Buckingham road area, soldiers accommodation

During the second world war some of the houses between Windlesham Gardens and the Railway Station were taken over to accomodate soldiers. One of these houses is said to be home to an unseen entity. The story goes that one day shortly after moving in, one man tried to take his pet dog into his bedroom, only to have it wriggle out of his hands and go berserk if it was carried back. Strangely enough the animal was o.k. throughout the rest of the house.

In the evenings, most soliders would either catch a train into Brighton, or attend local clubs, while others would remain at the house, playing cards or writing letters to relatives. On several ocasions when all the occupants were on the ground floor, they would hear the sound of footsteps descending the stairs. However when anyone investigated there was no one there. Nobody took the footsteps seriously and the subject became a topic of light hearted banter! One soldier decided to add his own concept of fun to the situation. One night, when there were six or seven men relaxing in the lounge downstairs, he crept to the top of the building holding a long piece of chain, which he had obtained earlier on that day. Even though the sound of chains had not accompanied the footsteps on any of the subsequent occasions, the prankster thought it would be a funny addition to the proceeding. After all, he thought that some ghosts are supposed to be encumbered by clanking chains, so his reasoning made sense.

He began his slow descent down the stairs, with heavy footsteps and an effective rattle of the chains he carried. He hoped the men would hear the chains and become scared. However, he had only taken a few steps, when he heard the sound of someone behind him, which was annoying as he thought the joke would be ruined. He turned around to see who it was, but there was no one there. As he turned back he could hear the footsteps gaining on him. There was a strange feeling of cold and the swish of invisible cloth brushing his hand as something unseen brushed past him. The soldier was terrified and dropped his chains to race for the safety of the lounge.