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Weird and wonderful Peterborough
FROM ghosts prowling the corridors of the city's oldest buildings to a refugee who tried to earn himself a place in the record books by scoffing three-and-a-half pounds of raw onions in a couple of seconds, Peterborough is well known for being weird and wonderful. Jemma Walton took a peek at the 'other side.'
FROM ghosts prowling the corridors of the city's oldest buildings to a refugee who tried to earn himself a place in the record books by scoffing three-and-a-half pounds of raw onions in a couple of seconds, Peterborough is well known for being weird and wonderful. Jemma Walton took a peek at the 'other side.'ONCE, Lina Killick was standing all alone in the long, cold corridor of an old mansion when she felt something wrap itself around her belly and whisper "Help me" into her ear.
She couldn't see what was grabbing her, but she could feel a skirt swishing spookily around the back of her ankles.
"I was later told that the Gloucestershire mansion we were in was haunted by a maid who had had an affair with the master of the house and fallen pregnant in the mid 1800s," said Lina.
"She had jumped out of the window and killed herself rather than deal with the shame of having a fatherless child."
Lina and her husband, Charlie, are founder members of Two Worlds Paranormal Investigation, and regularly visit old buildings to check them out for paranormal activity.
They sometimes choose places they would like to visit, or are invited there by the buildings' owners who want to find out whether their premises are haunted – and they have seen and heard enough to shake even the most hardened ghost non-believer.
"We have had some very intense experiences," said Lina (30). "And we have been scared. We were in a house in Essex once which had a series of underground tunnels.
"I was standing in a tunnel during an investigation, and suddenly the worst agony I have ever experienced flashed through the whole of my left side, from the stomach down, just for a second. It was horrific.
"We then heard footsteps, and then the air filled with the smell of gunpowder, it was very strong, unmistakable. Some of the members of the team began to freak out and left, and I have to admit, it was very frightening indeed."
The couple found out that the house had been built on the site of an old Second World War fort, and the tunnels had been used to store bombs and ammunition.
There had been an accident there one night, and a man had been blown up, losing his leg and taking blows in the stomach and hip.
"Most people think we're mad when we tell them about Two Worlds, but then they add 'Well now you mention it,' and have a story of their own to tell about a ghost," said Lina, who works in IT.
"We like meeting sceptical people because they tend to be rational and logical, and can help us to try to understand what we have experienced, and that's what we want to do. We would love to know the truth behind paranormal activity, we would love a scientific explanation.
"The worst people to deal with are the people that believe too much. Some people will see dust on their floor and take it as evidence that their house is haunted, and then get disappointed when we don't find anything."
Lina's fascination with the supernatural began when she was four, and her sister was born. Her granny gave her a crystal ball which she used to play with. "Nothing came of it," she said."But it set me off thinking about what if there was some truth in it, what if there is something out there?"
Lina and Charlie, from Park Farm, Peterborough, decided to set up Two Worlds after having been members of several paranormal investigation groups and learning something different from each of them.
They now have a team of eight or so members, including a scientist, a teacher and a mental health worker, who go out on investigations all over the country during weekend nights.
The couple have completed more than 100 investigations, with 30 of those being with Two Worlds.
"We have picked up quite a bit of activity at the Wisbech Institute, which is a derelict building," said Charlie. "Strange sounds come from locked rooms, noises like a row of coathangers rattling.
"We always take a dictaphone and videocamera with us, and we check everything we think we've seen or heard with that, to make sure that we aren't mistaking noises for something they're not.
"Once we thought we heard something, but then we checked with the camera, and it was me speaking. But there are times when the camera or the dictaphone pick up things that we didn't know about.
"Once, for example, the dictaphone picked up the sound of something screaming. It sounded horrible, really eerie. We had been investigating a pub which had once been the site for public executions and torture, which might explain it.
"But even after seeing what we've seen and hearing what we've heard, I still wouldn't say that I believe in ghosts or spirits or whatever you want to call them.
"There might be a psychological explanation for it, but it'd be very interesting to find out the answers. But I suppose if we did we wouldn't have a hobby any more!"
Two Worlds aren't on the look-out for any new members, but they are always keen to hear from people who think their home may be haunted and would like to have it investigated. Lina can be contacted at twoworlds@hotmail. co.uk, or visit their website at www.freewebs.com/2worldz
There really was no one quite like our Walter
AFTER fleeing from a brutal fate in his home country, eccentric refugee Walter Cornelius carved out quite a name for himself, by trying to fly with home-made wings, skipping with heavy chains and pushing double decker buses with his head.
When his home country of Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union, Walter fled across the Baltic with some partisans who were given shelter at Sibson airfield.
Walter stayed in the area working as a lifeguard at Peterborough Swimming Pool, and in 1966 he was named world sausage eating champion after munching his way through 23 in 10 minutes. A year later he performed his strongman act on Opportunity Knocks.His other stunts included an attempt to fly over the River Nene from Brierley's supermarket with a pair of home-made wings, he promptly fell into the water.
More successful tricks included skipping with a 48lbs chain for 90 minutes, pushing a double decker bus half a mile with his head, and eating three and a half lbs of raw onions in two minutes and two seconds.
Not content with these achievements he pushed a pea up Castor Hill and a cannonball a mile with the tip of his nose.
His last stunt, in 1982, was an attempt to drive a bus over 14 parked motorbikes at a village fete.
In September 1983 he failed to turn up for work, and had died of heart failure at the age of 60. He had lived a simple life: living in a caravan, he gave all the money raised by his stunts to charity.
Book tells of the wacky traditions in our area
THE weird, the wacky and the downright odd things about Cambridgeshire are being celebrated in a new book, which features everything from Stilton Cheese Rolling to a man pushing peas up Castor Hill with his nose.
Robert Halliday has looked far and wide to find tales of the unexpected, which he has collected in Cambridgeshire Strange But True.
Here, we take a look at some of the book's gems.
Cambridgeshire Strange But True is published by Sutton Publishing, and costs 12.99. It is available from all good bookshops, and Amazon.
From Belgium to Thorney
THORNEY was home to a large community of Walloon Protestants from Flemish areas of Belgium, which was under Spanish rule in the 17th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, Protestantism spread among a substantial minority of the population of France and Flanders.
Both French and Spanish Governments subjected these converts to arbitrary and harsh treatment, and many fled to England hoping they would be allowed to practise their religion in a Protestant country.
French Protestants were traditionally known as Hugenots, while Walloons were, strictly speaking, not French.
Many Walloons had experience in draining and cultivating marshland, and some settled in Whittlesey before being offered a home on the Earl of Bedford's estate at Thorney.
In 1639 the Earl signed an agreement with the Bishop of Ely that the remains of Thorney Abbey Church could be restored as a church for the settlers, where the services could be held in French.
In 1653 a further group of Protestants from the Calais region settled at Parson Drove, although during the 18th century they lsot their separate identity, as they were absorbed into the surrounding English communities.
At Thorney and Parson Drove the refugees brought life and new prosperity to the community around them. Town follows the bear
The Whittlesey Straw Bear Festival is an important revival of an old custom. At Ramsey and Whittlesey one or two men, who had participated in the local Plough Monday celebration, would be swathed from head to foot in straw, and walk around the streets.
The custom is first mentioned in Whittlesey in 1859, when it took place on the day after Plough Monday, and at Ramsey from 1863, when it was held on Plough Monday.
Throughout the year Ramsey people would keep the best straw for the bear, which would normally be used to dress two men. One bear was usually led on a rope to perform impromptu dances before various houses.
On other occasions he knelt on his hands and knees and growled, while those accompanying him pretended to control him by pulling at the rope and tapping him with sticks. It was hoped that occupants of houses would give the men money as the bear passed by.
The custom last took place in Ramsey in 1893, but in Whittlesey the straw bear continued to walk the streets until 1913. However, on January 12, 1980, Brian Kell danced in the streets of the town swathed from head to foot in straw, and the festival has continued every year since, although it now takes place on the second Saturday in January.
The straw bear is always burnt in the afternoon (once the occupant has extracted himself).
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