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General
So far we have been unable to obtain any information about Widmer End, its character and history, apart from the fact that in the last fifty years it has grown from a rural hamlet into a commuter suburb while still retaining much of its attractiveness. If anyone can supply this information then please get in touch with us so we can add it to this site.
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Local House
In 1949 the family of Geoffrey Battison moved into a house in Widmer End. They stayed there until 1954 and in all the time they were in the house they were regularly disturbed by strange noises. Mrs. Battison was the first one to experience the phenomena when she was lying on her bed having a rest at around 13:00. She distinctly heard footsteps coming up the stairs, at first she thought it was one of the dogs then she was not so sure when a tremendous noise started in another bedroom. After a while the noise seemed to move into the wardrobe in the room she was occupying. Eventually it ceased and she plucked up courage to open the wardrobe door but there was nothing there.
From then on the family would regularly hear a tremendous banging noise coming from what was the middle bedroom. This usually happened around mid-day when they were all sitting down in the kitchen having lunch, directly under the noise. Whenever they went to investigate the noise would stop as they reached the bedroom door. At one time they had a paying guest who they had warned about the noise. Not really believing what they were telling him he chose to stay in the house alone while they went away for a weekend. He never did that again.
The banging was not the only noise as they would also hear loud knocks on the back door in the evening. At first they thought that this may have been a prank so they tried to catch the perpetrator but to no avail. They tied string across the path, they would rush round the house in opposite directions, but there was never anyone there. Footsteps were also heard overhead and the dogs would listen at the back door and follow something invisible across the room with their eyes. Door catches would also be lifted.
After the Battisons had left the house it changed hands several times very quickly. One family left in a panic, abandoning their meal, an au-pair tried to jump out of a window and the ghost of a man was seen. Another family would come down in the morning to find the kitchen light bulb on the table. It later came to light that a previous owner had become a recluse after his wife’s death and he eventually committed suicide in the back bedroom.
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