LPS Private investigation in Renhold Bedfordshire

Background
These notes are the result of a meeting with the owner of the house, B. We were requested to assist her in any way we could regarding problems she was experiencing which she felt were paranormal in nature. The text below was taken from notes recorded at the time of the initial meeting.

Investigation Notes
Before moving to the house, four years ago, B had lived in Luton. Her husband had died ten years ago of cancer. He was in his 40’s and had died within eleven months of being diagnosed. After his death B used to hear him in the house, running down the stairs. She would also smell rotting flesh which was a smell she was used to when he had cancer and was dying. At one point the bedroom door knob creaked by itself. One night she was lying in bed when she felt as if she had been pinned to the bed, she also had the sensation of a claw rubbing her inner thigh. Her husband actually died in the house. Two days after he died she felt as if something was banging the arm of her chair, which was something her husband used to do. Eventually what was happening made her move out.

The first couple of days in her new house (Renhold) were like heaven. B’s daughter went off to Australia and B moved into the front bedroom. One night, at 11pm, she heard a loud bang coming from the front of the house and again first thing in the morning, this happened every night. B had a word with the vicar who came to the house and did a walk round saying a prayer in the bedroom. He left her a Psalm leaflet which she read once a day. Later, when she went to bed, she heard something hitting the back of the bed. It is very seldom that there were no bangs. In addition something used to enter the bedroom and walk around. She decided to move into the back bedroom but, even there, things continued as something would hit the bed frame. She tried breathing in and out heavily to see if that was the cause but to no effect. The mattress was a thick one and, she feels, could not have been the cause. One night she even pretended to breathe without actually breathing yet she still heard the bangs. Eventually she was driven to swear at ‘it’ telling it to go away. Feeling that something was getting under the bed she packed the area with items so that nothing could get under there. Even after this she still heard a sound as if something was within the mattress, a strange creaking sound.

When sitting in the living room in the chair to the left of the entrance door she felt as if her hair was being pulled, one hair at a time. That has now stopped. Now, whilst watching the television, she gets a pain in the top right of her skull, almost, in her words, ‘as if something is drilling into it’. Eventually she would end up with a headache and by morning she felt as if her brain had been scrambled. The pain would take ages to go away. Lately she feels as if she is suffering from memory loss.
The previous occupants of the house only stayed for one year them moved to Scotland. The man next door said that a man used to live there who was very miserable and who did not get on with the neighbours. It seems that his sister died in the back bedroom. When he died the house was found to be full of rats. His name was B.
Next door, wife is reported to hear noses on the phone whilst another neighbour feels as if there is a ghost in their house.

Two days prior B was in the kitchen making tea and was standing at the sink. She saw a black shadow, like a head and shoulders, coming from the area of the utility room then just disappearing. This event gave her cold shivers. She has also heard bangs whilst in the kitchen.

She used to have a puppy which would bark at the front door. At one point it squealed then hid, later it went back to bark at the door. When she sat in the chair to the left of the front door it would stare at a point above her head (to her left, towards the front door side). If it looked away for a second its attention would return to the same point above her head. The puppy would also bark at the left side of the chair. The chair mentioned above is the one on the left in the drawing on the right.

B was present when her husband died. As he was dying his eyes were flickering and she put her hands over his eyes as he died. She feels that this may have something to do with the later events as she feels guilty about doing it. She says that she is not scared of the presence but dislikes the bangs etc. as they disturb her. She states that she will not let things ruin her life, she just wants peace and no she longer wants to be scared and to have to cover her head when she is in bed. She believes that, if it is her husband trying to contact her, he is going about it the wrong way.
She has also picked up on a smell in the house which she describes as something burnt. The smell is very strong and makes her feel sick especially in the area of the left-hand chair mentioned above. She tends to smell it first downstairs them it follows her around. She has only ever smelt the smell in the house and even her daughter has smelt it.

Local people have reported seeing spirits in the area which is believed to be due to the usage of the Renhold, Ravensden and Wilden areas as burial grounds for London plague victims. People have tended to see the spirits in the condition in which they died.

When B first moved in to the house, which she believes is 200 years old, she was painting the bathroom when she distinctly heard the sounds of two old women talking coming from downstairs. At that time her daughter was in Australia. She looked outside but there was no one around. This was the only time she heard these voices.

One time she put her dog, six week old, in his cage and left him upstairs when she went to the bathroom. She heard a banging as if something was coming upstairs then the dog growled.

One unusual thing that she did find when she moved in regarded the main bedroom. In the skirting board, on the left of the main bedroom as you enter, she found an inexplicable and large hole which she filled in (note: all the house walls are solid with a plaster coat).

Just over six months ago she was having a bad time with the banging. One night she stayed awake late into the night and heard noises around the bedroom and by the door. Eventually she had had enough and tried to ignore the sounds and did finally fall asleep. The next night she felt as if something was poking her. The next day she felt as if the whole of the right side of her face hurt. The following night she felt as if she was being lifted off the bed. She reacted by banging on the pillow and shouting ‘leave me alone’, then she felt as if she was dropped back on to the bed. When she hit the pillow she remembers seeing a white dust which she does not believe came from the pillow. After this she heard a loud bang on the inner wall of the room. These events were so bad that she went to stay with her daughter and had a really good nights sleep.

One experience involved her car. She was driving at night and remembered turning the dashboard lights on yet a little while later she noticed they were off. She turned them on yet, a little while later, they were off again.
During our walk around Elaine reported the smell of Christmas cake whilst downstairs Steph picked up on the name Trevor.
Report by Bill King