people she would see was the maids who delivered here food and cleaned up, loneliness and despair drove Mary insane and finally she starved herself to death.
Many people touring the upper floors of the hall have reported seeing a lady in white or grey, staff working at the hall have also on many occasions reported seeing this lady in white who said to be Mary. Visitors to the hall have also reported seeing a sad faced lady looking out the upstairs window as they walked the grounds below, on many occasions this has been reported when the property is closed and there is not even staff present within the building.
 |
| Damage caused to the balustrade during the Civil War. |
The Green Lady.
There is another long term resident at the hall, this lady has been spotted many times by staff and visitors. She is reported as sitting in one of the chairs in the Great Hall, described as wearing a green high collard dress. Witness’s say she is so life like that they thought she was someone in period costume who was working at the hall even though on investigation no one was employed to portray this role at the time. This ghost is said to be that of Mistress Walker who was an elderly servant to Sir Thomas Holte.
The kitchen area off hall is also known to be an area of strange phenomena, reports of sightings of what have been described as “a glowing white ball that appears from the wall and bounces around the room” have seen on several occasions. This is interesting as the kitchen area off the hall is known to have been damaged by cannon fire during the civil war.
Another area of the house where there are many sightings and reports of strange activity is again in one of the room on the upper floor. This room is now known as Dick’s Garrett, the history behind this spirit that is haunting this room is that a young servant boy called Dick was accused by other members of the staff of stealing from the property, he was marched up to one of the upper rooms and was locked in to wait for the master to return home and to deal with the situation and the young lads punishment. Knowing only too well that the master would punish him severely no matter if he was found guilty or not, the young servant chose to take his own life by hanging himself.
People report the feeling of being overwhelmed by despair while they are in this room , many people have reported seeing what they describe as a young lad in old clothing being seen in the room, while other have reported hearing cries for help. A caretaker of the hall has on many a time reported seeing a body of hanging in the room.
© UK Paranormal Events
UK Paranormal Events
www.ukparanormalevents.com
No comments:
Post a Comment