Spooky Isles reader RACHELLE OAKLEY delves into her childhood in a haunted Victorian flat in Tooting, South London, to reveal many creepy paranormal memories
Ghosts of Tooting
I was born and raised in Tooting, Wandsworth, South London, in a ground floor, drafty, Victorian rented maisonette. Our flat lacked central heating or a bathroom and had an outside toilet. It may sound prehistoric for the 1970s, but we bathed in a tin bath in front of our electric fire. My siblings and I were bathed in the butler’s sink, and my parents used the tin bath.
Our home was so close to Tooting Broadway station that when I lay on the floor to watch Top of the Pops, I could feel the vibrations from the underground trains passing below. If I put my ear to the floor, I could hear the rumbling and spooky howling as the trains passed. Despite being poor, we never felt deprived, as everyone around us shared similar circumstances, with some families living in council tower blocks that replaced buildings bombed during WWII.
An Early Encounter with the Unseen
My earliest memory of a paranormal encounter happened in that flat. My bedroom, shared with my younger brother, was midway through the property. One night, I was sitting up in bed, flicking through picture books, with the door open, providing a clear view down the hall to the front door. I saw a man walk down the hall from the front door, past my room, towards the kitchen. Our German Shepherd, Jason, who slept in the hall, watched the man and got up to follow him.
Curious, I went to the front room and asked my dad who the man was. My dad, not one to be messed with, stormed down the hall, only to find no one there. Although he reassured me that I must have been seeing things, Jason refused to return to his bed in the hall and instead slept on my bunk bed, a habit he maintained afterwards. The man, I later realised, was dressed in clothing typical of the 1930s-40s, a revelation prompted by a WWII TV program featuring similar attire.
The Psychic Medium Aunt
Two of my favourite aunts growing up were Auntie Joyce and Auntie Dolly. Auntie Joyce was a psychic medium, although I only discovered this as an adult. She had a warm presence, and I was drawn to her. We didn’t see her often because she was divorced from my uncle. She lived in a big house with a beautiful garden, a stark contrast to our tiny yard.
One day, while visiting her, I played in the garden and met an elderly lady from next door. She showed me her plants, including a small flower cluster by her pond called “mind your own business”, which I found hilarious. We eventually reached a small summer house where we played with a vintage fortune-telling tin. After some time, I heard my name being called and ran back to the house.
When I told my mum and aunt about the encounter, my mum turned pale, but my aunt was smug. The lady next door had passed away about a month earlier. My aunt had told my nanna she believed I had an old soul connected to the spirit world, a notion my nanna, a lovely open-minded woman, accepted, though my mum disapproved.
A Visit from an Angel
Years later, my Auntie Joyce was in the hospital. During a visit to my nanna’s, I was helping my grandad roll cigarettes when I saw Auntie Joyce as an angel, bathed in golden light, smiling at me before disappearing into a tunnel of light. My grandparents noticed my distraction, and I told them what I saw. Ten minutes later, my nanna received a call confirming Auntie Joyce’s passing, validating my vision.
A Final Farewell
Seven years later, my cousin was getting married, and I was to be a bridesmaid. The night before we left, my mum saw a haze of smoke form an orb around our electric fireplace. She believed it was Auntie Joyce thanking her for supporting her daughter. Later, a medium confirmed Auntie Joyce’s presence, further convincing my mum of an afterlife.
In a twist of fate, during a grocery trip after the medium session, I asked for a grapefruit, a word that was on a list the medium had given my mum. This eerie coincidence solidified my mum’s belief in the afterlife and the ability of mediums to communicate with the other side.
Have you seen a ghost in Tooting or South London? Tell us about it in the comments section below!
RACHELLE OAKLEY, a retired teacher in Surrey Hills, Surrey, is a psychic witch sharing witchcraft and life rants on TikTok as @issyoakleysmum. She’s fascinated by UFOs, the paranormal, cryptids, and ancient history, especially lost civilizations and historical anomalies.
