Ill or disabled
The Residents of Waterdales, near London
Category: Ill or disabled
It is unusual for this site to lump a number of people together as a source, but this is a very unusual set of case histories applying to so many of the residents of this area that it is worth considering them as a whole.
In some ways, although the residents are the victims, it appears to be the special features of the site that are to blame.
NORTHFLEET is a small town near Gravesend in the East End of London, UK, about two miles from the River Thames. There is much industry (electric power installations, cement works, etc.) in the vicinity. Waterdales is an area within Northfleet which is a mix of old council house as well as semi-detached housing.
It achieved a certain fame and notoriety in the 1960s, for having a haunted house – an ordinary house in which considerable poltergeist activity was evident. We have provided the description of this as an observation.
At least three families experienced the activity, meaning it had nothing to do with them but everything to do with the site.
The haunted house was a "council house" built by the Northfleet Urban District Council in the 1930s on what was then cultivated farmland.
It was just one in a street of almost identical houses on both sides. There had been subsidence in the garden of a house a street or so away, but nothing of the kind had occurred in Waterdales itself.
But this is of interest, as it rather implies there may be some unusual telluric currents in operation in the area, and it still appears to be the case.
Science and the Spook – George Owen and Victor Sims
Now the northern part of Kent, besides being seismic (as we noted when discussing Margate), is honeycombed with underground water-courses and cavities. Earth tremors and subterranean water merit consideration. Indeed Mrs Essex senior was thinking on these lines and being familiar with the celebrated Chislehurst caves wondered if some kind of underground disturbance might explain the experiences. It should be noted also that a large hole appeared by collapse in a neighbouring street not long ago.
Northfleet and in particular Waterdales, has now become famous again as a consequence of the birth defect clusters that are being experienced.
Some of the Mums affected
The Gravesend Reporter - Northfleet birth defects ‘cluster’ investigation launched PUBLISHED: 11:51 23 February 2012 Syma Mohammed
An investigation into why five children whose mothers lived in the same street have been diagnosed with an identical birth defect is to be launched by NHS West Kent
All the women, who were living in Waterdales, Northfleet, when they fell pregnant, have had children diagnosed with gastroschisis.
This is a type of hernia where babies have a hole in their abdominal wall through which their intestines protrude. Sonia Dalton, 35, of Epsom Close, Juliet Green, 39, of Raphael Close, Gravesend, and Natalie Margetson, 21, of Waterdales, have all given birth to children suffering from gastroschisis, Stella Coffee, 38 and Chantelle Stevens, 23, both from Waterdales, have been told that their unborn children have the condition.
Meradin Peachey, Kent’s director of public health, said: “We are taking this matter very seriously and I am pleased the women contacted me. I met with the women on Monday to discuss their concerns. We will look at starting an investigation with the Health Protection Agency into the possible reasons for this case. We will be carrying out an investigation and are unable to comment any further.”
Ms Dalton said: “The meeting was positive. It is promising that there’s the possibility of an investigation starting to get to the bottom of all of this. We’re still unsure as to what exactly is going to be done, but we’re all keeping our fingers crossed. Hopefully it’s something that can be prevented to stop it happening again. We want answers.”
According to patient.co.uk, about four to five babies out of 10,000 births have a chance of being born with the condition. This makes the Waterdales incidence more alarming.
Although the cause in these cases is currently unknown, there are a number of environmental and other factors which can cause the condition.
but this is of especial interest......
Science and the Spook – George Owen and Victor Sims
Before houses were built in Waterdales it was, as the name implies, lush meadowland. Some of the local residents told Mr Bob Saunders that it had the reputation that cattle grazing there were liable to fall sick. It is difficult to attach much weight or significance to an allegation of this kind. A gentleman wrote to us from Dartford with a somewhat allied piece of information given him by a resident in the Waterdales area to the effect that sheep would not at any time graze from the particular spot where 16 Waterdales now stands.
Observations
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