Haunted House?
Information
1892: During the summer of 1891, Mr and Mrs Rimes and their three boys moved into a house on Mayor's Walk. They were joined by Mr Want, her brother, and Mr Easy, her brother-in-law, as lodgers. Mr Rimes worked nights as a 'special labourer' on the railway. From late October 1891 to the early days of January 1892, Mrs Rimes, the boys and the lodgers rarely had a good night's sleep. The Peterborough Advertiser records that during the night-time hours, the family heard 'most unwelcome and unexpected rappings at the front door and against the partition wall of the building - noises most unmistakable and unwelcome'. The boys often experienced midnight intrusions and on on occasion, both lodgers and the boys were all 'suddenly deprived of their bed coverings'. It came to a climax during the night of 29 December 1891, when those in the house heard something that they described as 'a huge sack of coals toppling pell-mell down the stairs'. The neighbours heard the noise as well and said it sounded like 'a cannon going off'. Several witnesses said that the 'troubles' were always preceded by a low humming sound, like that made by a rushing wind. The Rimes family moved out and nothing has been reported since.
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.