INVESTIGATING HISTORY’S MOST SPINE-CHILLING ENCOUNTERS

In his new monthly column, BBC Radio’s Danny Robins will be scouring the archives in search of real-life ghost stories, starting with the Battersea Poltergeist

Danny Robins und Battersea Poltergeist

FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTIO OF SHIRLEY HITCHINGS X2, WILLIE RUNTE X1

Shirley Hitchings’ teenage life was turned upside down by a poltergeist named ‘Donald’

The paranormal activity at 63 Wycliffe Road prompted a flurry of coverage in tabloids such as the Daily Sketch

I’m Danny Robins and I don’t believe in ghosts... is what I would have confidently told you before I came across this truly strange case. On 27 January 1956, a mysterious old key appeared on the bed of 15-year-old Shirley Hitchings at 63 Wycliffe Road , an ordinary terraced house in Battersea, south London. at night, the house was shaken by noises so loud it felt like an air raid, waking the neighbours. It was the start of an alleged poltergeist haunting that lasted an incredible 12 years – the longest-ever documented case of its kind. Objects flew across rooms, areas of the house were trashed, random fires broke out, writing appeared on walls and Shirley’s family even claimed to see her levitating above her bed. e oddest feature of the case, though, was thousands of letters allegedly handwritten by the ghost!