Here in Swindon, Wiltshire, there were auction rooms
half of which were in an old stable block once used by the
Goddard family. It was called "The Planks" because there
used to be planks laid down in the winter to prevent the
staff's uniforms from getting muddy when they went down to
the stables to order carriages. Their mansion [now
demolished] was about a hundred yards from this old
building, which still stands today. The parkland, which the
mansion was standing on, now belongs to the municipal
council, and folk walk their dogs there...
The people involved in this story are still living, and I
still have contact with them...
A man called Dave and his workmate, used to deliver
furniture and effects to the auction rooms, sometimes late
at night if they had a long drive, so Dave had a key to
the alarm system and the gates, and he would drive into
the yard, and leave the unloading till the next day. One
night, I don't know what time of year, he drove the van
into the yard as usual, only to hear very loud crashing
and ruckus coming from the old part of the building, where
the antiques were stored prior to auction. He was a bit
shocked, as no alarms were going off, and the padlock was
still on the doors. He got a tire lever from the cab of
the van and unpadlocked the door. He and his workmate threw
open the doors expecting to find vandals inside, but there
was nothing, no furniture was upset, no mess no noise,
nothing.......
Feeling a bit spooked, they re-locked the doors, only to
hear the loud crashing and banging going on again, so Dave
called the police thinking they had not seen the perpetrators
that time and wanting a bit of support. So five policemen
turned up while the terrible racket was still going on. The
doors were unlocked again, same thing, no noise, no upset,
nothing!. The place was thoroughly searched, then one of
the policemen said he'd seen a face at the window of one
of the offices above the old stables. The upper part of
the building is long with a door at both ends, one of
which cant be used as the staircase has crumbled away, but
another door had been made in the middle, so both doors
were unlocked, and policemen searched the offices,
nothing...
By this time everyone was very spooked, including the
policemen, they could find no reason for the noise, so
they advised Dave to lock up securely again, as it was
clear no-one was there, which he did with the police
watching. As soon as the doors were locked again the
racket started up again, both Dave and the police decided
discretion was the better part of valor and legged it!
This is a true story, I used to work at The Planks on
auction days and Dave worked there as well, he told me the
story first hand, and his work mate backed up his story. These men would not tell a story that made them look like
idiots unless it was true! I know they didn't tell many
people, only ones they thought wouldn't laugh!
I thought about looking into the history of The Planks,
and the Goddard mansion, but never got round to it. Its a
wierd place, full of atmosphere, and the parkland around
it isn't a nice place to be at night....maybe one day I'll
look into it and find out why....
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