BBC Radio\u2019s Danny Robins reveals how the story of a seemingly innocent spook took on a sinister new dimension amid the racial tensions of 1970s Britain <\/p>
It\u2019s the 1970s, inside a terraced house in Walthamstow, East London, and Tyronne\u2019s sister is saying odd things: \u201cShe started talking about the Blitz, Hitler, rationing. It disturbed my mum, because it was coming out of a two-year-old!\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, one day, Tyronne\u2019s mum walks into the kitchen and sees a little old lady by the sink. She says a shocked \u201chello\u201d, the woman says \u201chello\u201d back, and then\u2026 disappears! Tyronne\u2019s in his forties now. We\u2019re standing outside his childhood home, as he tells me about \u201cthe old lady\u201d, who, after that initial appearance, appeared \u201cpractically every day\u201d. Had she lived there in the past? What worried Tyronne\u2019s mum was that he and his sister seemed to be chatting to the ghost on their own. Those stories of the Blitz<\/a> had to be coming from somewhere, so she took the step of calling a priest. \u201cHe told the lady she was free to remain,\u201d says Tyronne. \u201cBut to just leave the children alone!\u201d<\/p>\n So far, so creepy, but things got worse when the family moved out a year or so later. They started getting reports from their old neighbours saying that whoever moved into the house never stayed long. The old lady had got nasty! But then things took a disturbing turn: the neighbours reported that the families being chased out of the house were all of Indian and Pakistani origin. So was the old lady actually a racist?<\/p>\n This story feels personal to me as I\u2019ve lived in Walthamstow for the last decade. In Old English, \u2018Walthamstow\u2019 means \u2018Welcome Place\u2019, and over the years, people from all over the world have made it home. Sadly, that diversity hasn\u2019t been celebrated by all \u2013 back in the 1970s and 80s, there were protests in the streets by the far-right National Front.<\/p>\n Speaking to AbdulMaalik Tailor, an expert in British Muslim history, I get a first-hand account of what Asian immigrants faced. \u201cIt was a tough time,\u201d he says, recalling the abuse and the shocking ordeal of having petrol and lit matches put through your letterbox. He gives me an interesting perspective on how Muslim families might have viewed \u2018the old lady\u2019, perhaps thinking of her as a djinn \u2013 an Islamic term for a spirit or demon that attaches themselves to a place. Overall, I\u2019m fascinated by this blending of Eastern supernatural tradition with an East London ghost story. But was it true? Could there have really been a ghost who discriminated against Asian families?<\/p>\n Read other instalments of Danny Robins\u2019 series:<\/strong><\/p>\n The ghost of Brooklands racing circuit<\/a><\/p>\n Alanbrooke Hall, Belfast<\/a><\/p>\n The Battersea Poltergeist<\/a><\/p>\n HMP Shepton Mallet<\/a><\/p>\nEast meets east<\/h3>\n