When a demolition team began work at a derelict Victorian guest house they all agreed that something didn't feel quite right.
One day, they claimed, a chandelier suddenly started swinging on its own, which understandably left the burly builders feeling slightly unsettled.
But it was only when one of the team took a photograph of the building that they suddenly became convinced they had not been working alone.
Bizarre: Builders took this picture of a guest house they were demolishing and noticed this ghost-like figure. David Grimshaw is certain that it is his mother Frances, who worked at the guest house
Back from the dead: Frances Grimshaw worked at Meadowbank House. Her son believes she may have appeared to protest at the demolition of the building
The image appears to show the ghostly outline of a woman at the window of Meadowbank House, in Kendal, Cumbria.
After researching the history of the building they realised the chilling significance of what they’d photographed.
The ghostly image was an eerie likeness of Frances Grimshaw who worked at the guest house and died almost a year ago.
Bizarrely, she stood for hours at that very same window taking bookings.
Her son, and former resident David Grimshaw, says he had no doubt that the ghostly woman is his late mother.
He believes she may have appeared to protest at the demolition of Meadowbank House, the building she loved.
'That is my mother. I’m totally convinced - no one else looks like that.
'She had glasses and big earrings and she used to wear a dress with a bow at the front,' he said.
'She used to stand in that room for hours on the phone - it was the guest house reception and she took bookings from there.'
Mr Grimshaw, a 59-year-old managing director, who now lives in Bedford, added: 'She would have been horrified if she had known the house was being demolished because it was beautiful, so maybe that is why she’s turned up.'
Demolition supervisor Robert Johnson, 38, of Heysham, took the photograph of the house shortly before it was knocked down, earlier this week.
'It wasn’t until I got home and showed my wife that we spotted the woman,' he said.
'You can see the jewellery on her and everything. I’ve always been a sceptic but I’ll have to believe in ghosts now.'
Colleague Stuart Shan, 34, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said: 'The day before we took the photo we were stripping the building inside and I noticed the chandelier swinging on its own.
'We said at the time the place felt strange.
'My hairs were standing on end when I saw the photo. I believe it is a ghost.'
Left feeling strange: Demolition worker Robert Johnson with Stuart Shan, right, and Paul Jackson,left. Mr Johnson took the picture of the house which revealed the ghostly image
Demolition worker Paul Jackson, of Carnforth, Lancashire, said the ghostly sighting made him feel slightly strange about their role in taking down old buildings.
'It makes you wonder what we could possibly unearth,' he said.
Dave Armstrong, of Kendal contractors Cox and Allen, said the five-gabled building, which was originally a dentist’s in the early 1900s, has been taken down to be replaced with a new commercial property.
He said he could not explain the image of the woman.
'There was only a black wall behind the window, we had taken everything out - there were no visible features or anything with a skin colour.'
Destroyed: David Grimshaw said his late mother would have been horrified if she had known the house was being demolished
Pleasant: How Meadowbank House looked before it was demolished ( dailymail.co.uk )
No comments:
Post a Comment