Ghostly laughter in the Scullery

 I was at a gathering of volunteers at Penrhyn Castle a few weeks ago when I heard a fascinating story which was told to me by the member of staff. At these kind of events I always try to find out whether anyone has heard any ghost stories recently and find the person who has had the experience. I feel that it is better to hear stories first hand and to get permission to share them on here. 

The man I spoke to said that he had to go to the Victorian kitchens, which were not open to the public at the time because was doing a fire safety check. When he was near the Brushing Room he sensed that he was not alone. He felt that a woman was with him, although he could not see her.  He unlocked the Kitchen door and walked through the Kitchen to the Scullery. The woman walked with him, then went up the stairs towards the scullery maids bedrooms. He said that he heard her laughing as she went up the stairs. He told me that he did not see her but he knew that she was there. He was not sure whether he actually heard the laughter or just heard it in his mind, but it seemed very real. 

Has anyone else had an recent experiences at the castle? Please let me know. Thanks. 

Man in a brown suit seen in Lower India Room

I received an email yesterday from a volunteer Room Guide at the castle.

"Good morning Caroline, I am a volunteer at Penrhyn since June 2017 and had my first visual yesterday.

On the morning on Sunday 8th March, approx 11.05 I was relieved for ten minutes so I could do a quick familiarisation around the castle of the new ‘What a World’ installations.

I came down from the State bedroom and stepped briefly into the Chapel, saw there was no exhibition in there and headed left towards the Lower India room (Hugh Napier’s bedroom). As I neared the en suite and bedroom I saw a man appear from the right hand side of the room, he looked at me, tutted and raised his eyebrows and backed himself back into the room as though he didn’t want to be seen or bothered. He was wearing a brown suit and would have been about 5’6 if that; certainly not too tall.

I thought it strange but carried on to the Lower India and there was no one in there. I reported my sighting to a staff member (PW) and another volunteer (AD). The other volunteer was on a roving duty that day and stated that she visited the Lower India area a few times during the day and it had remained quite colder than usual."

What a fascinating story! The description of the man sounds as though it could have been Hugh Napier the 4th Lord Penrhyn. I wonder what he thinks about the new What A World Exhibition currently displayed at the castle? Perhaps he is annoyed about things being moved around?

Lower India Room

New ghost stories heard today

I attended a Christmas craft meeting at Penrhyn Castle this morning.  I passed a copy of the photo of the ghost behind the lady in the dining room around the table to find out if anyone had any information about it. Luckily one of the volunteers has got a contact email address for the lady who sent it in so I will be now able to contact her and find out more about it.  She said that the lady did not know who the man was and assumed that he was a member of the Douglas-Pennant family. I showed it to a member of the family last week but he did not recognise him.

While we were discussing the photo several of the volunteers at the meeting told me of their own ghostly experiences at the castle, which were all new stories to me.

One lady said that she was a room guide in the library in the Summer when two visitors claimed to have seen Lady Janet Douglas-Pennant standing near the main door in the entrance hallway.  They looked at the photograph of Lady Janet on a desk in the Library and identified her as the figure they had just seen. The volunteer room guide said that she did not know what to do. She spoke to a member of staff about it and left the excited visitors to talk to him.

Another volunteer room guide, who often does cooking in the Victorian Kitchen, told me of some of the experiences she has had there. In August after a busy day in the kitchen she was clearing things away and putting them in a storeroom next to the Chef's Sitting Room. She carefully closed the door each time she left the storeroom but every time she went back to it the door was wide open. There were no visitors around because the castle was closed. Another time she was in the kitchen looking out of the door towards the Chef's Sitting Room when she saw a dark shadow move across the door past the kitchen door. It went through the Pastry Pantry door and disappeared. She called out, "Hello!" There was no answer.

Another room guide said that she had a very strange experience a few months ago when she was walking past the Breakfast Room. She said that she looked into the room and it seemed to be dark. She then felt a rushing cold wind as though the windows had been opened.  She went to the Steward's room to ask why the windows were open and was assured that they were not. She checked later and sure enough the windows were firmly shut as usual. She could not explain it.

If anyone else has experienced anything ghostly or unusual at Penrhyn Castle

please contact me because I would love to hear your stories and see any photos. Thanks.

Carolinepenrhyn@gmail.com 

Ghostly photo taken in Dining Room

Last week I was sent this photo by email from someone at the castle. Apparently the lady at the end of the table was visiting with a friend. The friend took the photo and when they looked at it they saw that there was a man standing behind her who wasn't there when the photo was taken! If anyone has any other information I would love to know more about it.

Fascinating new ghost stories sent by email

I received an interesting email this week from someone who used to volunteer at Penrhyn Castle. He said, "I used to work as a volunteer about 2 years ago at Penrhyn Castle, and have had my fair share of weird things going on. I am not an inherently superstitious person and always question whether I have just seen a ghost or if it was some kind trick of the light or some such thing. However, I can’t think of any reasoning that makes sense for the following experience. The first of these spooky occurrences happened around March/April of 2017; I was assigned to the top of the Grand Staircase and had gone up just after the briefing had ended, around 11.30.  I got to the top of the staircase and did my usual morning loop, walking around the two rooms, past the chapel and back around to the top of the staircase. No one was around except for me. I was sat a top the Grand Staircase when I heard footsteps and a large sigh. I went to investigate but there was no one around. I checked all of the rooms and could find no one. This occurred the following week at around the same time, and occurred the week after that. For the next month and a bit I didn’t operate on the Grand Staircase. However, I eventually returned to the Grand Staircase once again, only to find the same footsteps and sigh to be occurring again. Towards the end of the day,  I heard some footsteps once again. I had thought that the whole place was empty, as I had not seen any visitors for about 15 minutes. Therefore, I went to investigate. A blue-and-white maid materialised from no where, holding a tray of food, and went up the stairs of the servants staircase. She walked up the stairs for a few seconds before A blue-and-white maid materialised from no where, holding a tray of food, and went up the stairs for a few seconds before disappearing once more. I was sceptical of the story at first, blaming a long day and an over-active imagination for the apparition. After this event, I didn’t hear anything from the maid. A month or so later, I was talking to one of the other volunteers about ghost-sightings in the Castle when he told me that a Maid had fallen down the very stairs that I saw the apparition and had died there. While the footsteps and sigh are generally quiet, every now and then I still hear it in the morning.

                                                                                       The next story comes from the keep, which is the creepiest part of the Castle without ghosts and such things. It must have been around July/August of 2017 as it was really warm, especially for North Wales. I was positioned in the keep and everything seemed to be going great with nothing weird happening until around lunchtime. There no visitors around the keep at around the keep at the time, as things within the Castle had seemed to have died down. I went on my lunch break and swiftly returned, with only about two visitors populating the corridor in front of the mirror when I returned. I walked along the corridor next to the Nursery when everything felt cold. I thought this was weird due to how warm the rest of the castle was; the other bedrooms in the keep was warm save for the Nursery. Again, nothing happened for a few weeks until I was talking to a couple about the pair of creepy paintings of random kids in the Nursery. I had just finished talking to them when I turned around to look towards the corridor leading to the stairs down to Lord Penrhyn’s sitting room, when I saw the third Lord Penrhyn standing there with a cane. He suddenly walked towards the door leading to his sitting room, and de-materialised before I could see him again. The odd thing was that no one else seemed to have seen him, despite it being a particularly busy day. This was the last weird experience that I had during my tenure at the castle, as I stopped working there by the time September had rolled around.
I hope you find the stories interesting, and would love to hear any plausible theories for why they happened, as I am sure there is a perfectly non-paranormal explanation for the aforementioned stories. Thank you,

James"

Fascinating stories! Anyone who has had any spooky experiences at the castle is welcome to send them to me for inclusion on this blog. Thanks.

Ghostly image on the Grand Staircase

I received an email last week from the daughter in law of one of the Room Guides at Penrhyn Castle. She sent me a photo which she had taken of her daughter at Halloween standing at the foot of the Grand Staircase. She noticed something strange in the photo when she looked at it at home and showed her mother in law. I met the Room Guide outside a shop in Bangor last week and she told me about the photo. I asked if the daughter in law could email it to me so that I could put it on here. Look on the left of the legs of the lady at the top of the stairs. What can you see?

Mysterious vanishing visitor in Slate Bedroom

A few weeks ago I was volunteering as a Room Guide at Penrhyn and was assigned to the Keep Bedrooms. It was fairly quiet that day but there was a steady flow of visitors. I had been talking to a couple of visitors in the Slate Bedroom and I walked with them into the Dressing Room to tell them about the paintings and furniture in the room. As I was talking to them I saw someone come through the door of the Slate Bedroom from the Nursery corridor. I told the visitors that I had to go because I had another visitor and I turned around to go back into the Slate Bedroom to greet the new person.  There was nobody in the room! I thought that perhaps they had gone back into the corridor to look into the Nursery or King's bedroom. I went into the corridor but no visitor was there. I looked in the bathroom and Dressing Room, even behind the doors but did not find anyone. I went out to the area at the top of the stairs by the big mirror but could not see anyone walking away along the Grand Hall Gallery.

I was mystified by this experience because in nearly 20 years of volunteering at the castle I have never seen anything ghostly myself. I have spoken to lots of people who have had ghostly encounters there but this is the first one I have had myself. I cannot explain it in any other way. I definately saw someone go into the Slate Bedroom but there was nobody there. 

I remember writing a story told to me by another room guide a few months ago about a similar experience. She was looking into the Nursery bedroom when she saw someone walk past her and go into the Slate Bedroom. When she went into the room it was empty. She searched for the person she had seen, even looking under the bed! She was very shaken by this experience.  I wonder if it was Alice Douglas Pennant who used the Nursery Bedroom as her bedroom and scratched her name on the window with her diamond ring? Has anyone else had a similar experience in the Keep bedrooms? If you have please let me know in the comments below. Thank you.

Man seen by Lord Penrhyn's Sitting Room

I had a great day out yesterday with volunteers and staff from Penrhyn Castle. We visited Powis Castle. I was chatting with one of the other volunteers about a ghost story on an interpretation board at Powis when she told me that something strange had happened to her at Penrhyn a couple of days previously. I had been there on the same day but she had not told me about it. I asked her to explain what had happened to her and she told me the most extraordinary story. She was hurrying to get to the Keep Bedrooms because she had been delayed by an accident on the road on her way to the castle. She decided to go up the spiral stairs from outside Lord Penrhyn's Sitting Room up to the Keep bedrooms to save time. She went up the stairs towards the Sitting Room, which is not normally open to the public, then turned left along the passageway to go towards the door to the spiral stairs.

As she reached Lord Penrhyn's Sitting Room she suddenly noticed a man standing in the doorway. She described him as tall and slim with high cheekbones. He had a beard and was wearing a long, dark jacket and striped grey trousers. He had a high collared shirt with a type of ruffled cravat at the neck. He seemed to be holding a book or some papers in his hands, which were very pale. She was surprised to see someone there and asked if he was lost. He asked her, "Where are you going?" in a voice which she described as an "Oxford English" accent. She explained that she was in a hurry to get to the Keep bedrooms as as she was running late and asked him if he would be going to a meeting on Friday morning. He answered, "No!" very firmly. She said that his voice went up at the end of the word.

She hurried up the spiral staircase and did not think too much about the man. Unfortunately she tripped near the top of the stairs and cut her leg open, injured her knees and elbow. She was going to go back down the spiral stairs but thought it would be better to go the usual way down the Grand Staircase because she needed first aid. I saw her just as she got back to the Stewards room and found the duty first aider to help her. I went up to the Keep bedrooms to cover her place while she was being treated for her injuries. She said that she asked the people in the Stewards Room if anyone knew who the man could be? There was nobody in the castle of that description. The castle had not been opened for visitors and there were definitely no staff wearing a morning suit!

I had not heard anything about the incident until yesterday. I was fascinated to think that it could have been one of the Lord Penrhyns and that she was able to have a conversation with him! I have asked her to look up photos and portraits of the Lord Penrhyns in the castle guide book to see if she can recognise the man she saw.  Could it have been the 2nd Lord Penrhyn George Sholto?

George Sholto Douglas-Pennant. Second Baron Penrhyn (1836-1907)

Update!! I saw the Room Guide who told me the story today and showed her a photo of George Sholto Douglas-Pennant. She confirmed that he was the man she had seen in the doorway of Lord Penrhyn's study.

Vanishing man seen in the Slate Bedroom

I was told a fascinating story last week, which I hope to confirm with the Room Guide who experienced it. I was told by two of the conservation team that a volunteer Room Guide was standing in the corridor looking into the Nursery bedroom last week, when out of the corner of her eye she saw a man in a dark jacket walk into the Slate Bedroom. She quickly went into the room expecting to see a visitor standing there but she found nobody in the room. She looked all around the room and even looked under the bed in case he was hiding there! She could not think where he had disappeared to. She looked down the stairs towards the Grand Hall Gallery and opened the doors to look up and down the spiral stairs to the other floors of the Keep. He had completely disappeared and yet he had seemed so real. I look forward to reading or hearing the account from the lady who had this experience and will update this account when further details are told to me! It would be interesting to identify the man if possible.

Has anyone else seen anything in this area of the castle? Please let me know. Thanks.

A ghostly voice heard in the Dining Room

I had another email this week from a visitor who had a disturbing experience in the Dining Room and wondered if anyone else had ever reported anything similar. She said,

"I went to the castle a few months back, around April with my mum and dad, and experienced something that made me feel quite unnerved. I was wondering if you could tell me if there is any history with the dining room? As soon as you walk into there, there is this awfully thick tension, it's impossible to miss. 

More to the point, I was standing by the window when a deep voice (sounding like it came from an elder gentlemen) boomed "Welcome" down my ear. For obvious reasons, since there was no one else near in the room, I had a rant at my dad for teasing me but to this day he still insists to everyone (even my mum in private) that it wasn't him. 

Has anyone else had any experiences in there? Or is there any significance to it?" 

Has anyone reading this account had a similar experience to this lady? I would love to hear your stories. Please let me know by email. Thanks.

Spooky orb spotted on the Grand Hall Gallery

I received another interesting sighting story this week from a visitor.

"Just seen your blog and thought I would pass on something I saw yesterday.

Now first of all, I am certainly not a ghost hunting fanatic, in fact nothing could have been further from my mind as we walked around the house. I was so awestruck by the craftsmanship I didn't consider anything creepy or anything. I don't even know where exactly we were, but it was upstairs on the second floor of the main house. I THINK it was close to where you can look down into the main part where the greeters stand. There was a window on my left but definitely a big dark door at the end of the hall. I know the door was there for sure because it was against this dark backdrop that I saw what I saw.

I looked up and saw what I thought was an orb floating and darting for a few seconds in front of the door. It was fairly soft yellow and orange colour and I would say 1 cm . What struck me was first of all the size. This orb seemed to have a definite strong presence, was yellowy orange  and much bigger than a dust spec. It seemed to want to make its presence known and was certainly not shrinking into the background. I then dissuaded myself saying first of all it was probably a fly, but secondly that I wasn't even sure if orbs can be seen with the naked eye. Anyway, I was thinking about it today and I know for sure it wasn't a fly because  well it just wasn't and I have seen a couple of google posts to say that some people do see orbs with the naked eye. So I don't know exactly where I was in the castle but I know what I saw. I am finding Penrhyn FASCINATING though. Of all the National Trust properties we have visited, I find this one the most intriguing."

I have put photos on here of orbs on the Grand Staircase. I wonder what they are? I would be interested in any comments.

Ghostly boy seen on Grand Staircase

I received an email today from a visitor to Penrhyn Castle. She had a very interesting experience there a few days ago. She said,

"My friend and I visited on Thursday 26th May. Now I must say I think that I am mad as well as others thinking so as I have only just recognised what I was seeing is probably true, so I'm not a seasoned believer in ghosts or such like.

Whilst walking up the stairs in the grand staircase I was behind my friend and noted what I thought was a little boy, thought, because he looked a bit like a girl as he had long blond hair and a white dress on, but he looked like a boy and probably was appropriate for the time.  He was running playfully up and down the staircase looking between the balustrades on the next to top flight of stairs before the guest suite, whilst we were in the guest suite he was 'hiding' under the bed just like in a game of hide and seek.  When we got into the dining room on the ground floor he looked exactly like he boy in the big picture of the family. He was the one standing to the left of the boy with the dog.

On the landing with the big mirror at the other end of the corridor a woman looked like a servant walked from the doorway on the left but when a member of staff walked toward her she turned and hurriedly went back through the doorway. 

Like I say I don't know what I believe but I do know that I did see this more now as a friend of my friend that I had never met before saw the same thing as me at Chirk Castle, so I do believe more than I did!

An amazing story! I wonder who the little boy was that she saw on the staircase? Please let me have your comments on this latest story. I am always interested to hear about ghostly experiences visitors and staff have at the castle.

Ghost caught on photo in the library

I have just received an email from a visitor who came to the castle with her son on Saturday 14th May. He took a photo in the library at Penrhyn and when they looked at it they noticed a ghostly lady reflected in the mirror. They asked the shop assistant whether there are any ghosts in the castle and showed her the photo. She asked me if I could contact them so that they could email the photo to me. They said there was nobody standing near the mirror when the photo was taken, which is why they were so surprised to see the figure in the photo.

Ghostly figure in the Library fireplace mirror

I would be very interested to hear what people think about this photo. Thanks.

Man in black in office doorway

This evening I spoke to one of the Shop Assistants from Penrhyn Castle and she told me a fascinating ghost story. She said that she went up to the offices above the stables at 10.30am one morning a couple of weeks ago. She was in a good mood and said "Hello" or "Good morning" and smiled at the staff who were in their offices as she walked along the corridor towards the ladies cloakroom. As she walked past one of the offices near the ladies cloakroom she saw someone standing in the doorway. It seemed to be a tall man wearing a black coat with the hood up. She instinctively felt that she should acknowledge the man but something told her not to turn her head or speak to him. She thought about what had happened and decided to look for a simple explanation. When she left the ladies cloakroom she walked back past the office and looked inside the room to see if there was a coat stand with a long black hooded coat on it near the door, but there was nothing there. The wall was white and there was no coat stand. The office was empty. There was nobody in the corridor wearing a black coat. It was a warm, sunny day and it seemed strange that someone would be wearing a hooded coat indoors. She said that when she saw the figure in the doorway she had an inexplicably strong feeling of "keep walking!"  She told me that she always has a weird feeling in that corridor.
     

Other strange things have happened to her in the National Trust shop. She was working in the Castle shop today. She put the CD player on and turned the volume down to 20 as it was too loud. It is a digital CD player and she likes to use numbers with a 0 in them so she knows it was set to 20. The shop was empty and she was working in the main room which used to be the servant's hall, when suddenly the CD player was turned up loud. She went into the book room to check the volume and it had been turned up to 23. There was nobody in the shop. This has happened before when another shop assistant was in there.

Last Thursday she went into the stable shop to cash up at 4 pm after the shop had closed. The shop lights were switched off and she was working by the desk light. She was concentrating on what she was doing when suddenly she heard a loud crash at the end of the shop where the books are displayed. It made her jump! She thinks she may have screamed. She said it was a shock. She went over to see what had made the loud noise and discovered that a large book had fallen off the shelf display. It was on the floor a couple of feet away from the shelf. She thought that if it had simply fallen off it would have been next to the shelves but it looked as though it had been thrown off. There seemed to be no reason for it to fall off the shelf. The other books behind it had not moved at all. If it had slipped it would have dislodged the other books around it. There was nobody around and the other shop assistant was in the castle shop. When she spoke to her she said, "Don't tell me! Was it a book?" She knew exactly what she was talking about. I wonder if she has been in there and had a similar experience. Other shop assistants have told me similar stories. She also told me that several times she has opened up the shop and found stationary such as note cards in the middle of the floor. Very strange.  Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Book displays in the shop

                                   

Black ghost dog seen in the Breakfast Room

I was talking to one of the Visitor Experience Assistants at Penrhyn Castle on Saturday when she told me of an interesting experience she had there a few months ago. She was on duty in the Grand Hall welcoming visitors when she had to go to another part of the castle. She walked past the Breakfast Room and as she passed the door she noticed a black Labrador standing in the doorway. She carried on walking then suddenly wondered what a dog was doing in the castle. She went straight back to the room and looked for it but there was no dog around. There were visitors in the room. She asked the Room Guide if he had seen a black dog but he said that he had not. She looked around the Grand Hall and Dining Room but there were no dogs. It was a busy day and there were a lot of people about. She is convinced that it was the ghost of Lord Penrhyn's dog Pandy who was a favourite gun dog. There is a painting of him in Lord Penrhyn's study.

Several people have reported seeing dogs at the castle and in the grounds. Perhaps they were happy there and do not want to leave!

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.