Spooky orbs captured on photo of the Grand Staircase

Today I received a copy of a photo taken by one of the conservators at Penrhyn Castle which appears to show two light orbs on the Grand Staircase. He showed me several photos taken at the same time which clearly showed orbs in different places on the photos. I would be very interested to hear what people think they could be. Please leave a comment below. Thanks.

Grumpy Grand Hall ghost!

Last Thursday I was playing Lady Penrhyn in the Library at the castle for the schools Christmas hands-on programme. The children came into the library with Wilson the butler, played by my friend's husband, with some of the volunteer helpers and school teachers. My friend (who works in the Learning Department) was late coming down to the Library and she decided that rather than walk all around the Grand Hall on the carpet she would save time by cutting across the middle of the room. She said that when she walked into the Grand Hall she felt very uneasy, as though she was being watched. She looked up at the Grand Hall Gallery but could not see anyone, and it was very quiet. She was dressed as a housemaid in a high necked black long sleeved blouse, long black skirt, white apron and lace cap. As she crossed the stone floor she heard a gruff man's voice, which seemed to be directed at her. She could not make out any words clearly as the voice was muffled, but felt as though she was being reprimanded for crossing the middle of the room, rather than going around the edge. She looked up at the gallery above the Grand Hall but could not see anyone there. She scurried to the Library door and tried to turn the large brass handle, feeling very spooked! She was very relieved when the door handle eventually turned and she was able to slip into the back of the room, where I was talking to the school children about the Christmas parties which used to be held at Penrhyn in Victorian times.

I did not know about this incident until a couple of days ago when we were at Bodysgallen Hall near Llandudno where we had our Volunteers and Staff Christmas lunch. She was convinced that it was not her imagination and that someone or something did call out to her. I will speak to the Conservators later as I am at the castle playing Lady Penrhyn in the Library for the last time this season today. I will ask if any of them was playing a trick on her. When I spoke to them last Thursday they were all downstairs in the Breakfast Room cleaning picture frames, so it is unlikely that they would have been upstairs when my friend walked across the Grand Hall. I will report back on here when I have grilled them!

                     Me as Lady Penrhyn in the Library with Wilson my butler

I spoke to the conservators this morning and they confirmed that they did not go into the Grand Hall last Thursday as they were busy working on  the picture frames in the Breakfast Room. They did not make any noises as they were aware that a school visit was taking place and did not want to disturb the children. I also spoke to my psychic friend today and she was certain that it was the last Lord Penrhyn, as she has also heard a similar sound whenever she she seen him in the castle. She said it is as though he is clearing his throat, which is how my other friend described it when she heard the noise last week. One of the conservators has a photo which he took of the Grand Stairs. It apparently shows an orb floating up the stairs. He has promised to email it to me so that I can put it on here. Sounds very interesting!

Ghost Tour of Penrhyn Castle booklet is now available!

Today I printed some copies of the Penrhyn Castle Ghost Tour booklet which will be sold at the reception desk in the castle from Monday 29th October. There are a lot of Dark Happenings activities during the week for Halloween. I am thrilled to have it completed and ready to sell and I hope that people will be interested enough to want to come and buy it! It is designed to take around the castle to read about the ghosts room by room as visitors do the tour. I hope that some of my readers will be able to come and see the rooms I have described and told stories about for themselves. I hope that people will tell me new stories about experiences they have had at the castle to add to this blog and for the book I plan to write in the near future.

Mysterious flying sign!

The exhibition in the Gallery

I went to the castle this afternoon to collect some of my paintings which have been on display in the Gallery in an exhibition for the past two weeks. While I was there I was told about a strange occurrence which took place this afternoon. Two of the ladies manning the exhibition were talking while there were no visitors, when suddenly the sign on the doorway of the gallery was ripped off the frame and thrown across the room! They said that it really made them jump. They looked around the area to check if anyone was there but there was nobody about. When they were telling me about it one of the ladies tried to pull the sign off the door frame to demonstrate what had happened. It took quite a bit of tugging to get it off as it was held firmly in place with Blu-tack. She said that if it had fallen off by itself it would have landed on the floor by the door, not halfway across the room! They said that it could not have been a draft as there were no open doors or windows in the area. Very spooky. Perhaps the grey lady who was seen recently on the Gallery stairs was trying to help dismantle the exhibition. I will definitely be watching out for any other signs of ghostly activity in the area. Watch this space!

Grey lady seen on stairs

Yesterday I went to the castle with a friend who is very psychic. I asked her to walk up the stairs to the gallery and tell me if she felt anything there. She walked up to the place where the member of staff had reported seeing a grey shape a couple of weeks ago. She told me that there was a woman standing on the stairs wearing a grey dress. She said that the dress had a high neck and a row of black buttons down the front of it. The waist came down into a point at the front. She was quite tall and was standing very straight with her hands clasped in front of her. I went to the office and spoke to the lady who had seen the grey shape and introduced her to my friend. When she explained what she could see on the stairs to the secretary she said that it fitted in exactly with what she had seen, although she couldn't make out the details.

I spoke to the manager of the Industrial railway museum yesterday morning. He asked me if I had ever heard of a "brindle coloured" dog being seen in the museum. I had only heard stories of dogs being seen in the Slate bedroom and in the Ice Tower, but not in the Stable area. He told me that a visitor had reported a dog running loose in the museum to the staff. It had been seen running next to the Fire Queen engine. The staff checked all around the museum but no dog was found in the area. Visitors who bring their dogs have to keep them on a lead at all times.

I am hopefully getting a graphic designer to help me with the layout of my Ghosts of Penrhyn Castle booklet, which I am hoping to have ready for sale by Dark Happenings week at the end of October. I will let you know when it is available. It will hopefully be on sale in the National Trust shop at Penrhyn Castle. I will be giving a guided ghost tour of the house at night on Saturday 27th October. Please phone the castle if you are interested in coming on the tour. (01248 353084) Last year's tour was very eventful with a white shape being seen by a visitor drifting across the King's bedroom and a pebble being dropped at our feet on the Grand Hall Gallery! I wonder what will happen this year?

Spooky grey shape seen on the Gallery stairs!

As I was collecting some keys this morning from the General Office at Penrhyn Castle one of the staff told me that she had recently encountered something strange on the Gallery stairs. I asked her to tell me the story. She explained that about three weeks ago she was locking up the gallery doors at the end of the day. There were no visitors around as the castle was closed. She stood at the top of the stairs by the door to the gallery with her back to the room. She was talking to the manager of the Industrial Railway Museum when she caught sight of something on the stairs below her out of the corner of her eye. She thought at first it was just her hair and she pushed it back. She looked over the rail at the top of the stairs and saw it was still there. It was a greyish shape, like a person, standing on the stairs. She could not see if it was a man or a woman. She looked away and back again to the stairs, but it had vanished. She told me that she has often heard footsteps in the corridor outside the office when there is nobody else in the building, but it was the first time she has actually seen anything. She said that the manager had not seen it, because he was standing by the lift doors and he could not see over the stairs.

         The ghostly grey shape was seen on this part of the Gallery staircase

I also spoke to John today, one of our conservators. He told me that he has often seen things moving about out of the corner of his eye, especially up in the Keep bedrooms. He said that he does not feel uncomfortable in any part of the castle apart from the Keep, where the family bedrooms are. He said that he feels especially uncomfortable in the Slate bedroom. He feels as though there is something watching him in there, as though he is not alone. He told me that a visitor recently commented that they had felt that there is a sadness in the house and that there was definitely something lurking on the Grand staircase, which made them feel very gloomy and sad.

I always wonder what people will tell me when I go there. I will keep you posted. Please leave me your comments. Thanks.

Man's voice heard in Lord Penrhyn's Sitting Room

We have an exhibition at Penrhyn Castle for two weeks called "Penrhyn's Got Talent". It is an opportunity for staff and volunteers to show and sell some of their art and crafts. There is some excellent work on display. I was manning the gallery last week with one of the other artists who is a room steward. She told me that recently she was standing in Lord Penrhyn's Sitting Room at about 4pm when the castle was very quiet and there were no visitors in the room. She heard an older man's voice saying "Owen, Owen," with a strong Welsh accent. She wondered who it could be, as there was nobody in the room. She went out of the room and looked in the corridor outside, but no visitors were there. She walked down the stairs from the Keep to the Grand Hall, which is quite a distance, but there was nobody around at all. It would be very difficult to hear anyone speaking from the Grand Hall to Lord Penrhyn's Sitting Room.

She was convinced that the voice was just outside the door. She has often heard sounds in the room when she has been there alone as a room steward. She said that they are sounds of someone working, such as putting things down on the desk. The room next to the Sitting Room is the Valet's room which can only be viewed from the sitting room. There is no other access to the room, only one door in and out. A visitor could not have moved fast enough to get back down the stairs before the steward went to look. She said that she is not scared if she hears anything. It feels very peaceful in the room. I will let you know if she hears anything else in there. Watch this space!

Mischievous ghost in the shop

Last Friday evening I attended a retirement party for the head gardener at Penrhyn Castle who is leaving on Friday after 33 years. I spoke to a lady who works in the National Trust shop, as someone mentioned to me that she had recently had a supernatural experience there. I asked her what had happened and she explained that last Thursday she had been working in the shop, which was empty, when a lady customer walked through the door. As the lady passed a shelf near the door a book jumped up off the display book rest and landed on the floor. The book rest was still standing on the shelf. She asked the visitor if she was all right and the lady asked her whether there were any ghosts in the shop? She replied that we think there are. The lady explained that she has had similar strange experiences whenever she visits anywhere haunted. She thinks that she attracts them! She had been in a tea room in Conwy recently when a door opened and closed in front of her without anyone being there. She asked the tea room manager whether it was haunted and they replied that it was. She told them that the ghost had just walked through the door!

The shop assistant at Penrhyn told me that the same thing happened with another book later that same day when another customer was in the shop. She saw the books jump up off their book rests and lift up in the air before landing on the floor. If they had simply fallen down then the book rests, which are made of light plastic, would have fallen with them. She is convinced that someone lifted the books up and dropped them on the floor. I told her about the other stories involving things being placed on the floor of the shop when the manager has opened up in the morning. That has happened on several occasions to two shop managers who I have spoken to. If the things had fallen down they would either have broken (in the case of glass bottles), or been in a crumpled heap, (such as tea towels which have been found neatly folded in the middle of the floor)! Very strange goings-on indeed!

Has anyone reading this had a similar experience? I would love to hear your stories. Please comment on the blog and share your own ghostly encounters with other readers. Thanks.

Is something ghostly lurking in the State Bedroom?

Today I did a tour of the castle with some friends who had not been there before. One of them is originally from Jamaica. He is very sensitive to all things supernatural, something I was not aware of until after I started the tour of the house. He was enjoying looking at all the beautiful rooms and fine furniture until we went up the Grand Staircase and I walked into the State Bedroom. I carried on talking about the room when I realised that the rest of my group had not followed me in. I turned to see what the delay was and they were gathered around him looking anxious. My other friend said that he would not go into the room because he had a bad feeling about it. He was moving backwards away from the door to the room and looked quite scared. I asked what he was experiencing and he explained that there was a feeling of darkness, of decay and death as he approached the doorway. He said that there was a strange smell, which he described as being like "old hospitals". He said that he usually smells it when there is a spirit nearby. He did not like the feeling coming from the room and was anxious to move away from the area as quickly as possible. I explained about the hand painted Chinese wallpaper and use of the rooms, then we went to the Grand Hall Gallery.

He did not mention anything else untoward until we left the Keep bedrooms and went back along the gallery. He stopped outside a locked door and asked me what was behind the door. I told him that it was either the curtain store or carpet store. It is a suite of rooms including a bedroom and dressing room. I have been in it before, but not for a few years, so I was not quite sure which room it was. It is not open to the public. He said that he had the same feeling of death and the strange smell he had experienced by the door to the State Bedroom, but it was not as strong. I could not smell anything unusual in either area.

After our tour of the house we were walking past the Stable Block and I pointed out the Industrial Railway Museum through the entrance doors. He said that he could feel something in the entrance and knew that there was a spirit in that area.

After we left Penrhyn Castle to go to a meeting in Bangor he had to leave the room to have a sleep. He said that the ghostly encounters had left him feeling very tired and that he had a headache. He is often asked to get rid of spirit from people's homes. He said that he calls on angels to escort the spirits away. I asked him to leave the Penrhyn Ghosts where they are for now, as I would still like to meet one myself!

Gentleman ghost seen in Keep bedroom

Yesterday I was volunteering at a Cowboys and Indians Fun Day at Penrhyn Castle. I had to sign in as a volunteer in the Stewards' room in the castle. I asked a couple of the stewards if they had heard any ghost stories recently, as I still need stories for the Dining Room and the State Bedroom to complete my Ghost Tour booklet. The Head Steward told me that recently a visitor asked him who the man in the old fashioned dress suit was? He had encountered him in one of the Keep bedrooms. The Head Steward was mystified as to who it could be, so he went with him to investigate the sighting. When the man took him back into the bedroom there was nobody of that description in there. If it had been a live person they would have had to walk past the Room Steward on their way out of the bedroom along the Grand Hall Gallery. Nobody dressed like that had been seen. I wonder who it was? I will keep my eyes and ears open when I am next in the Keep. I hope that I will see one of the ghosts myself, but so far they have been avoiding me!

Medieval staircase ghost

Last week we had a group of 50 children from a local holiday play scheme doing hands-on activities with the Learning team at the castle in the morning. In the afternoon we took them around the castle on a costumed guided tour in four groups. We were dressed as two Lady Penrhyns, a housemaid and a butler. My friend, who was dressed as Lady Penrhyn, was taking her group of 10 children ahead of me. As she was standing by the medieval tower spiral staircase between the Drawing Room and the Ebony Room, she suddenly felt as though she was being pushed hard in the chest by an invisible force. She was not afraid because she has heard about other people's experiences in the same place, so she knew what it was. She said that she stood by the tower door as she explained to the children about the tower being built in the 1400's as a look-out tower. She does not usually stand right next to it when she explains the history, but this time she did. She felt the strong pushing sensation, like a heavy weight on her chest. When she moved out of the Ebony Room it disappeared as quickly as it had come. By the time she got to the foot of the Grand Staircase her chest felt normal again, much to her relief!

It is interesting that she felt the same sensation that several people have experienced in that exact spot. I have spoken to staff who have felt it and have heard stories of visitors who have described exactly the same feeling there. One visitor left me a comment on this site describing her experience. I will be moving past it very quickly next time I take a group on a tour of the castle!

I asked the room stewards today if they have heard any stories about the dining room or the state bedroom because I have stories about every other room in the house. I would be very interested to hear about any experiences anyone reading this blog has had if they would like to leave me comments. I am writing a booklet for the National Trust about the ghosts stories which will be hopefully published soon . It will be a room by room tour of the castle with ghost stories from each one for people to carry around with them if they want to do their own ghost tour. I will let you know when it is published and available in the castle shop.

Shop ghost caught on camera?

Yesterday I went into the National Trust shop at Penrhyn Castle to warm myself, as I had been waiting outside for a group who were due to visit the castle and had got rather cold. While I was waiting for the group to arrive I overheard the shop assistants talking about a ghostly apparition which had appeared on a photo taken by Ian, on Sunday afternoon using his phone. I asked if I could see the photo and explained that I am collecting stories about the ghosts at the castle. They had heard that someone was collecting stories but did not know that it was me. Ian explained that a few months ago a man had come into the shop and said that he sensed there was a ghostly presence there. He took out a crystal on a string which started to swing, apparently indicating a spirit was nearby. Ian was sceptical and had not thought much about it since. On Sunday afternoon the shop was not very busy at the end of the day and he decided to wind up one of the other assistants about some of the ghost stories he had heard since working at Penrhyn. He went over to the end of the shop near the books and said, "Come on then, show yourself!" He took a photo of the area without using a flash, but the phone moved and the picture was blurred. He took a second one and when he looked at it closely he could make out the outline of a person in the corner of the room. He said that it looked like a young scullery maid. Here is the photo. What do you think?

More on the ghost dog in the Ice Tower

I found out some more details about the ghost dog in the Ice Tower this week. The student who had the experience told my friend Elaine that it happened last year while she was visiting the castle with some friends. She went up into the Ice Tower ahead of them on her own.They came running up the stairs when she started screaming. She was shouting, "Get it off me! Get it off me!" When the friends rushed into the Ice Tower room they asked her, "Get what off you?" She said it was something warm pressing on her leg, like a dog. I wonder if it is the same dog which other people have felt pressing against their leg, like the visitor in the Library, or the room steward in the Slate Bedroom? Perhaps it wanders around and chooses people at random to lean on! I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience there? Please let me know if you have felt a dog leaning on you at Penrhyn or if you have heard of anyone else who has. Thanks.

Ghost dog in the Ice Tower

Last Friday I taught 60 students aged 16-18 from a school near Chester about the history and architecture of Penrhyn Castle. One of the girls told another Learning Assistant that when she came to visit the castle a few years ago she went into the Ice Tower. While she was in the tower she felt something warm pressing against her leg. It felt like a dog. She did not see it but felt it quite clearly. I will find out more on this story and add further details when I get them. The students were very curious to know if there are any ghosts at the castle so I directed them to this website. I hope that they enjoyed their day with us and that if any of them have had any supernatural experiences at the castle they will share them on here.

More sounds heard in the Victorian kitchens

Today I met a lady who used to work at the castle on the beach in Caernarfon. She is doing a research project for the National Trust at the Bangor University archives for her MA. We discussed the ghosts stories at Penrhyn and I mentioned the sounds which had been heard in the Victorian kitchens just before Christmas. She told me that a couple of years ago she was asked to get something from the archives at Penrhyn Castle, which are in the scullery maids bedrooms at the top of the scullery stairs. She went down to the kitchens and stood outside the door of the main kitchen with the keys ready to open the door. She said that she could hear noises inside the kitchen, which sounded like someone working in there. She was too frightened to go into the kitchen because she knew that nobody was working in the room, as it was locked up. She would have had to walk through the kitchen to get to the scullery to go upstairs to the archives. She said that she went back up to the office and made her excuses about not being able to get the file but didn't tell them why! She is the same lady who was locked in the Pickard room and has heard footsteps in the Learning and Communications corridor when nobody was there. She also saw something black go across the window in the door of the toilets in the L&C department, and when she looked down the corridor there was nobody there!

I have been investigating the possibility of  producing a booklet of some of the ghost stories I have collected so far, which could be used as a room by room guide for people who visit Penrhyn and are interested in ghosts. I would appreciate any feedback from people who read this Blog as to which stories I should include. It will hopefully be sold in the National Trust shop at the castle. If it sells well and there is enough interest in it, they may agree to have it published professionally. I still plan to write a book when I have enough information and stories, so if anyone reading this has had any spooky encounters at the castle please let me know via the comments on here. I look forward to hearing from you.

Eerie black shapes seen in the Keep

I was talking to one of the conservators at Penrhyn Castle a few days ago and I asked whether anyone had seen anything ghostly since I was last there. He said that he often sees things out of the corner of his eye, which he says are dark shapes moving just to the side of him, as though he is being followed around as he does his work. I asked where he sees these shapes and he said that it is mostly in the Keep, which is an area of considerable ghostly activity, where lots of staff and visitors have seen things. He has not been able to identify anything specific but he often has an uneasy feeling as though he is not alone and is being watched. He told me that he wonders whether he imagines the shapes but they appear when he is not thinking about anything to do with ghosts and it happens quite regularly. Very creepy! I wouldn't want to be up in the Keep on my own after all the things people have experienced in there! I will ask him more about it when I am next at the castle.