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.