Spooky experience for shop assistant in office corridor

I attended the launch of the Artists in Residence project at the castle this week. I met up with one of the NT shop assistants at the event. She told me that she had a very scary experience the previous evening when she went upstairs to the offices above the stable block to find a laptop. She went into the room which used to be the Learning Department toys and games room. She could not find the laptop and turned towards the door to leave the room when she suddenly felt very uneasy. She said that she had called out when she first went up to the offices to see if anyone was around but the staff had all gone home. She went into the corridor and closed the office door behind her. As she started walking towards the end of the corridor to go down the stairs she heard a low growling sound behind her and something whooshed past between her and the noticeboard on the corridor wall. Her long hair blew out in front of her and all the notices pinned to the board flapped about as it rushed past. She did not see anything but was absolutely terrified. She ran to the stairs and down to the outside door into the courtyard. A Visitor Experience Assistant was coming towards the stairs to go up to the offices The shop assistant warned her not to go up there and told her what had just happened. She told me that she was dreading the next time she has to go up there to the offices after her terrifying encounter.

                                                   Office corridor above the stable block

I also spoke to one of the conservation team at the event and he had an interesting story for me too. He said that a couple of weeks ago one of the Lead Guides was about to lock the door to ground floor rooms of the Keep at the end of the day, when someone told them not to lock it as they had just seen two men go up the stairs towards Lord Penrhyn's sitting room. It was after the main entrance had been closed for visitors so they went to check who could be there. They did not find anyone. I wonder who it could have been? Possibly Lord Penrhyn and his valet? I am trying to find out exactly who saw the two men so that I can ask them for more details. I am very pleased that there are still ghostly sightings and spooky things going on at the castle, as I have not had any new stories for a few months.



Please let me know if you have had any experiences there or have any comments on the stories I have collected so far. Thanks.

Black whoosh seen in State bedroom

I was visiting Penrhyn Castle recently with a friend when we went into the State Bedroom at the top of the Grand Staircase and spoke to a room steward I had not seen before. He explained that he had heard of me due to my name being on the cover of the Penrhyn Ghosts book but had never met me before. He said that he had recently had an experience that he wanted to tell me about. He was standing at the top of the Grand Staircase whilst being a room steward when he suddenly became aware of a horrible smell. He described it as, "A smell like something had died!" He looked around to try and find out where the smell was coming from. He went into the State bedroom but nobody was in there. He walked past the dressing room, past the toilet and onto the top of the secondary staircase. He still didn't see anyone or anything that could be responsible for the awful smell. He said that as he walked back into the State Bedroom he saw a black shape move past him very fast and it disappeared towards the top of the Grand Staircase. I said, "It was a black whoosh!" He was surprised that I knew what he was talking about. I explained that several people have experienced similar things happening in different parts of the castle, such as the Scullery and Slate Bedroom. He said that he wondered at the time if it could have been his own shadow, so he went back the way he had just walked and came into the State Bedroom again, to see if he could recreate the back shape and movement. It did not happen. It was definitely not his shadow.

He also told me that he had taken a photo of the large mirror at the top of the stairs by the Nursery Bedroom in the Keep. He put the photo onto his computer at home and was very surprised to see a black figure standing behind his left shoulder in the photo. He said that when he took the picture nobody was around.

Can you spot the reflection of the black figure behind the man taking the photo in the centre of the picture?

Please let me know if you have had any experiences at the castle either as a room steward or as a visitor. This week is Halloween week and lots of interesting things have been planned. Hope to see you there!
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/penrhyn-castle/things-to-see-and-do/events/

Poltergeist activity in the National Trust shop

The book room

Yesterday I was volunteering at Penrhyn Castle as a Room Guide in the keep bedrooms. Afterwards I spoke to the supervisor of the National Trust shop. She told me that some strange things have been happening in the room next to the Servants Hall, where there are bookshelves and a comfortable seating area. She said that books have been appearing on the floor which belong on the shelf opposite the door into the Servants Hall. It is usually a children's colouring book. It appears on the floor on the other side of the room before the shop is open and usually happens in the morning. She hasn't seen one flying across the room yet but is on the lookout for any strange goings-on.

The colouring book

I spoke to one of the shop assistants about the flying book last week and she said that she has found it on the floor too. She also told me that she saw someone walk through a door which leads through a small side room onto the bell corridor before the shop was open a few days ago. She said that she saw them out of the corner of her eye when she was near the till. She went to see who it was and found that the door to the corridor was still locked and that nobody was there. She reminded me of the incident last year when a musical birthday card went off by itself on the stand when she was in the shop, and when the CD player suddenly went very loud and nobody was near it. Very strange! I would be interested in any comments, especially if you have had any similar experiences at Penrhyn Castle.

Curious incident of the Penrhyn Castle pass key

I was told yet another fascinating story last week by a conservation volunteer. He told me that he had taken one of the big, old Penrhyn Castle pass keys to a key cutting shop in Llandudno to see if it could be silver soldered. He said that it had been in his pocket so it was warm. When he handed it to the lady behind the counter she held it for a couple of seconds then dropped it onto the counter. She said it sent cold shivers down her spine, even though she said it was warm to the touch. She had no idea where it was from. He said he would find out whether it is an original keep or a modern copy. He spoke to me on Friday last week and told me that he had spoken to the House Steward who said that it is an old key, but probably not original. It may be an early copy from when the National Trust first took over the castle in 1951.

I would be very interested in speaking to the lady to ask what she experienced when she touched the key. Next time I go to Llandudno I may go into the key cutting shop and talk to her about it.

Ghostly face photographed in tower window

I received an email this week with two photographs attached, from a man who visited the castle a few years ago with his family. He took a photo of the main doors to the stables and when he looked through the photos he noticed a face at the window of one of the stable tower rooms. This is the email I recieved:

I was on holiday with my wife and children and we came to Penrhyn for the afternoon. I was just snapping away and when I got home I was looking at the Crest and clock and happened to look at the window and saw the figure of what looks like a woman. I sent this picture in to a ghost website called Angels and Ghosts and they published it on their site. This was several years ago now. I've been meaning to get in touch with someone at Penrhyn for a while now, and while looking on the net, found your blog. Do you work at Penrhyn? The picture was taken ‎Thursday, ‎August ‎16, ‎2007, ‏‎11:56 I've enlarged the pic, but have not edited it in any other way. Please could you let me know what you think and what anyone else thinks at Penrhyn. Are there any other ghosts pics taken there? Kind regards, Tony

I would be interested to know what people think. Please leave your comments below.

Ghostly skirt sighting in the Keep

I was talking to one of the room stewards this week when I was at the castle for the volunteers Christmas dinner. I had not see her for a while and had heard that she had experienced something strange in the Keep a few weeks ago. Several people had mentioned it to me, so I was very pleased to see her and hear her story. I always try to speak directly to people who have had a ghostly encounter so that I get the story in their own words.

She told me that she had been standing in the corridor near the Nursery Bedroom which used to be Alice Douglas Pennant's room. She was on duty as a room steward that day. She had her back to the King's Bedroom and was looking through the door of the Slate Bedroom, so that she could see if any visitors came into any of the rooms in that area. She suddenly saw someone walking up the corridor towards her wearing a long cream coloured skirt with ridges on it.  She noticed that it was an Edwardian style skirt. As the lady went past her the skirt swished as she walked. The room steward looked up to speak to her and realised that there was nobody there. She looked in all the bedrooms in the Keep but there was no other person around. She was adamant that she had seen the long skirt and was aware of the lady walking towards her. She seemed completely real to her. She said that the experience was not frightening at all, but was so vivid that it stayed with her for about three weeks afterwards.

Alice Douglas Pennant (1862-1939)

I wonder if this could have been the Honourable Lady Alice Douglas Pennant whose bedroom was in the Nursery Room next door and who has been sensed and seen in the room many times by different people over the years?

Unexplained ghostly experiences of a Conservation Volunteer

I was at Penrhyn Castle today to play the part of Lady Penrhyn for the schools hands-on living history Christmas programme. I was getting changed afterwards and preparing to go home when I overheard one of the conservation volunteers asking a conservator if he had been in the area near Lord Penrhyn's study earlier in the afternoon. He thought he had seen him standing at the top of the stairs. I immediately asked what had happened in case it was a ghostly experience and he said that he could not explain what had just taken place. He was moving tables from the corridor near Lord Penrhyn's study down some stairs into the lower link corridor and putting them near a door ready for the volunteers Christmas party on Wednesday. He turned to go back up to get some more tables when he became aware of a figure standing at the top of the stairs. He thought it must be one of the conservation team and he called out his name. The figure disappeared. The volunteer thought that the conservator was playing a trick on him, so he went back up the stairs to look for him. The doors were all locked up and there was nobody around. When he questioned the conservator he had been with another member of the team near Grand Lodge, which is a mile up the driveway! I had just left the Grand Hall with a party of school children and there was nobody else around.

I asked if he had ever experienced anything else unusual and he asked me, "How long have you got?" I sat down with a pen and paper to make notes, feeling very excited to hear some new stories to add to the collection. He told me that he has been involved in a National Trust conservation project entitled a Historic Services Survey. He has been into all of the derelict rooms, attics, cellars and roof voids in Penrhyn Castle to help carry out a survey on the heating and lighting of the property for several months. He was usually on his own and has often been in the dark, as he has been testing the emergency lighting system. He is very practical and down to earth and said that he does not feel at all nervous when in these situations. He always looks for a logical explanation for strange events, but he said that there have been some experiences which he cannot possibly explain.

While he was working in the Upper Link Corridor leading to the Keep bedrooms recently he walked towards the large mirror at the top of the stairs near the nursery bedroom. He clearly saw the reflection of someone walking along the chapel corridor towards the Lower India Room. He assumed it was one of the conservation team and thought that he would play a trick on them, as they had often tried to make him jump in the past. He crept along the Grand Hall Gallery, dodging behind pillars and lamps until he came to the Lower India Room, where he jumped out from behind the door and said "Boo!" There was nobody there and the door was locked. He checked with the conservation staff and they had not been working in the area at that time.

While he was working in the cellars a few weeks ago he went into the Barrel Vault, which is Medieval and is in the oldest part of the castle. It is underneath the Drawing Room. He was using a vacuum cleaner to clean the bottom of the 15th century spiral staircase, known as the Pyrs Gruffydd Tower. He suddenly heard a high pitched man's voice speaking in Welsh. He turned off the vacuum cleaner and went up the stone steps to the entrance to see if it was someone in the area outside the cellar. There was no-one around. He went back to the cellar and continued to vacuum, when the voice started talking again, exactly as before. He left the vacuum running and quickly went up the steps again to see if it was someone looking for him in the area near the entrance, but again there was nobody around. He went back down into the cellars and search all around them to see if there was someone about, but he did not find anyone. He realised that he could only hear the voice when he was in the Medieval cellar. I wonder if it could be John the Bottler, who has been seen in that cellar some years ago.                                                                                                                                                                        
One day he was doing some repairs in the New Room, which was created by enlarging a roof space above the Upper India room. He said that the door suddenly slammed shut, but there was no draught. It made him jump! He could not find anyone around.

He gave an interesting account of an incident which happened in the corridor outside the Visitor Experience team office, which used to be the Education Office. He was standing in the doorway when he suddenly became aware of  a young boy wearing a light coloured shirt and waistcoat standing behind him. He moved out of the way to let the boy go into the office but nobody walked past him. He turned around to see who it was and there was no-one there. The volunteer searched the corridor and looked into the other offices in the area but there was no young boy around at all. He had assumed that it was a member of staff's son.

One evening he was testing the emergency lighting system in the stable block. He switched the lights off in the Industrial Railway Museum. He was standing near one of the carriages. As the emergency lighting came on he caught a glimpse of a man sitting in the carriage. When he looked again, he had disappeared. There was nobody else working in the museum at the time and it was closed to the public. The carriage is kept locked.

I am looking forward to hearing more fascinating stories from this volunteer. He is going to let me know if he remembers any more incidents like these. He is also going to send me some photos of some of the places he has been working when things have happened, which he cannot explain.

Please let me know if you have had any unusual experiences at Penrhyn Castle, and I will add them to the collection.